Arran Island - West Coast of Scotland

The sun shone as my friend Mary and I crossed from Ardrossan to Brodick on Arran. We were pleased to visit this small island which is often described as Scotland in minature owing to its mountains, lochs, rivers and sea shore. Brodick Castle owned by the National Trust is a beautiful building with lovely gardens and great walks through the grounds and along the seashore and up Goatfell the highest mountain on the island. We loved the approach to the island and enjoyed our short voyage with Caledonian McBrayne. Our first evening we attended a slide show about birds of prey that can be seen on the island as part of an annual wildlife festival. The slide show was fascinating and we were delighted to learn about kites, peregrine falcons, herons and long eared owls. That evening we saw a heron by the seashore and the next day had a fantastic view of a short eared owl. This was our first ever sighting of one in the wild.

Pollock House and Estate, Glasgow

Pollock House and Estate on the outskirts of Glasgow is managed today by the National Trust for Scotland. The house was owned by the Maxwell MacDonald family for almost 700 years. The National Trust does not allow photography indoors. The rooms on view had some wonderful furniture and magnificent paintings. The cafe downstairs in the original kitchen area, offered excellent food at a reasonable price. I visited with my friend, Mary and we enjoyed soup and a scone for lunch. The weather was superb so we spent a lot of time in the colourful garden and grounds. 4 Clydesdale horses live in the stables and were out pulling a cart while we were visiting. They are beautifully groomed and have won many prizes at the Royal Highland Show at Edinburgh. The ornate bridge across the river was very pretty and the reflections of it in the water immediately caught my eye. Walking through the woods on this beautiful afternoon was wonderful as round every bend in the path there were more beautiful flowers to see including bluebells (which are very early) to a wide variety of rhododendrons. We ended up leaving Glasgow in the rush hours which proved not to be as bad as expected.

Falconry Centre, Huntly, Scotland

On a visit to the Falconry Centre near Huntly, everyone gets a chance to handle the bird. In this case Moray B is an Eagle Owl. They can now be seen in the wild in the North of England. Moray B was hand raised. It is fantastic to be able to touch his feathers and realise how soft they are. This is a fantastic place to take children of all ages!