Day 34 Chapels, Bridges and Forts.....

Sunday 22/94/2018 Stirling Court Hotel Room 112

Another big day even though we planned it to be slow... Had our buffet breakfast, I managed to get porridge today bonus, with berries so very good....

Then we set off for sight No1 The Wallace Monument.... we had planned to go into this one but with a cost of £15 each which is $30 each Australian for only 1 hr at most we decided to save our penny’s and just view it from below the ticket office.... So with this under our belt we headed to a Tesco to get some stores, Alcohol and some fuel, all the staples in life..... once filed up we drove down the Road to two old bridges side by side nearly .....
One is called The Old Bridge, the other I cant find its name anywhere...

Unlike the depiction in Braveheart (1995), the Battle of Stirling Bridge was fought near a wooden bridge, and not in an open field. Before the English could finish crossing, the Scots attacked. In the frenzy to retreat back over the bridge, the whole thing collapse in the River Forth. Many of the English drowned while those trapped on the wrong side were slaughtered by William Wallace, Andrew Murray, and the rest of the Scots.
Since the original bridge collapsed in the 1297 battle, visitors to Stirling might be misled by the stone bridge that stands in its place. So where was the original bridge? For over 600 years, we had no clue. In 1905, someone discovered the base of the original bridge, roughly 65 to 75 yards upstream of the stone bridge. After archeological surveys in the 1990s, 4 of the original piers were found. In addition, it became apparent that the bridge did not cross at a right-angle, but instead diagonally. The diagonal positioning of the bridge led surveyors to the conclusion that it would have required 8 piers, the same number of piers represented on the Old Common Seal of the Burgh of Stirling, depicted in the plaque above and sketched below. The earliest surviving use of the seal was 1296, a year before the battle. This was also the earliest known depiction of the bridge. So with that in mind, if you are traveling on the Stirling Bridge, be sure to turn to the north to see where original Stirling Bridge collapsed in 1297.

So between the 2 plus at the far end was an amazing old rail bridge I didn’t get to take any pics of.... I managed to capture the 2 then we headed off for the next part of the Adventure.... This was to what I thought was another bridge because it was called The Bridge of Allan.... but it turns out it was the neighbouring Village to where we are in Stirling.... So with this now found out.... John had already said to me he thought it might be a Village, not a real bridge... we headed up Avery narrow winding road to the Golf Course, what a golf course it was with green carpeted grass thickly laid or should I say growing naturally on the top of the hill, what a view and what a gorgeous golf course this one was.... to be honest we haven’t seen a bad one yet... they are all and when I say all I mean every single Village has one... the most beautiful green soft carpet grass you could ever see.... Honestly Scotland is Golfers Paradise with so many, so well done and in so many unusual spots... just looking at them I wish I was a golfer but thank goodness I am not...

Once we looked here we set the Nav for Roslin a Village 34 Mile’s away to see Rosslyn Chapel... it was used in the Da Vinci Code Movie...

The Dan Brown the writer, wrote...
“When I decided to write The Da Vinci Code, I knew that its finale would have to take place at the most mysterious and magical chapel on earth — Rosslyn.”

Dan Brown

Construction of the chapel began on 20 September 1456, although it has often been recorded as 1446. The confusion over the building date comes from the chapel's receiving its founding charter to build a collegiate chapel in 1446 from Rome. Sinclair did not start to build the chapel until he had built houses for his craftsmen.
Although the original building was to be cruciform in shape, it was never completed. Only the choir was constructed, with the retro-chapel, otherwise called the Lady chapel, built on the much earlier crypt (Lower Chapel) believed to form part of an earlier castle. The foundations of the unbuilt nave and transepts stretching to a distance of 90 feet were recorded in the 19th century. The decorative carving was executed over a forty-year period. After the founder's death, construction of the planned nave and transepts was abandoned - either from lack of funds, lack of interest or a change in liturgical fashion. The Lower Chapel (also known as the crypt or sacristy) should not be confused with the burial vaults that lie underneath Rosslyn Chapel. The chapel stands on fourteen pillars, which form an arcade of twelve pointed arches on three sides of the nave. At the east end, a fourteenth pillar between the penultimate pair form a three-pillared division between the nave and the Lady chapel. The three pillars at the east end of the chapel are named, from north to south: the Master Pillar, the Journeyman Pillar and, most famously, the Apprentice Pillar. These names for the pillars date from the late Georgian period — prior to this period they were called the Earl's Pillar, the Shekinah and the Prince's Pillar.

It really is an amazing place to visit... the sad fact that no pics can be taken inside where it’s real artworks come to life, but never the less it is an amazing feat of architecture... I only discovered the lower Vault area by accident as there were 3 bus loads of tourists inside it, I nearly walked out with so many in there you just couldn’t get the whole experience it really deserved..... The Vault was very plain but interesting.... Finally I gave up and headed out to get my pics.... John had decided that another $15 sighting wasn’t worth him going so he went to see the Cemetery and find some Geocaches.... while I looked around the Chapel... what I find not interesting more try to understand that so much of the old churches had carvings of monsters and evil beings within the churches walls and in the outside.... they had so much superstition mixed up with Christianity that they lost sight of the true message.... anyway they sure do come to life with all the unusual characters craved I to all’s, window sills, ceilings and roofs....

Once done here the rain had decided to settle in, but we still headed to an ancient Fort from AD 175.... Castlelaw Hill Fort....

The Castlelaw Hill Fort is the remnant of a stronghold of the Iron Age. When it was occupied the site consisted of three earthwork ramparts, ditches and timber palisades. The fort contained a Souterrain for the storage of agricultural produce. V. Gordon Childe undertook excavations at Castlelaw in 1932–33. The work focussed on the rampart, and showed that it consisted of a clay and timber filling, faced by stone. The fort commands views over the Forth and Lothian. Traprain Law and Berwick Law, both significant centres of power in the Iron Age, are visible from the site. The fort is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.
Access to the site is free but, since the area is an active sheep pasture, dogs should be kept under control. The site also neighbours an army firing range and so care should be taken not to pass into the area marked by red flags.

This we could see clearly while the wind wiped around us so strongly we had to really work hard to get inside it...fascinating how it was manikin underground for protection from the energy but with the weather so unpredictable I could understand why they were hiding under ground...There was a big mote area that went around the mound, interesting to see after so long ago.... we literally had to go underground to see inside the Hill Fort it had been excavated to see how they had dug it our originally, and reinforced the walls with rocks to stop it falling in!

So now we decided to head back via some smaller roads instead of the main Hwy... and what little finds we found... firstly we drove over the most unreal modern bridge it was fantastic, but next to it were 2 other amazing bridges all with their own character and all unreal architecturally unreal....

The first which is the Queensferry Bridge .... The Queensferry Crossing opened to traffic on 30 August 2017. This forms the centrepiece of a major upgrade to the cross-Forth transport corridor in the east of Scotland, representing a total Scottish Government investment of over £1.3 billion. The 1.7 miles (2.7km) structure is the longest three-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world and also by far the largest to feature cables which cross mid-span. This innovative design provides extra strength and stiffness, allowing the towers and the deck to be more slender and elegant. In total, the overall Forth Replacement Crossing scheme is 13.7 miles (22km) long, including major motorway upgrades to the north and south of the bridge and also the first ever use in Scotland of variable mandatory speed limits to smooth traffic congestion via an Intelligent Transport System. This also controls dedicated bus lanes within the motorway hard shoulders – another first in Scotland. The Queen opened this bridge as well as others across to Fife...

The three Forth Bridges are an impressive sight as they across the Firth of Forth, as well as providing transport links between Edinburgh and Fife.

Forth Bridge..... The Forth Bridge is one of Scotland’s major landmarks, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.This magnificent railway bridge was built between 1883 and 1890 by Sir John Fowler, Benjamin Baker and over 4,500 men. Considered to be an impressive feat in engineering, it was designed on the cantilever principle, and its three towers are over 100 metres high. It stretches 2.5 kilometres between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry, and was opened on 4th March 1890 by Edward, Prince of Wales.

Forth Road Bridge..... Work began on the Forth Road Bridge in 1958 and it was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1964. This long-span suspension bridge is 2.5 kilometres in length. Its towers are over 150 metres high and hold 49,280 km of wire in the two cables which take the weight of the suspended deck.
Following the opening of Queensferry Crossing, the Forth Road Bridge is now dedicated to public transport, cyclists and walkers.

Each one of these bridges are an impressive sight to behold and I so wanted to see more of them but we couldn’t work out how to park anywhere to see them all in their glory....

Then onto Clackmannan coming into the back way home, we discovered a sign for a Tower so off we set to find us, it was up a small street then into a field it was massive.....
Clackmannan Tower is a five-storey tower house, situated at the summit of King's Seat Hill in Clackmannan, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It was built in the 14th century by King David II of Scotland and sold to his cousin Robert Bruce in 1359.

It was so interesting a shame w couldn’t go into it to look but they had it all bared up so no one could access it...
From here to Alloa..... to see the Alloa Tower in Alloa, Clackmannanshire in central Scotland is the surviving part of the medieval residence of the Erskine family, later Earls of Mar.... An architect who was involved in Alloa Tower was John Melvin. Dating from the 14th century, and retaining its original timber roof and battlements, the Tower is one of the earliest, and largest, of Scottish tower houses, with immensely thick walls. Several 19th century works, including Groome's Gazetteer, date the tower to the year 1223. The building has been extensively re-fenestrated during its history, but retains some internal medieval features. Incorporated into a much larger classical house of various phases from the 17th century on, the Tower now stands alone once more, later accretions having been demolished. This one does open most days so you can see it all except Sunday when we are there....

Well our day has come to an end and we have packed it in, so much we have missed and so much we have seen.... Your mind can only take in so much info and sights in one day... and ours had done it...

My last trivia fact for today is about buses...Double decker buses go everywhere in Scotland we have run into so many in the small back roads as well as single deck buses... they go from a village to a village picking up people to take them to the bigger centres around them... seeing them in the strangest places is unreal... what a service they have here if only our small towns did this the elderly wouldn’t have any issues with getting from A to B.... sadly our small towns are further apart and these here are closer, but the buses do go long distance to take people to their destination... I saw a lady in the middle of nowhere waiting for her bus.... such a way to treat those who have no licence to get around... to be honest you wouldn’t need one...

Soup in the kettle for dinner tonight been too big a day to go out...Read more