Explore our history on your doorstep
Yesterday in the cold and the wet I took a party of Australians round the highlights of the Bannockburn Battlefield.
Not just the NTS centre but all the way to Bannockburn High School.
A big four hours walk and they loved it.
Bannockburn was one of the reasons they came to Scotland.
I think for a lot of us, it’s something in the background.
We’ll get round to it eventually or, even worse, it’s not for us, it’s a tourist thing.
Thousands of people each year come to Stirling to see and learn about our history.
It really is everywhere and you have heard me before banging on about it.
But it’s another new year and so when it warms up why not explore what people travel from across the world to see?
Remember this is your past and it has shaped every aspect of the county and the city we love (and sometimes grumble about!).
If you are a novice to Bannockburn start with the excellent National Trust for Scotland Centre.
Learn about what an absolutely astonishing victory it was.
Or go to Cambuskenneth Abbey and explore the deadly midnight raid by renegade Scots led by the Earl of Atholl, and where Bruce held his first post-bannockburn Parliament and where his coffin rested after his death.
If your appetite is whetted think about the other impacts of the Wars of Independence.
Wander up to the castle and try to figure out where Edward I built the world’s largest trebuchet (The War Wolf ) for the 1304 siege.
Find the Dominican Priory where Bruce and Edward I stayed and where the Friars walked from to negotiate peace with Wallace ahead of Stirling Bridge.
It’s all there on your door step waiting for you!