Last day in Perthshire.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Perthshire and the weather is improving, thank goodness. 

I drove out to a village called ‘Comrie’ as I had heard it was very old. The drive was again beautiful, through farmlands with views to the southern edge of the Scottish Highlands, some smaller lochs and the River Earn.

I had a good walk around Comrie; many of the homes had very low doors and small windows. The village was delightful and many people had window boxes and pots of flowering bulbs outside their homes. One home had a large pink clematis in full bloom over the doorway and it looked stunning.

The River Earn runs through Comrie and there is a lovely white church on the river bank. The village is overlooked by a hilltop granite obelisk commemorating Henry Dundas (1st Viscount Melville (1700’s).

I then went onto Crief, a large town that has been a holiday destination for many years. Crief was once an ancient cattle market and Scottish 'frontier town' where Highlanders would come for the great cattle markets.

The next stop was just out of Crief at a magnificent formal garden at ‘Drummond Castle’ – the castle is not open however the garden is.

It is the exact opposite to the rambling/woodland/cottage garden I saw at the National Trust Garden in Perth.

This garden spreads over about 22 acres in all, and the drive into the castle was an experience on its own. The driveway was narrow (room for one vehicle only, and one-way) and was more than a mile in length. The driveway was flanked by huge old Beech Trees on each side – I wondered if I was ever going to get to the Garden!

This was my first visit to a formal garden as large as this. The garden was started a couple of hundred years ago and has developed over time. Apparently they only employ 1 head-gardener and 2 other gardeners and sometimes some casual staff. The amount of pruning must take ages, but because of the cooler climate the pruning only needs to be done once a year. There were lots of seedlings planted. Had I been there in July all the flowers and roses would have been in bloom.

I also discovered the Visitor Centre in Crieff where the Caithness Glassworks & Buchan Pottery have workshops and display areas. I then discovered that Stuart Crystal had a showroom a little further on - they have a collection of Stuart & Waterford Crystal, Royal Dalton and other brands of china on display.

It seems that a good part of my time in Scotland has been visiting Castles, stately homes and gardens – this was not planned, however I have enjoyed it all.

Drummond Gardens - a beautiful place to visit

The lake with the Castle behind - stunning!