We went to Doune Castle today, somewhere I had driven past many times more recently but hadn’t actually visited since I was about 7 or 8 with my grandparents.
It was a gloriously sunny day as we walked up to the castle, its flag fluttering in the breeze.
The front section of the castle is largely intact, and there are plenty of rooms, passageways and spiral staircases to explore.
Behind the main body of the castle is a grassed-over courtyard open to the elements. On the interior wall here there are several interesting gargoyles high above the main staircase into the courtyard (the staircase down which John Cleese cuts his way as Sir Lancelot the Brave in Monty Python and The Holy Grail while on a mission to rescue Michael Palin’s Sir Galahad the Pure).
After a good couple of hours exploring the interior of the castle, we went for a walk around the castle grounds, following the River Teith to a beautiful meadow of wildflowers, before returning via the rear of the castle.