Castle Mey and Gardens (Queen Mothers private castle) and some very old churches - 19 May

Sue gave me some tablets to help with my cough. It certainly worked and I slept much better last night. Late start for us today, so I did some washing and we headed out just before lunch to visit the Queen Mothers Castle Mey and Gardens in Caithness - about a 25 min drive away. 

My Pop's side of the family lived throughout Thurso back in the 1700 - 1800's and on our drive to Castle Mey, Sue discovered there's an airbnb called "Clynescroft" - so we went and had a look. We found this sign:

There's a good chance the people who own it are related - quite exciting.

Arriving at the Castle, we drive up the long, high hedged driveway eagerly awaiting our first glimpse. There's also a very high stone fence surrounding the property, so our first view comes as I park the car. The rain has decided to pay a visit with a light drizzle so we decide to grab some lunch. Fruit scone with butter and jam and hot chocolate for moi, soup and cheese scone for Sue.

The weather will be a bit unpredictable today as the castle is literally a stones throw away from the ocean and surrounded by a smallish garden and wooded area. We take the obligatory outside photos as no photos are allowed of the inside:

Side of the castle as you enter the grounds

Front of the castle - entry in middle

Before I try to describe the rooms and some of the stories we were told here's a bit of history about the Castle:

• the Castle was built between 1566 and 1572 by George, the 4th Earl of Caithness, for his second son William Sinclair
• in 1789 the name of the castle was changed to Barrogill Castle
• it became the seat of the Earls of Caithness for the next one hundred years 
• in 1819 the 12th Earl commissioned architect William Burn to make alterations and this was when the grand entrance and the dining room were added
• The 15th Earl George, died at the age of 30; he never married and having no children, left the castle to his friend F G Heathcote, on condition he changed his name to Sinclair
• His widow eventually sold it to Captain F B Imbert-Terry
• The Queen Mother first saw what was then Barrogill Castle in 1952, while mourning the death of her husband, King George VI
• The Captain subsequently sold it to The Queen Mother in 1952
• the castle, gardens and parklands (about 30 acres) were restored from 1952 to 1955 as was the castles original name changing it back to The Castle of Mey

From 1955 until her death the Queen Mother stayed at the castle twice a year, every year for 3 weeks in Aug and 10 days in Oct. She was very frugal and therefore furnished her castle with either 2nd hand local furniture or gifts she'd received over the years.

Upon entering the castle you are met with a chair that contains her light blue walking coat, wellies (with nails in the heel to help with grip) and her dogs bowls. She used to feed them near the front door every morning and night. It also contains three large paintings of the original Sinclair owners, as she wanted to retain the history.

There's also a staircase leading to the first floor that splits in two after the first set of steps. The QM always walked up the right hand side and once she reached 100 years of age, a banister was added to assist her. The story goes... having returned from her Sunday church service and upon entering her castle and seeing the banister, she walked up the left hand side instead!! 

The first room you enter upstairs is her drawing room where she completed any correspondence and watched comedies on her 'rented' TV. Given she was only at the castle twice a year, she didn't see any reason to 'purchase' a TV. When the King visits, her old TV is removed and replaced by a flat screen. The room is filled with family photos, books and three very old books from the Sinclair's that have been in the castle since it was built.

Next room was the 'office' which is where her actuary worked and basically was a 'walk through' room to the dining room. Again is was filled with family photos, seating and gifts from countries around the world - I saw a pen holder from NZ.

We then wandered in to the dining room which was quite basic and followed the previous rooms themes. Interestingly the carpet on the left hand side of the room was extremely worn and threadbare. When asked as to why she wasn't replacing it the Queen Mother replied "one should never replace a gift from one's mother-in-law."

Final two rooms we saw were the kitchens. One directly off the dining room and the older kitchen was down a set of  narrow galley stairs. Again, they booked like kitchens of any normal house. 

The most commonly expressed opinions by visitors is how homely and comfortable it feels - I have to concur 100%. It is very easy to see why she loved the place so much and never missed her twice yearly stays. I also found out the Queen Mother was only 5ft tall - so even shorter than I thought. 

Drizzily rain was still falling as we headed out to see the gardens. There were three paths;

• one lead to the wall of the castle, 
• the other to an animal centre (which had farm animals for the kids), and 
• the other was more of a veggie, flower garden. 

We walked for a short distance along the walled garden (which is protected by the 12 feet high wall giving protection from the severe wind gales and salt spray), before heading back to the veggie, flower garden. It was a simple square garden with all the plant types we've encountered before, a rose garden, seating in most corners or half way in a given direction:

There's a tower in this garden you can climb and have a great view across the gardens, oceans and other islands. It also contains pavers with inscriptions of important events during the Queen Mothers life.

Fantastic day, highly recommend if you are ever in the North of Scotland!!

Heading back to Thurso we visited "Old St. Peter's Kirk" - a church founded circa 1220 by Gilbert Murray Bishop of Caithness. It was closed to worship 1832 (not bad 612 yrs of worshipping)!! Fascinating old church to visit:

Vision as you drive up to it

Skull and cross bones - very common

Church remains still standing

Final visit for the day was St Mary's Chapel Crosskirk. This was an unexpected surprise as upon arrival you park the car and set off across the fields, over a bridge and beside the ocean until you reach the charming little chapel. Fantastic views and very pleasant 20 min walk each way to end our day.

The small chapel with nave and chancel was built on this site probably in the 12th century. What remains was originally the nave. The chancel has been replaced by a later burial enclosure on the same site.

Here's some of the stunning views as we walked to the Chapel:

My perfect house in the country 😁

Only sad note was the huge trout I saw in the river as we crossed the bridge. It looks like it has a fungus growing over it's eyes so we think it can't see anything. It does look like it's finding food, but that fungus won't stop growing - so don't want to think about it anymore. Hopefully someone will catch it, help it or eat it 🎣🎣.

Final task for the day was to pop into the local Lidl (supermarket) and grab some chocolate!!

Sweet dreams.