Lochleven Castle

Things to do at the weekend with the kids – part 37. I have to say that I’m starting to get stuck for days out at the moment so I reverted to that old favourite of ancient ruins that I can get into free with a Historic Scotland membership. The one I came up with was Lochleven Castle which has two major things going for it. Firstly, I had never been there before, and secondly, it is in the middle of Fife so I get to have a nice drive out there.

In fact, it isn’t just in the middle of Fife, but it is in the middle of a loch in the middle of Fife. This means that it is only accessible by means of a small ferry boat (allegedly seating 12 passengers but I think it was a good job that half of them were children). Being a Saturday it was quite busy but, as the weather was nice, we took a couple of hours to walk around the nature trails before getting the boat across.

In terms of history, Lochleven is yet another one of those places that is tied in with Mary Queen Of Scots which probably does a great deal to draw the tourists in but is a bit of history that I am really rather bored with now. However, I loved it, not so much for the historical background but because the fact that the island on which the castle sits is only accessible by the small boat. Rather than the intrigues of Tudor-Stuart politics this really appeals to my romantic notions of travelling to remote inaccessible antiquities.

The only thing I wish I had done was to bring a picnic along to the island. There are lots of picnic tables on the island (and in the castle) as well as proper public toilets which seemed to be in short supply on the mainland. In fact the whole loch appealed to me with its nature walks and wildlife reserves. There is a trail which is some 12 miles long that loops right around the loch. I’ll have to go back and try this one day – and remember to bring a picnic.