The mercat cross, Dunkeld

Also known as the Atholl Memorial fountain.It’s the main monument in the market square in Dunkeld.

Elspeth and I set off in the morning, firstly to visit Drummond castle gardens near Crieff. The driveway to this castle is an imposing tree -lined avenue up which one could imagine a cloaked rider galloping…I felt I was either falling through time, or on a film set.

The gardens are formal, European in style, with an ornate sundiall, Scotland’s oldest of its type. Beyond these gardens is a young orchard of Scottish heritage apple trees, and a woodland walk, as well as greenhouses filled with many varieties of pelargonia. All looked well maintained, and I wondered how many gardeners were employed to keep it that way.

After tea on the terrace, we set off for our next stop, Crieff heritage centre. I did wonder why this large building was set so far from the town on its own industrial estate, until I realised from the very large restaurant that it was designed to accommodate coach parties, which could not be accommodated in Crieff. We spent quite a while there, and even bought photographic prints of diverse Scottish scenes.

Following this visit, we headed up the sma’ glen to Dunkeld, but stopped outside the town to walk at the Hermitage, a a popular wooded area where the river Braan flows. There are many walks to be had there, and I’ve been a visitor for decades, Today, the river water was very low (we paddled) and a wedding party was taking place in the little building called Ossian’s hall overlooking the dramatic waterfall below. The photographers and bride were in evidence, taking romantic shots against the stunning natural backdrops, but it took me a while to realise that there were in fact two brides, both dressed in long white dresses. (We caught up with them later in Dunkeld, where we discovered they their names were Chelsie and Becky).

Between dodging the paparazzi and managing not to slip on the river’s slimy stones, we managed a good walk, despite the busyness. In Dunkeld town, we had a drink by the river Tay, despaired of the wedding party’s melancholy jazz band, and had a brief walk around the town centre. The cathedral was closed, sadly, but all was glorious in the evening light, including the fountain on the mercat cross.

We drove back to Almondbank and Elspeth kept trying to get me to go for a walk, but we’d already done about 14,00 steps and I wanted to rest and watch TV, so that is how we finished this extraordinary and wonderful day.

I’ll put a picture of Becky (left) and Chelsie (right) in extras, They kindly invited us over to say hello the the rest of their guests, but we were happy just to have witnessed the edges of their ceremony. Remind me to get married at the Hermitage, should the occasion arise.