Postcard perfect 'Old Town' Stirling winds its cobble-streeted way up the side of Castle Hill to the 15th-16th century Stirling Castle and the church of Holy Rude. Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, Bonnie Prince Charlie and a raft of other connections with Scottish/English history and rivalry make this a pretty special place.
I could readily imagine fly-fishing on a misty loch or piping a skirl on a highlands mountain fortified by a dram of Scotland's finest single malts with the dewy heather tickling my kilted fancy - except, remote this aint. Drifting across the lochs and up the bens and fens, spoiling the vibe will be the background drone of ever-present traffic. This is readily accessible and well-travelled country where B&Bs far outnumber rustic, gloaming roaming, ginger-bearded caber-tossers. A junior Ruin was later despatched to the far north of the Orkneys to report back on its compliance with cliched preconceptions.
