Posts by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #B1xNX8JQO3UkMoqXwm by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T21:24:19Z
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#208: Muchalls Castle near Stonehaven. Privately owned. Grounds don't look recently maintained. Rang the doorbell, which was an actual bell. Nobody came to the door. Walked around exterior. Supposedly has some amazing plaster-work ceilings.
(DIR) Post #B1xNX95zTULKnRZKe8 by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T21:30:08Z
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#209: Neidpath Castle near Peebles - Extremely thick walled L-plan castle with courtyard and associated buildings which ran down the steep hillside to the river below. A siege via cannon from across the river probably weakened one corner, which collapsed much later. Paid 50 pounds for a private tour. Worth it.
(DIR) Post #B1xNX9ugR0tPKfHof2 by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T21:35:07Z
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#210: Nether Horsbrugh Castle - A classic, extremely minimal peel tower built next to a little stream. The stonework is in a very precarious state and was none too good to begin with. I bunked down in the nicely refurbished mill building with it in sight.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXAczmGL1Y61CjI by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T21:40:19Z
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#211: Newark Castle near Pittenweam - Very decayed and hazardous. I explored, carefully, but lots of lose stonework here. Frightening a pigeon could be your death. This one was quite ornate and had an elaborate and showy roof-line as a display of status. Also, plenty of gunports. There was some sort of vaulted building connected to the castle by stairs built against the cliffside. Possibly some sort of boat house.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXBPCt0u1xcZhsO by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T21:45:29Z
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#212: Niddry Castle - Privately owned and in the middle of a golf course. Nobody was home when I rang the bell. It played host to Mary Queen of Scots when she escaped Lochleven and she spent some time here frantically writing to her supporters. A number of stumps of round turrets surround the castle and there is a cobblestone courtyard.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXCCpuUbMRXnLEW by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T21:49:10Z
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#213: Pitsligo Castle - About 15 minutes west of Fraserburgh. Precarious stonework didn't stop a gang of preteens from climbing all over this thing. Has a number of very legible surviving armorial plaques. Surrounded by a number of large high walled enclosures for gardens and orchards.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXDFM2cD5fdyrnU by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T21:53:10Z
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#214: Pittulie Castle - Within sight of Pisligo. Very unusually has some simple Oriel windows mounted on the corners of the primary tower. The laird or lady liked their views. The castle is in the middle of a farmer's field. Parch marks in sat images reveal that this once had enclosures and gardens and there are remains of a doocot as well. Not reachable when there is a crop in the ground. Armorial plaques mounted on farm buildings nearby.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXE1DAgUW44N5OK by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T21:59:00Z
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#215: Preston Tower in Prestonpans - Mid 15th century L plan with the main entrance mounted in an unusual location. Addition thin walled upper rooms were added above the original roofline and inset from the outer wall to preserve a walkable allure. The battle of Prestonpans was observed from this tower. There are lots of armorial carvings on display here. Several doocots and later residences nearby.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXEtnti9ynNugU4 by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T22:02:09Z
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#216: Rait Castle - Thick walled hall-house that is just walkable from Nairn. I think it was about 4 miles each way for me. Very cool. It has a porcullis on the first floor entrance. Probably the best and most intact example of a well defended hall house I've visited.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXFlKggyhTOxQv2 by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T22:05:18Z
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#217: Ravenscraig Castle near Kirkcaldy. A superb example of castle design changing to adapt to an era of gunpowder warfare.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXGdvPieACiV20m by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T22:13:19Z
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#218: Also Ravenscraig Castle, only this one is near Inverugie. Sometimes known as Craig of Inverugie. This is the quintessential castle buried deep in the forest, with not a path leading to it. Was very difficult to find and access. One fairly intact vault with interesting long slit gunports with the inverse key style, but with a cruciform shape at the top. Came back from this one bruised and bleeding and threw away clothing, but happy.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXHNIh0wWTRjGjo by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T22:17:07Z
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#219: Red Castle - Near Lunan Bay south of Montrose. Long walk from the bus stop to get to it. See this one soon, as much of it is about to fall off the edge of the sandy bluff it is on.Wish I could have been here for the full day to watch the light shift across it's faces from different directions. Very scenic location.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXIQAnoppie54r2 by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T22:20:33Z
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#220: Rossend Castle in Burntisland - The new owners were just moving in and let me check the place out a bit.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXJFZihx4I487yS by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T22:25:27Z
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#221: Rosyth Castle in Rosyth - It is on the edge of a very active and secured commercial/military dockyard. I spoke to the guard at the entrance gate and he pointed out that simple trespass really isn't treated as a criminal matter in Scotland, but that damaging fencing and such was. He then pointed me to a gap in the fence. The coat of arms of Mary Queen of Scots can still be seen above the entrance gateway.
(DIR) Post #B1xNXKDU7xsFHs9yM4 by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-04T22:27:27Z
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Well, that is fifty more castles counted off and I've still got some more to go in Scotland before we get to the north of England and then onward to France. How many did I manage to see in 2025?Think I'll call it a night. I'm off to another French town tomorrow to see a castle.
(DIR) Post #B1zolxRWASgq4uqTTc by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-05T08:52:54Z
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Made it to the train station, purchased my TER ticket and got on the train with like thirty seconds to spare. Left for the station plenty early, but there was black ice the whole way and I had to take little shuffle steps the whole way to avoid falling on my butt, which would be very bad with my pack and grocery bag in tow. Took me twice as long to get to the station as the map estimate. The train to Dinan is interesting. It is a single car. Will try to get pictures of it when I get off.
(DIR) Post #B2Lrq41KuG921vgPZ2 by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-16T19:07:01Z
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I'll be taking a TGV to Paris tomorrow. Got my ticket booked. Given the distance and the time listed for the route, it will have to average around 106 mph. I should download a GPS speedometer app to see what sort of peak speed the train reaches on the fastest stretch. Anyone have an Android recommendation?
(DIR) Post #B2WfGEfcUhrFexmgnA by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-21T23:40:42Z
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People who think this is somehow going to be fixed in the mid-terms are dreaming. Even assuming a Democrat landslide, you really think they're going to have enough seats to impeach? Also, the Democrats have shown little sign of being an actual opposition party.
(DIR) Post #B2WfGGLUGWwSr6Ndgm by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-21T23:42:38Z
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Ultimately, the best chance the D's had to limit the damage Trump could do was by shutting down the federal government. They elected to reopen it and hand Trump an ICE budget bigger than what many large countries spend on their entire military. They gave him his brown shirt army. IMO, NO federal government or federal programs would be better than this budgetary enablement of fascism.
(DIR) Post #B2XcviTCV0NLFa1Uh6 by Infoseepage@mastodon.social
2026-01-22T11:18:53Z
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@Nonilex By say, holding multination "exercises" in Greenland? I think Europe no longer trusts Trump, is going to plant a force there to hedge against him getting grabby and Trump is going to claim it as a win and that they're not there to defend against HIM.