Category: Dunans Castle

New Signage for Castle & Bridge drafted incorporating portability

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Post date June 5, 2014
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Today I finally found time to draft the new tabletop signs for the front of the castle and the side of the bridge. The idea is that they provide a table height interpretation for both structures which can (a) be moved as the restoration projects demand (just like a table) and (b) the signs themselves can be swapped as needed when there’s a significant update (like the bridge being restored or the castle re-roofed).

Left is a sketch of the wooden frame we are going to make from the Lime I have loaded up in the sawmill at the moment. The signs are A0 size or 841mm x 594mm … More once the signs are in place and the frames made!

Tags Interpretation, Lime Tree, Progress, Signage

And The Next Thing is ... DCT Dunans Castle

Initial Enquiry into the Heritage Lottery Fund for Dunans Bridge Today!

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Post date June 4, 2014
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… and they’ll be getting back to us in 10 days. As soon as they feedback we’ll report here. In the meantime here’s the detail of what we said:

Tags Dunans, Dunans Castle, Funding, Funding Application, HLF, Initial Enquiry

And The Next Thing is ... Dunans Castle

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but was it? We get interviewed by the BBC’s lovely Clare English!

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Post date June 3, 2014
No Comments on It *seemed* like a good idea at the time, but was it? We get interviewed by the BBC’s lovely Clare English!

… actually it was great fun, which I think comes across. Particularly like the bits where Clare is trying to get Sadie and me to concentrate on the more challenging times and we keep laughing about them – especially the midges swarming over the windows on the red shed.

I mentioned the interview on my blog at the time and it is going to be broadcast at 13.32 gmt on Thursday this week, BBC Radio Scotland. Here’s the link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b045byym

Right is the official photo with Clare to prove she was actually at Dunans (in the kitchen)!

Tags A good idea at the time, BBC, Clare English, isagiatt, Radio

And The Next Thing is ... DCT Dunans Castle

Cause for Celebration! Application to Historic Scotland completed and submitted

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Post date June 2, 2014
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It took a week to put into the right words, a second to submit – on Friday at around 3pm – but this application (and the one to HLF which I will be working on this week) starts a process that restores the bridge by October next year and enables the opening of the castle by late 2018.

It feels onerous on the one hand, but fantastic to be finally moving on the other!

Below is the edited text of the application.

And The Next Thing is ... Dunans Castle

Rash razing over the weekend: a perilous quest for wildflower rich pasture…

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Post date June 2, 2014
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I finally got the pasture topper running on the back of our dinky orange tractor and made a good start to the big paddock. I suspect it will take the rest of the week around my other duties, but it put me in mind of my upbringing on an arable farm in Lincolnshire where things are a lot flatter and the tractors a lot bigger. Rash razing in contrast to the wheat harvest, seems to take forever – I am just hoping I’ll only have to do it once more this year – turning the tractor at bottom and top feels particularly perilous. I am not sure how hill farmers do it year-on-year.

Tags Dunans Castle, paddock, rash, topper, tractor

And The Next Thing is ... Dunans Castle

Big Dunans Rising Day: scarves & rugs are here and the Historic Scotland application is in!

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Post date May 30, 2014
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The name of our tartan refers to the castle and to the effect of wearing, or rather purchasing, the tartan – that every time a person dons it, he or she will bring the castle’s restoration a step closer and the building will rise.

Today is a case in point: we received three boxes packed with scarves, stoles, serapes and sashes all in the Dunans Rising tartan. And just as the postman drove off (in a cloud of dust) I hit the send button on our Historic Scotland application for Dunans Bridge (in time for the deadline tomorrow).

Dunans is rising, slowly but surely. Next is the initial enquiry to the Heritage Lottery Fund, and then, well then comes the nail-biting wait.

But for those of you who have been hanging out for a scarf or two, they’ll be on the site next week….

Tags Dunans Bridge, Dunans Rising Tartan, Loch Carron, Scarves

And The Next Thing is ... Dunans Castle

By request: a 11×8.5″ flyer for Highland Games in North America

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Post date May 28, 2014
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We have several Lairds and Ladies who throughout the summer attend Highland Gatherings in North America, and wish to spread the word about our marvellous project so we have designed a trifold flyer in American proportions. What we will do is print these out in the US or Canada and get them sent to any Laird or Lady who goes to these events regularly – if that describes you, and you’d like to promote the project to restore the castle, let the ScottishLaird team know by emailing them here.

Tags Canada, Flyers, Highland Games, US

And The Next Thing is ... Dunans Castle

Meet the Likely Lairds Radcliffe & Maconie from Radio 6 Music

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Post date May 27, 2014
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Over the last twelve months the ScottishLaird office has spent its afternoons listening to the superbly funny Radcliffe & Maconie show on BBC Radio 6 Music. All of us have spent many frantic minutes trying to guess the Teatime Themetime feature – and to my shame I never, ever get it right.

A week or so ago there was a feature on silversmiths, one of whom volunteered to make the guys a crown. That turned out to be too expensive, so we thought we’d send over a Laird package for them.

Today the gentlemen announced their ascension to the ranks of our Lairds and Ladies.

Here’s the iPlayer catchup version of the show. 1 hour 41 mins

It sounds as though they were thoroughly entertained by the idea which is absolutely as it should be, as they have so thoroughly entertained us over the last year.

They are the “Likely Lairds” …

Tags BBC, featured, Likely Lairds, Maconie, music, Radcliffe, Radio, radio 6

And The Next Thing is ... DCT Dunans Castle

The Joy of Tours at Dunans on the #MayDay #BankHoliday

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Post date May 26, 2014
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Both Colin and myself took tours today. I chose the easier option and took Scot AnSgeulaiche’s Jamie and Claire Tour based on the Outlander series of books by Diana Gabaldon. What a lovely bunch of folks from Canada and the US (pictured above taking photos of the newly annointed Lady Sue on her square foot). We did the full circuit including looking through the trees, over the ravine, at the C-listed Fletcher Mausoleum.

Colin on the other hand, was tasked with showing a 32-man tour around – they all definitely had a ball – and there are a bunch of photos on Facebook taken by Jean Donaldson, our fab in-house photographer. The shot below, just shows how many folks that is. A really good day at Dunans!

Tags Castle, Dunans Bridge, Gabaldon, Jamie and Claire, Outlander, Scot AnSgeulaiche, Tours

And The Next Thing is ... DCT Dunans Castle

It is such a lovely day I decided to take some panoramas of our A-listed Bridge

Post author By admin
Post date May 21, 2014
1 Comment on It is such a lovely day I decided to take some panoramas of our A-listed Bridge

… to celebrate the refresh of the Dunans Charitable Trust website at Dunans.org. We’ve shed some dead wood, organised the information more clearly and changed the header photo to the main feature shot here. However, the portrait of the bridge (right) is my favourite showing the main arch, adorned as it is, with self-seeded foliage.

Later: having posted the images above I then had a moment waiting for the children to return from school. I used the time to take a couple of different panoramas, the second of which I think shows in a very succinct way the difficulties anyone would face accessing Dunans in anything bigger than a 7.5 tonne truck.

Tags Charitable Trust, DCT, Dunans Bridge, dunans.org, Panorama