We had a great day doing things we shouldn't have been doing!

Wednesday was another day of nice weather. We actually had one older local man comment to us that we should enjoy it because "Scotland's weather isn't always like this". 

We had picked out three different things to do that looked interesting.

Two of them were visiting castle ruins. But these were two different castles that had fallen into disrepair, and weren't open to the public. I had read that you could still get in if you were really set on doing so... but of course you have to be very careful because the structures are not even close to safe.

The first one was Buchanan Castle. 

Buchanan Castle in the 1930's.

Buchanan Castle was built between 1852 and 1858. It was sold in 1925 to become a hotel and golf course. It was requisitioned as a military hospital during World War II, and fell into a state of disrepair afterwards. Someone made the decision to remove the roof in 1954 so that whoever owns it wouldn't have to pay taxes on it, and of course now the only things left is the walls which are quickly being taken over by vegetation.

There it is! Now engulfed by 70 years worth of vegetation.

There is a chain link fence surrounding the building, and a few signs warning you to stay out. But many years ago someone cut a hole through the fence, and it has never been repaired. So it's quite easy to enter. Of course you have to be careful of where you step, and there are some areas I wouldn't stand underneath because something might come tumbling down, but overall the walls themselves look like they are still solid.

Me, sneaking out from doing some exploring!

Me, exploring.

But, we didn't stay too long. You don't want to push your luck! Having said that, we were about to push our luck twice more that day!

We took a circular route walking back to the car, so we did another 2 miles (3.3 kms) after visiting the castle.

Squirrels carved into the top of this tree trunk.

Cows with Loch Lomond in the distance.

Another view.

The next stop was called The Devil's Pulpit. It's a small canyon where someone years ago had built a stone staircase leading down to the bottom, but erosion has made the staircase very unstable and reports that I read said that it's a bit of sketchy climb down.

Obviously others are intrigued as well, because there were actually quite a few people there!

Someone making their way down ahead of us.

Yes, you do have to be careful, but it's really not much different from some hiking trails that we've done!

Ruth, making her way down, with some others following behind.

It is a very cool canyon though, and worth the effort!

Some people took their shoes off and walked through.

There is a small waterfall further up the canyon.

Looking down from up above.

The entrance to the canyon.

Great fun! But the fun wasn't over yet...

Our third stop was Lennox Castle. 

Lennox Castle in the 1940's.

Yes, this is another abandoned castle left in ruins. We can't believe the decisions some people make that leave these beautiful buildings left to rot. In this example, Lennox Castle was built between 1837-1841. It was purchased by the city of Glasgow in 1927, and by 1935 the estate grounds had been turned into a mental hospital and the castle building itself was used to house the nurses and employees. 

The grounds provided accommodation for approximately 1,200 patients. 

This 1953 aerial photo shows the castle on the right, with the patient accommodation in the circular area on the left.

The hospital and property eventually became part of the NHS (The UK's National Health Service), and by the 1990's, they were realizing that the old ways of "helping" the mentally ill by keeping them institutionalized weren't working and the whole thing was shut down in 2002.

The patient accommodation was demolished and the property is now a state of the art football training facility that opened in 2007. The castle itself was left empty, and despite having a fairly solid fence installed around the perimeter, it was consistently vandalized and eventually the building was set on fire in May of 2008.

As far as I can tell, the property is still owned by The Greater Glasgow Primary Care National Health Service Trust.

Once again, there is a fairly solid fence surrounding the building, but over the years people have found a way in, and the way in has not been repaired.

We also had no problem finding the way in.

Very cool!

The main entrance.

Statue way above the entrance.

Check out the trees growing out of the top of the structure.

This would have been the view from the castle, back in the day. 

Now, there is too much vegetation and too many trees.

Ruth at the main entrance.

Looking up.

Hard to believe that this building was still being used only 23 years ago!

Some of the walls have already collapsed.

And others look very ready to come tumbling down.

It makes you wonder why they don't just demolish the whole thing.

Okay then.

Such a shame. 

We carried on walking to a viewpoint called Lover's Leap. 

There is an old railing preventing you from falling off the cliff.

The view from Lover's Leap.

We had a really fun day out exploring!

Not sure what's on the agenda for today. We better figure something out though, because it's almost 11:00am here already!

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