Stirling Castle & Cruise for Guides

Can you guys spot any sheep during the bus ride? There are actually over 6 million sheep, which is a lot of the population of Scotland, which is 5.5 million. There are, in fact, more sheep than humans. It has shaped the landscape to make it look the way it does today. Ancient Scotland was full of trees, and the fields you are looking out on now would have been covered in woods. These have been cleared to make way for farmland. It means you get a great view, but it's bad news for nature. There are calls to rewild Scotland and bring it back to how it once was, which would help wildlife and slow climate change. 

Besides sheep and highland cows, there is one other animal that is very important to Scotland. 

Ask the students: Does anyone know what the national animal of Scotland is? Answer: a Unicorn!

Legend has it that a unicorn has the strength of three lions... does anyone know which country has its national animal as a lion... England! As you can tell, England and Scotland haven't always gotten along. In fact, our first destination, Stirling Castle, is a perfect example of this. 

As we approach Stirling Castle, think about the journey we are making and why this may have helped to protect the Castle. 

Did you feel us going uphill? Stirling Castle is built on a volcano, just like Edinburgh Castle. It's very important to Scottish history because it's known as the "key to the kingdom". The Castle is built on a high and craggy hill with great views across the land. This means it was hard to reach, and anyone in the Castle could see attackers approaching. During the 12th Century, Stirling Castle was positioned on the only main route connecting the Highlands to the Lowlands of Scotland. It was also positioned on the only bridge over the Firth of Forth river, all of this meant it was a great place to hold if you were wanting a strong position in Scotland. It was said that to hold Stirling was to hold Scotland, and the Castle was passed back and forth between Scotland and England for around 200 years. 

The Castle has undergone changes, evolving from a 12th-century fortress to a grand Renaissance palace for the Stewart monarchs (James IV & V), the childhood home of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a major military barracks, now a top tourist site showcasing royal history, battles, and stunning architecture.

Many battles have also happened here in Stirling Castle, including the famous Battle of Stirling Bridge, which happened over 700 years ago and was led by William Wallace. William Wallace led many battles to defeat the English army against all odds. If you're interested, I recommend watching the "Braveheart" which is based on William Wallace. 

It's time to explain group expectations, set a meeting point and return time, and give them the optional task below

Fun task for Students: Who remembers the national animal of Scotland? The Scottish kings loved unicorns. There are many hidden unicorns around Stirling Castle. There will be a prize to whoever can find and take photos of the most unicorns aorund Stirling Castle. 

Guide notes: Students need to wait outside the castle while YS goes to the ticket office (inside the front gate) to collect individual tickets. Tickets will either be printed as adult or child depending on age of the group, and will include 1 free tour guide ticket. Rather than handing them out, they can be passed to staff at the entrance to be scanned all together. 

Toilets are located to the left side next to the ticket office 

Once you leave the Castle, you cannot reenter. 

There are free tours of Stirling Castle, ask at the entrance and give this as an option to the group. They usually have one starting every 30 minutes. These tours are open to everyone so are usually busy, and focus heavily on history and dates, and this can be hard for students to follow or engage in. If they do the guided tour, it leaves little time for self guided exploration. I'd recommend making it optional for those who love history, and encourage Yellowshirts to lead a simpler overview of the Castle using the information above, then release students for free time. 

Scotland is divided by the highlands and lowlands; Both Edinburgh and Stirling Castle are located in the lowlands and we are now driving up into the highlands. One way to tell if you're in the highlands or lowlands if the difference in the landscape. In the highlands, there are a lot of lakes and mountains. You will also notice in the Highlands that some road signs have both English and Scottish Gaelic, which was the language spoken here in Scotland. Nowadays, it is rare to hear the Scottish gaelic language in Scotland, and there is a big reason why. 

About 300 years ago, Scotland was being controlled by England, and those who lived in the highlands wanted to replace the king for a Scottish king. There were different rebellions, but the biggest one was led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. He believed he should be king and gathered an army from all around Scotland, and made their way down to London. They were very close to winning, but they eventually lost. 

The King of England was not very happy about the Jacobite uprisings, and he wanted to prevent any future uprisings, so he punished the Jacobite soldiers, forcing them to flee to avoid execution. 

He also banned their culture, which included Scottish kilts, bagpipes and ceilidh dancing. He also banned the Scottish language and forced them to speak English, so over the years their language died out. Today, Scotland has been trying to bring the language back and some schools, especially on the Scottish islands, teach it in school. 

The Celtic influence wasn't completely lost in Scotland, traces of it can still be found. For example, Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Scotland, has the word "Ben", which is Scottish for mountain or high hill. The word "Glen" means a valley, such as Glencoe. 

Now you also hear the word "Loch", does anyone want to guess what it means? 

There are many Lochs in Scotland... we actually have 31,460! Can you name the most famous loch in Scotland? (Lochness). It's pretty huge, and holds more water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined!

Some of the Lochs stretch very very far, our longest one, Loch Awe, is 25.5 miles long, which is almost the same distance as a marathon!

This is a beatiful example of some of Scotland's best scenery. A 'loch' is a Scottish lake, this one is a natural freshwater loch, and it provides drinking water to much of Glasgow. For this reason, the water needs to stay clean and diesel boats are not allowed. Today we're riding a beautiful steam boat that will take us on a short cruise around the water. You will get some great scenic views so get your cameras ready!

Confirm how many students/GL (combined) are in total as staff members there will ask you for the total and will count each student individually before boarding the boat. 

If you are short on time and students need to use the toilet let them know that there are toilets on the boat, but confirm with a staff member first. 

During the free time, a recommendation is for students to go to the viewing tower which is about a 5-10 minute walk from the parking lot and you get a beautiful view of Loch Katrine. Entrance to the path is from the side of the parking lot. 

Now that you are an expert in the Scottish language, we will be travelling to one of Scotland's famous lochs: Loch Katrine. You can enjoy your lunch here with stunning views, and we will have a cruise on the water. 

This loch isn't just beautiful to look at, it also serves a very important purpose. About 200 years ago, Glasgow was very different. There was no clean water, so people would either get sick or die from drinking the dirty water until they decided to build a water system using underwater pipes and tunnels from Loch Katrine to Glasgow. This was not a very easy job. It's about 30 miles, and they had to dig through hills and mountains. So because of this hard work and the loch, 150 years ago, Glasgow finally had clean water! To this day, Glasgow still gets its clean drinking water from Loch Katrine. For this reason, the water needs to stay clean and diesel boats are not allowed. Today we're riding a beautiful steam boat that will take us on a short cruise around the water. You will get some great scenic views so get your cameras ready!

The boat we're getting on is called S.S. Sir Walter Scott. If this name sounds familiar to you, that's because you've seen the beautiful Scott Monument in Edinburgh on Princes Street. Both the Scott Monument and the steamboat are named after a very famous Scottish writer, Sir Walter Scott. 

Scott really put Scotland on the map. In his books, he romantasised the highlands, and people would come from all over the world to visit the beautiful scenery he described in his books, including Loch Katrine. He wrote about the loch and its beautiful surroundings in his poem called "The Lady of the Lake". 

The steamship S.S Sir Walter Scott that you will see today has been giving boat rides on this loch for over 100 years!

Confirm how many students/GL (combined) are in total as staff members there will ask you for the total and will count each student individually before boarding the boat. 

If you are short on time and students need to use the toilet let them know that there are toilets on the boat, but confirm with a staff member first. 

During the free time, a recommendation is for students to go to the viewing tower which is about a 5-10 minute walk from the parking lot and you get a beautiful view of Loch Katrine. Entrance to the path is from the side of the parking lot. 

Students can refill water at Loch Katrine

Nessie is not the only mystical creature that lives in the Scottish lochs. There are legends from Scottish stories of a mystical creature named the kelpie. The Kelpies are said to look like beautiful horses that live in the rivers and lochs. However, kelpies are dark creatures, and you have to be very careful because they might look like a beautiful horse, but they are shape shifters, which means they can turn into horses or even a person! 

As the legend goes, Kelpies would stand near water to trick children into riding them. Once on their back, it was impossible to get off and they would return to the water drowning the children. Like many legends, it was probably born out of a mother's fear and want to keep her children away from water, and has been passed down through generations. 

The Kelpies that you will see today do not shapeshift, but they do change colour at night and are lit up a beautiful blue colour. 

While you are exploring, you might also notice their is a smaller version that is only 3 metres high. This was the original model, however people loved it so much that they fought to make it 10x bigger, the ones you see today are 30m high!

Allow 30 minutes to explore and return to the coach

It can take 5-10 minutes to walk from bus drop off to the actual Kelpies statues. 

Did anyone notice there was a canal running in between the 2 Kelpies? The canal is called the Forth and Clyde Canal, and it connects the east to the west. This canal was very important during the industrial revolution. During this time, horses were used to pull boats with goods and materials. Horses were tied to the boat on both sides of the canal and were forced to pull the boat forward. Today, they no longer use horses since they started using steam powerboats.

However, this statue stands today as a reminder of the hard-working horses and their role in the canal's history. It was built of stainless steel, which weighs 100 tonnes each, to represent the strength of the horses and the kelpies, as legend had it they have the strength of 10 horses. 

Students can use toilets and refill water at Kelpies