Linlithgow Palace is a beautiful ruin of a pleasure palace for the Stewart monarchs. James V and his daughter Mary Queen of Scots were booth born here as well as James VI’s daughter Princess E,izabeth from whom the Hanoverians are descended.
Sadly the palace became derelict after the monarchy united with that of England and the court headed south to London. Fire eventually destroyed the palace although I didn’t spot any obvious scorch marks in the ruins.
The remaining parts of the building give a hint about the magnificent palace it must have once been. Many floors, intricate decoration and a good imagination indicate what it looked like in its glory days.
I climbed to the top of the tower and it was a very long way up! My legs were quivering but I’m not sure if that was due to vertigo in repsonse to the height or leg exhaustion due to the number of steps!
After the palace we went into St Michael’s Church which is just outside. The crowning glory on the steeple shows the royal use it used to have but the door which the Kings used to use has been bricked up.
The Linlithgow Museum has lots of historical information about the town and offered free admission with a children’s trail to keep them entertained.
We sepent the afternoon at Calderglen Country Park which has a small zoo, gardens and conservatory which currently has a dinosaur trail!
I had a few passive aggressive words (‘look how scared those poor animals are by those children’) to say about children banging on the glass: honestly why do some people refuse to parent their children?!
I hinestly thinkg that the kids would like a holiday where we just went from playground to playground. They had great fun at the one at Calderglen and we decided to let them relax on the play equipment reather than explore the rest of the park.
