The Upside and Downside of being a tourist

Simply put, the upside of being a tourist is there is always a lot to see. The downside is that if you are touring to gain intel, like I am, you won't usually like the answers you get. I just spent a wonderful day in Stirling at Stirling Castle. I think that there is more history, more information, and more to do there than at Edingburgh Castle and the Palace at Holyrood House combined. The Great Hall at Stirling has just been completely restored to how it looked during the time of King James IV. He was Mary, Queen of Scots grandfather. The Palace is currently closed to visitors because it is now being completely restored to look as it did in the time of James V when he first built it as a wedding gift to his new bride Mary de Guise. These are Mary, Queen of Scots parents. The restoration is going to cost somewhere around £12M and take between 3 to 5 years to complete! In the meantime, visitors can see the newly restored kitchens and Chapel Royal, both of which have been lovingly restored to look as they might have in the 16th Century. The views from all sides of the castle hill are amazing. Although Stirling is a good 50 minutes west of Edinburgh, you can see Arthur's Seat which is beside the Palace at Holyrood House and to the east you can see the actual beginning of the Highlands. Just below the castle to the South is the River Forth, and just on the next hill is Wallace's Monuement which honors William Wallace who was made famous in the film Braveheart with Mel Gibson.

While at the castle I saw a couple of gentlemen in Renaissance garb and attempted to speak with them in the language of the period as if I was Baroness Scrope. I was very disappointed by the responses I got. Just the mention of Mary, Queen of Scots and one of the gentleman almost sneered. The other man, dressed as a nobleman couldn't even bother to "get in to character" to talk to me. He really upset me when he responded to my period inquiries with third person answers! Hopefully those of you who really know how I am when it comes to being in character will appreciate how disappointing this was for me. I took the first opportunity I had to ask if I could come back to the castle in costume and play. I was given a card and asked to email my request to the events coordinator. Now I just have to get my email working and come up with a brilliant pitch that will convince them that I am worth paying or taking on more than just once. Best of luck to me on that.

I called Bolton Castle today in the hopes of catching Mr. Orde-Powlett. No such luck as he was not at the castle when I called. I left my mobile number but he never called me back. I am trying not to get discouraged but after today I am beginning to wonder how I am going to convince anyone to pay me for my ideas when it seems to me that here in the UK, locals take their history for granted or don't care about it at all. I was talking to one of the workers at the train station in Stirling and he mentioned how many tourists come to the castle but that he has never really seen any of the history in his own country. It made me realize that if I am going to sell my idea of a period "B&B," I may have to build it here but sell it to the countries that send the most tourists, namely America, Canada, and Australia, then India and the Asia's. This means understanding the tourist trade of each country and the UK. This made me very sad to think about it. Tourists want to usually see a lot of things in a short period of time and don't have a lot of money to pay for it. Convincing them that they should spend more time and money in Bolton is a huge challenge. The only way I can see to build the castle in the states right now is to the american people who cannot otherwise afford to travel outside the country. But now I see that it does not make sense to offer someone British history outside of Britain. And I see how trying to convince them that my property is so much more interesting, affordable, accessible, and worthwhile then the hundreds of others in the country, that it is almost too complicated to even try to do.

I do think that the people at Stirling Castle have a good thing going but they also have a patron who has given them lots of money for these restoration projects. The rest apparently comes from private donations, ticket, and souvenir sales at the castle. They are also renting out the Great Hall for private functions like weddings.

I still think that offering a room at the castle is the next indicated step but the palace is closed. Also, parts of it have been so badly damaged that the history of the building cannot be determined so the restoration of the lost part of the castle will be left uncompleted. Staying true to history means that if you don't know what was there you can't put anything. By doing this they have limited the use of the castle and decreased its draw to tourists. My feeling is that if you can, after much research and discussion with architects, historians, etc., come up with a reasonable approximation of what the missing part of the structure looked like, then build it the way you think it aught to be and use it to fund more research into what it actually was like, assuming this information is ever found. I would like to see Bolton Castle restored as best can be. I hope I can create a fruitful partnership with Tom Orde-Powlett and His Right Honourable Lord Bolton to do that. I want to open the castle up to overnight guests as so many other castles are doing throughout Britain. I think the addition of period characters, entertainment, food, and lodgind will make it the most popular destination in England. I hope Tom calls soon.