Dumbarton Castle
- more accurately Dumbarton Rock - stands tall and dramatic on the south shore of the town of Dumbarton. A volcanic plug, a fantasy fortress, sheer cliff sides splitting at the top into two grassed domes. Bits of battlement and building are visible from afar.
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I've admired the rock often when travelling north on the West Highland Lines to Oban or Fort William, or to Jennifer's parents' in Garelochead. I was recently speaking to the Helensburgh branch of the Saltire Society and we decided to make a weekend of it, including a visit to Dumbarton by train. If coming from Glasgow you're spoiled for choice - two trains an hour from Queen Street Low Level platforms, and three stations to choose from when reaching Dumbarton: Dumbarton East is a kilometre from the castle; Dumbarton Central about a kilometre and a half; Dalreoch about two kilometres.
We chose Dalreoch, walking briefly south from the station to cross the River Leven by the Old Dumbarton Bridge rather than the modern and heavily traffic-ed A814 bridge. Old Dumbarton Bridge was built in 1765 on the orders of the Duke of Argyll, keen to have access to Glasgow from his nearby Rosneath estate.
After a short distance on riverside path beside lovely winter-plumaged (no black heads - & in fact even in breeding season the 'black' is actually rich chocolate brown) black-headed gulls preening on the railings we joined the High Street and found a nice friendly cafe with soup for Jennifer and scone for me. Rigo's Bistro - www.tripadvisor.co.uk
From here Dumbarton Rock is only a fifteen minute walk past what was once a large distillery complex and is now waste ground, then past supermarket superstore, then past recent housing estates. Use a map or if you don't mind a few dead ends just keep your eyes on the castle and navigate by instinct.
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Dumbarton Rock, pencil in sketchbook, 15x20cm |
Dumbarton Rock impresses in every aspect - its size, its shape, its history. Fragments of wine amphoras suggest that Iron Age residents traded with the Romans; it suffered Viking attacks -and capture- in the 9th Century; William Wallace was a prisoner once, maybe; Mary Queen of Scots was here in 1548, waiting for a ship to remove her to the safety of France; In 1489 James IV had the famous - huge and hugely heavy - Mons Meg canon brought from Edinburgh to assist in laying seige to the castle for the second time that year. The second time was successful; In the 17th and early 18th centuries substantial artillery fortifications were built, largely covering all that had been before. These last are what the visitor sees today.
We saw birds - blackbird, robin, song thrush, blue tit, long-tailed tits, flitting and foraging among healthy amounts of shrub and scrub across the rock. A red admiral butterfly on ivy flowers. Gulls and cormorants, a seal on the water. And from the very top, the most fantastic all-around views of Dumbarton, the Clyde, the Erskine Bridge, the Glasgow skyline, Ben Lomond and a horizon of hills.
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'Dumbarton', by the way, derives from the Gaelic 'Dun Breatann' - ‘Fortress of the Britons’. Before that, one-and-a-half thousand years ago, it was known as 'Alt Clut' - ‘Rock of the Clyde’.
Dumbarton Castle is managed by Historic Scotland and costs £4.50 for adults, £2.70 for children, £3 for concessions, free for Members. It's open throughout the year but check full details here - www.historic-scotland.gov.uk
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a walk-in well |
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How to get there
ScotRail timetables here - www.scotrail.co.uk
Click - Central Belt - Glasgow Suburban Routes - Dunbartonshire
Many thanks to ScotRail for their ongoing support of my project to explore Scotland by Rail.
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