We celebrated last night with a meal at David Bann‘s vegetarian restaurant, then watched Edinburgh’s Hogmanay fireworks from our street.

To blow away the cobwebs and start 2012 in the way we mean to go on, we climbed Arthur’s Seat – along with hundreds of other people. Despite the drizzle it was obviously a popular thing to do!

We took our first breather at St. Anthony’s Chapel, overlooking St. Margaret’s Loch.

Then it was onwards and upwards! In the end we didn’t go all the way to the top, stopping at the shoulder just before the summit as the rain got heavier.

The views over Edinburgh really are spectacular, even on such a dreich day.

Despite the grey clouds, this being Scotland there were inevitably blue skies at the same time, and the half moon was clearly visible.

As we reached the foot of the hill, the sun was well and truly setting over the cityscape.

Surprisingly the weather got better after we passed through a torrential downpour at Shotts, and while it was still a chilly 11 degrees when we arrived in Glasgow, at least it wasn’t raining or too windy.

We continued through Glasgow and over the Clyde, branching off the M8 after the Kingston Bridge and onto the M77, before heading into Pollok in search of Crookston Castle.

Crookston Castle occupies the top of a natural hill which seems to have been fortified since ancient times. In the 12th century a wooden castle was built here by a Norman knight, Sir Robert de Croc, whose name is preserved in the name of Crookston.

In the 14th century Crookston was bought by the Stewart family, and around 1400 they built the stone castle which can be seen today. It took a rather unusual form, having a main central square tower at each corner of which was a taller square tower. The only tower still standing to its full height is the north-east one, and while the south-east tower’s footings are still visible, the north-west and south-west towers were destroyed in 1489 by Mons Meg and never rebuilt.

The castle is protected not only by the steep sides of the hill on which it stands, but also by a ditch and bank which pre-date the stone castle.

From Crookston we headed south-east to the edge of Newton Mearns, where Mearns Castle is located. Hidden away in a slightly odd position behind Mearns Castle High School, Mearns Castle is a large stone tower, built in 1449 by Herbert Maxwell, the 1st Lord Maxwell.

Standing on top of a steep-sided small knoll, it was once defended by a courtyard wall, gatehouse, drawbridge and moat, but all these features have long since been removed. It was restored in 1970, and connected to a newly-built circular, metal-clad church the following year.

The tower consists of four storeys, and stands to a height of some 12 metres.

Along the top of the wall are the original stone corbels, which probably would have carried a parapet.

Below a window on the top floor of the tower at the north-east corner are two corbels, suggesting some kind of balcony or platform.

From Mearns Castle we drove back into the centre of Glasgow, parked at the Buchanan Galleries, and walked to George Square. There was no filming going on while we were here, but lots of American vehicles were parked around the streets off George Square, and there were American signs and traffic lights everywhere. The effect was really quite convincing.

After parking next to the swimming pool, we headed down to the harbour. Now reinforced with concrete, the new sea wall is built on rocks which form a natural harbour, which is what led this place to be settled in the first place. At the mouth of the harbour are the ruins of Dunbar Castle, built on a rock which is thought to have been fortified for at least 2000 years.

The ruins are thought to date back to the 15th and 16th centuries, and were built to protect the strategically-important harbour at Dunbar, which was the most convenient landing north of Berwick.

To the north-east are the remains of the main castle, standing on a large rock jutting out into the sea. A substantial amount of the massively thick red sandstone walls still stand, with a lonely section of a tower wall rising from the centre.

To the south-west, across a narrow channel of water, are the ruins of a great battery, thought to have been built in the mid-16th century, and featuring several gun loops which can still be seen.

This battery was once connected to its near neighbour by a massive wall, within which was an intramural passageway, but this has now fallen into the sea below. The opening of the enclosed passage can still be seen on the north-east side of the channel though, in the section of masonry closest to the camera in the photo below.

In 1567, following the Battle of Carberry Hill, Dunbar Castle was destroyed by an Act of Parliament, and has been a ruin ever since. Occupying such a precipitous position, and open to the elements, the castle has deteriorated significantly over the years.

The castle’s walls, severely weathered by the salty sea winds, now make convenient nesting sites for gulls.

It’s quite difficult to get an overall feel for Dunbar Castle from individual photos. Clicking on the image below will open a panoramic view of the castle in a new window.

We walked from the castle around the harbour and onto the sea wall. The sea off Dunbar is dotted with various rocks, and on one we could see a group of cormorants resting.

Looking back across the harbour we got a good view of the castle.

At the east end of the harbour is an 18th century fort and battery, built to protect the harbour from privateers who were particularly active at the time of the American War of Independence. The building of the fort, and of the new harbour, probably hastened the decline of the castle. But the concrete walkways of the new harbour also make it possible to walk around the castle, and see parts that would otherwise be inaccessible, such as the section which faces out to sea.

As we stood at the entrance to the harbour, a yacht made its way in off the sea.

Walking back around the harbour, one of the cormorants had moved to the rocks closer to the sea wall.

But our attention was soon diverted to a young herring gull flying majestically across the sea before landing in the water.

While crossing the bridge at the east end of the harbour, we noticed several jellyfish in the water. They were Cyanea lamarckii, also known as Blue jellyfish or Bluefire jellyfish due to their blue centres.

We probably saw ten or fifteen jellyfish in a small area, and apparently there are are a lot of jellyfish in the waters off the east coast of Scotland this year. In fact Torness nuclear power station had to shut down temporarily in June because Moon jellyfish were blocking the water intakes of the cooling system.

Leaving the harbour, we continued into Dunbar itself, and walked along the High Street, where there’s a statue of the celebrated naturalist John Muir (as a boy).

John Muir was born in Dunbar, and is probably best known in Scotland for the conservation organisation which bears his name, the John Muir Trust, although it wasn’t established until 1983, some 69 years after his death. There is also the John Muir Way, a walking trail which runs from the edge of Edinburgh along the coast of East Lothian and down to the Borders.

However John Muir’s family emigrated to America when he was 11 years old, and after spending time exploring the wilderness and studying plants, he devoted his life to preserving the great wild areas of his new country. He lobbied Congress for the creation of national parks, which led to the National Park Bill of 1899.

Further along the High Street is Dunbar Town House, a 17th century tolbooth thought to have been built around 1620, and currently undergoing renovation.

Rather ambitiously we thought we might manage a swim today, so we headed to Belhaven Bay just outside Dunbar. It was ambitious for two reasons – the first being that it wasn’t a particularly warm or sunny day so the sea would be cold, and the second being that the tide times were against us.

By the time we arrived the tide was well in, cutting off the bridge which crosses the Biel Water to the beach, so we saved the swim for another day.

The sky was blue, the sea was turquoise, and while paddling we established that it was definitely warm enough to swim. Which was rather disappointing as I’d left my trunks at home!

Vowing to be back soon for our first swim of the year, we headed back up to the car park, and went in search of castles on the way home. East Lothian is made up of rich agricultural land, and our route took us between fields full of new crops flourishing in the warm weather.

We took the back road out of Gullane to Kingston, and stopped to take a photo of Fenton Tower, a 16th century tower house which has been restored as luxury accommodation.

A short distance from Fenton Tower is Sydserf House, a restored fortified laird’s house which dates back to at least the 17th century and possibly earlier, which now forms the centrepiece of a small, sympathetic housing development.

We continued south and then west through Drem to our next stop, and another restored castle. Ballencrieff Castle was built in 1507, but was destroyed during the Rough Wooing of 1544, and rebuilt in 1586.

In the 18th century it was converted into a Georgian mansion house, with symmetrical new façade built around the old castle walls, but in 1868 the castle was burned down and stood as a ruin for over a century. In the 1990s Ballencrieff was restored back to its 16th century design, and is now a private home.

From Ballencrieff we drove north to Aberlady, then followed the coastal road home to Edinburgh.

The parade would start from Edinburgh Castle and move down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. So we found ourselves a spot opposite the Scottish Parliament at the bottom of the Royal Mile, just outside the Palace gates on Abbey Strand.

While we all waited for Prince Charles to arrive, the marchers were being held further up the Royal Mile.

Also waiting were the First Minister Alex Salmond, the Prime Minister David Cameron, the Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox and the Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore.

Eventually Charles and Camilla emerged from the Palace and made their way across the road to the Parliament building, where Prince Charles would receive the parade.

There was a flypast from the Red Arrows, trailing their customary red, white and blue smoke.

Then Prince Charles assumed his position on the platform, and the parade continued down the hill.

There was another flypast, this time at a considerably slower speed, with a Lancaster bomber flanked by a pair of Spitfires.

I didn’t notice at the time and only spotted her when looking back through the photos, but Lorraine Kelly was standing a few metres to Prince Charles’ left.

The rear of the parade was brought up by police officers on horseback.

We decided to walk back through Holyrood Park, and noticed that the fountain was running (it is usually off). Commissioned by Queen Victoria, the fountain was inspired by a 16th century fountain at Linlithgow Palace.

Walking past St Margaret’s Loch we spotted some ducklings swimming backwards and forwards excitedly, offering quite a contrast to the slow pomp and circumstance of the military parades.

We went up onto Calton Hill, the nearest good vantage point to our house, just in time to see the planes fly over towards the River Forth. They then proceeded to do what they do best, a series of complicated manoeuvres, red, white and blue smoke pouring from their tails against the backdrop of a stormy evening sky.

After buying some tartan we headed west to Fowlis Wester, a small village whose size belies its obvious importance in the past, being surrounded by sites spanning thousands of years of history.

Right in the centre of the village is a tall Pictish stone, carved with a cross on one side and various Pictish symbols and designs on the other.

Well, that’s not entirely accurate. The one in the centre of the village is a replica, standing on the site of the original which has been moved into St Bean’s Church to protect it from the elements. The church dates back to the 13th century but was rebuilt in the mid-17th century, and a carved stone pediment over the entrance archway carries the following warning:

“Tak heed to thy foot when thou entrest into the hows of God 1644″

This stone is also actually a replica, and the original of this one lives inside the church too. The Pictish stone stands under an arch in the north transept, and is an impressive 3.15 metres (10 feet) tall.

Although it stood in the centre of the village for many years, at some point in history it was moved there from its original position at the entrance to the Sma’ Glen. It is decorated with men on horses, animals, and Pictish symbols such as a double-disc and Z-rod and a crescent and V-rod symbol, which may represent a Pictish king or family.

Behind this cross is a smaller, slightly later cross-slab which was discovered, along with fragments of two more Pictish crosses, in the wall of the church during restoration in 1927.

We left the village to the north, heading back in time by thousands of years by travelling to the Fowlis Wester stone circles. This is a complex site which seems to divide opinion on what exactly it is, but it certainly has a pair of large standing stones (one fallen), and a pair of cairns.

Whatever the reason for placing these stones here, the builders certainly chose a great spot with fantastic views across Strathearn below and the Ochil Hills beyond.

We returned back through Fowlis Wester, and continued west through Crieff to Comrie to visit the House of Tartan for more material. We then planned to go and see if it was possible to see much of Aberuchill Castle from the road, so we drove through The Ross on the edge of Comrie.

As we did so we spotted a pair of male pheasants squaring up to each other, and then proceeding to fight.

We must have watched them for a good 10 minutes or so, flapping at, scratching and chasing each other. Distracted by the excitement we missed our turn and ended up on the wrong road, driving towards Dalrannoch instead of Aberuchill and Dalchonzie. But it wasn’t a wasted detour as we stopped at the Water of Ruchill, flowing down from Glen Artney towards the River Earn.

We retraced our steps to The Ross, and took the correct road, with not a pheasant in sight to distract us. The answer to our question about Aberuchill Castle was that you can’t really see much of it from the road, it being pretty well screened by trees.

Just before reaching Dalchonzie fruit farm we spotted dozens of rabbits in a field, basking in the early evening sunshine.

Being so close to Loch Earn, and with the sun getting lower in the sky, we drove the short distance to the loch in the hope of a photo opportunity, and we weren’t disappointed, the sun being low enough to create an interesting light effect on the water.

We headed back through Comrie to Crieff, then over the River Earn to the garden centre, where we were hoping to see Highland cows, but they had been replaced by Shetland ponies.

Once again the low sun was creating picturesque effects, with the trees next to their field having a warm glow emanating from between them.

Across the road is the Dargill standing stone, but by now the light was fading, and this was to be the last photo before driving back to Edinburgh.

Even on the A68, less than a mile from Soutra, the weather was fine. But as we started to climb the hill, it got very misty, and there were piles of snow by the side of the road. Not wishing to get stuck on the slippery road, we parked halfway up the hill, and walked the rest of the way.

Soutra Aisle is the 17th century burial vault of the Pringle family of Soutra, and is all that remains of a much larger church and hospital complex. Soutra was the highest monastery in Britain at 366 metres (1200 feet) above sea level. Founded in the 12th century, the House of the Holy Trinity is thought to have been the largest medieval hospital in Scotland. The foundations of further buildings still remain, but the burial vault is all that is visible above ground.

Soutra was built on the Via Regia, the main route down into the Borders and its abbeys. This road followed the old Roman road of Dere Street which ran from Eboracum (York) in northern England all the way to the eastern end of the Antonine Wall. A section of Dere Street can still be seen close to Soutra, but on the way we were distracted by some fantastic natural snow sculptures caused by the high winds.

The snow did a very good job of enhancing Dere Street, making the ditches on either side of the road more obvious.

It was incredibly windy and bitterly cold, so we didn’t stay long to marvel at the wonders of Roman engineering, instead walking at an angle back up to the road. On the opposite side of the road the driving wind had left its mark on some trees, with thin lines of snow driven against one side of their trunks.

Yesterday’s snow had collected and drifted in various hollows, creating wonderful wave patterns.

Nearby the snow had piled up, trapped between two field walls.

Having come out without even imagining that there could be snow, that was more than enough for today! Back in the car, we only had to go half a mile down the hill and it seemed like we were in a different world, dry, sunny and no snow in sight.

North Berwick sits at the head of a wide peninsular jutting out into the mouth of the River Forth as it flows into the North Sea, and as such it was a strategically-important place. Archaeological excavations have shown that there has been a settlement around the harbour area certainly as early as the 8th century.

In the 12th or 13th century the de Vaux family built North Berwick Castle on what is now known as Castle Hill to the east of the town. Now all that remains is the hill itself, a natural mound rising above the shore below.

Today on the top of Castle Hill there are benches from which to enjoy the magnificent views out towards the islands in the sea, and over North Berwick itself.

We climbed back down Castle Hill to the beach (known as Milsey Bay or East Bay) – it wasn’t really beach weather, but it’s still a very pleasant walk to the town, with views to the island of Craigleith.

At the end of the beach are the remains of St. Andrew’s Church, which dates back to the 12th century and possibly earlier. All that is now visible are the foundations and a 13th century porch (remodelled in the 16th century). Looking back over the site you can see North Berwick Law in the distance.

Along from the church is the Scottish Seabird Centre.

Beyond that is the harbour, full of a variety of sailing boats.

It’s possible to walk right to the end of the promontory, where there is a viewpoint from which you can look back over North Berwick and North Berwick Law, and also across to the site of North Berwick Castle.

As the sun started to set, we walked back to the car and were treated to a loop-the-loop display by a small plane (presumably from the nearby National Museum of Flight at East Fortune airfield).

Parking in front of the church in Athelstaneford, we took the public right of way that runs down to the Cogtail Burn, and walked around the edge of a field at the end of the Hanging Craig before joining the track to Barney Mains farm. We could see the ruins of Barnes Castle in the distance, but before we reached it we passed a small fort on Seaton Law.

It’s quite a small fort, and may have been built as a forward defensive position for the larger fort of Kae Heughs, along with the fort of Hanging Craig which is now only visible as cropmarks. The view from Seaton Law is fantastic, as it sits on a ridge looking over the surrounding countryside, with views as far as Traprain Law and Berwick Law.

Barnes Castle itself is an interesting site, just one storey in height and laid out on a low, wide footprint.

A maze of arches, vaults and windows creates a rather strange appearance for a castle.

There is a square tower on each of the corners of the outer wall, plus smaller towers in between those.

There are gun loops in several places such as in the corner towers, allowing the defenders of the castle to fire along the walls at their attackers.

Barnes Castle is now used as a store for farm machinery, which gives it a slightly sad appearance.

Despite a warm glow from the low winter sun, there was a chilly wind, so it wasn’t long before we were retracing our steps to the Cogtail Burn, from where we took a slightly different route back using a path across a field, re-entering Athelstaneford next to the school.

From Athelstaneford we drove north, stopping to take a quick picture of Fenton Tower, a 16th century castle which has been restored as luxury accommodation.

Then we headed west to Gullane and the beautiful golden sands of Gullane Bay, which weren’t looking as golden as usual with the sun starting to go down.

In the sand dunes surrounding Gullane Bay are a large number of sea buckthorn bushes, the orange berries providing a fiery contrast to the darkening skies.

And with a short drive back along the coast to Edinburgh, another weekend was over.