Is this a dagger which I see before me?

Leaving England we paused not far from Perth for a night before heading to a small campsite not far from somewhere I’d heard about during my O’Level English lessons. As my love of Shakespeare formed, Glamis became one of the places I had heard about, but had no idea it was a real place! So just to confirm, it is! I'm not a Royal fan, so I had no idea about their connection until researching our visit… 

As we took a tour of the castle we learnt about the Royal history of the castle but for me, hearing about the friendship ( or more likely, more of a  useful relationship) between Shakespeare and the Laird.

We learnt that Shakespeare  was hoping to gain favour with the king, and thought that the Laird could help him with this by offering to set his new play (Macbeth) at Glamis, making himself the Thane of Glamis, in exchange for a good word. 

It is thought Shakespeare visited fairly often, and I’m glad he did, as it led to a fascinating visit, at a stunning location.

The Castle is still a family home, but is open for visitors with guided tours of the house and beautiful gardens. It really feels like a storybook castle.

The Shakespeare trail, carvings made from fallen trees in the woodland, is beautiful and well worth the quick detour from the main path through the gardens.

The whole site is simply stunning, with a walled Garden full of flowers planted to attract wildlife, and chickens and vegetables to supply the restaurant.

I know it’s a long way north, but if you can make the trip, I highly recommend it!   

Our next stop as we travelled north took us to Montrose, and the Air station heritage museum, another absolutely hidden gem!

The air station was the first operational military air station in Great Britain when it was established in 1913. It tells the story of the people who worked there until 1952 when it closed for the last time.

The sheds, based on the airfield house a room replicating a wartime home, as well as workshops and a lot of aircraft! 

They also do a lot of work in encouraging children to take up STEM subjects with small activities for children in the middle of the aircraft.

The star of the show (for me) was the Tornado GR4 that was flown by the RAF from 1980 to 2019. It is huge! Interestingly, this particular aircraft was flown by Ewan McGregor’s brother Colin (nickname Obi Two).