Sometimes it takes a new eye to see a new angle in a new season to really show how wonderful this place looks. Alex, TWTC’s intern, took these wonderful panoramic images on Saturday …
Category: Dunans Castle
Here are a couple of images of one of the products we are developing. This one is for a new decorative title which will only be available for the folks who visit us – it has been requested so many times that we’ve finally found time (and inspiration) to get the project going. This title will be available nowhere else … !
And now you’ll be asking what is New Product #1 – and that is a tip-top secret … we’re hoping to launch in the next 6-8 weeks, but more than that we’re not able to say!
Another one of those thought-provoking ecosystem observations, this time from Ireland, which if taken up could see the grey tree rats exiled from these islands altogether. I kid you not!
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/30/how-to-eradicate-grey-squirrels-without-firing-a-shot-pine-martens
Something perhaps to consider and debate with the community forest at Stronafian …
Should it be Grey or Gray – given the source of these pests? I am not sure …
Not sure we need to say much more, except that our sensational selection of six Scottish chocolates were made as a special commission for us by the excellent Caramiche Chocolatiers who can be found in Dunoon in a gorgeous haze of chocolateness … Chocolates helping restore a castle in Scotland – wonderful!
There’s the Dunans Dram, the Castle Cranachan, Wild River Raspberry, Highland Honeybee, the Laird’s Retreat and the Lady’s Secret …
Now at our website, ScottishLaird.com, but hurry, we have only very limited stocks!
This winter has been very hard on the grounds at Dunans. We’ve seen so much intense rainfall that the paths, like last year, are a quagmire. Some relief was afforded by the freeze of last week, but the problem is deep-seated and is about what is happening to the climate overall.
In early January the amount of rainfall led to a large landslip in the ravine, effectively blocking any access to the Laird’s Island. This map, which will be familiar to Lairds and Ladies shows the exact location in relation to Castle and Bridge.
Finding a way to bridge this gap in our path network might prove impossible, given the dynamic nature of the landscape – see the video of the river from Sunday for an idea of the type of flow we receive on an ordinary day …
We’re hopeful that some form of bridge or boardwalk will be possible, but before then we’ll have to wait for the ravineside to settle – and frankly, we are not sure when that will be. We are therefore also looking at alternative pathways, particularly to aid our tours… We’ll have more on this as we work out solutions in time for opening in late March in time for Easter!
Here’s the video:
Over the last year, as you’ll know if you have been following us, we’ve put in place a variety of surveys, plans and consultations which will help us realise the restoration of the castle. Over Christmas David Wright helped us take a small step further by installing a safety fence around the castle.
Now most safety fences are metal temporary things which have a habit of falling over at the drop of a hat – or weather bomb as the British press likes to call them. There’s a great example of how not to do it along Loch Fyne at St. Catherine’s.
Our safety consultant, Gillian Clark of GMO Consulting therefore recommended a post and rails fence, one that would look relatively benign in the context of the castle, and provide a proper visual and physical barrier to the building.
The results are great – the main photo above shows how the fencing is not particularly visually intrusive, and the ones below the detail of how we fenced and gated the front and side. You’ll notice we have left an area for the signage to remain, so our tours will remain safe behind the fence, but their view of the building won’t be obscured.
We went out at midday a couple of days ago for a walk. Felt like walking in a subterranean world. Extraordinary.
A good day today for a lot of reasons, not least the creation of three picture baubles for the Scottish Laird website. Also, watch out on the 10th December for new offers both from the site and Groupon UK.
With the top page of the slightly restructured website I had thought about a background of a Christmas tree with the baubles hanging from it, but it all got a little unnecessary visually! This very calm, bauble adorned front page provides a really clear route to the titles, our tartans and our accessories. We also refreshed the title circles which were looking a little retired. They’re now sharp sharp.
I particularly like these three picture baubles, utilising photography both from myself (the deed) and Jean Donaldson (teddy and tartan). The interaction of fonts (helvetica neue and zapfino) and image are particularly chocolatey (and yes that is a technical graphic design term… )
Much of the work that has been undertaken this year by our professional team has been funded by all the titles and merchandise that have been purchased through the Scottish Laird project. The archive we are publishing on the Lairds’ and Ladies’ site is a detailed record of the outputs of that work. There are drawings for works on the bridge, preparatory sketches of the plans for the castle, fly-bys from laser surveys (like the image above) and much else besides.
A preview of the present list is shown below and is available to members of the site here.
Looking forward to this and also had a lot of fun designing the poster too –