Birnam and Dunkeld

7 - 14 February

We caught the train to Birnam and Dunkeld, twin towns on the River Tay near Perth. We're in Birnam, the lesser of the two.

Our cottage is a cute little spot by the burn (stream). Its the former coach house for the large property next door called Heath Park.

It's a 15 minute walk along quiet streets and over the river to Dunkeld (after walking through Little Dunkeld) where there are five pubs, a co op supermarket, cafes and other shops.

It's noticeably warmer here than previous weeks. Less layers, no need for thermals to be comfortable.

We spent the first couple of days here wandering the towns; pubs, heritage walks, cafes, paths along burns, cemeteries, a spot of shopping... it's very picturesque, even in the grey cloud.

Who knew? On the heritage walk around the (other - as in over the burn at the bottom of our path) village of Dunkeld, we came across an ell, a formal tailoring measurement from three of four hundred years ago.

The River Tay separates the twin towns, connected by the current bridge built around the time Cook was sailing into Botany Bay

We're deep in Beatrix Potter territory here. She wrote some of the books in the house next door to our cottage.

We hired a car for a week and drove to the Falkirk Wheel. The world’s only rotating boat lift, The Falkirk Wheel links the Forth & Clyde Canal to the Union Canal 35 metres above, allowing vessels (the canals were originally built for coal transport) to travel from one side of Scotland to the other.

We couldn't do a cruise through the mechanism as it was closed for servicing. 

The Pineapple House! In 1761, The Earl of Dunmore decided he wanted a summer house designed to resemble a 40-foot tall pineapple.  Too much money perhaps?

We called in at Dunblane, home of Andy Murray and where in 1966 (just before Port Arthur) a gunman killed 16 children and a teacher at their school. The Scottish government reviewed their gun laws and had a buy-back scheme after this. Interestingly, the chat in Scotland right now on BBC Scotland is whether all police should have access to guns. Not carrying them, but have them in police stations and cars, instead of having to call for the teams that do carry guns.

A Highland Coo Gorgeous furry, docile cattle that are perfect for surviving snowy winters.

The Kelpies. To travel along the canals, you travel between these two gigantic structures. Kelpies are underwater spirits that'll grab you if you venture into the water. Historically, great for parents to keep their children away from lochs and canals!

This ancient tree gets a run in Shakespeare's Macbeth!

The Birnam Oak

During the week here, we caught a bus to Perth to pick up a hire car.

We hadn't planned on doing so, but our plans to do much of our local sightseeing by train and bus were thwarted by both the cost of local trains and buses, as well as the lack of frequency.

Public transport is expensive, as in a 30 minute train to nearby Perth is £10.70 - about $20. Each. One way. So a return for a local visit to the next town is $80.

The bus is dear also, about $50 for the two of us there and back.

And they don't run that often.

There's typically two hours between bus services to surrounding towns, so while getting there is easy because you can look at the timetable, coming back is tricky as you don't know how long you might want to spend in a town, and with a two hour window... that's tricky.

So our little Fiat 500 for a tick over a week has been handy.

More from Perth next week.