My Day Trip to Dumbarton Castle

Location

Castle Road
Dumbarton
Dunbartonshire
G82 1JJ

Website

View

Visit Date : Wednesday 19th April 2017

Cost : £5.00 per adult

The last time I was at any castle, would have been when I was in primary school so I was looking forward to talking a walk around the castle and seeing the sights.

I was very lucky today as the weather started out very dull and part of me thought it would rain, but it turned out to be a very nice day as you can see from some of the photos.

First stop some fuel before the castle…..

We visited a little cafe called The Little Coffee Shop and Sandwich Bar.

Facebook : thelittlecoffeeshopdumbarton

Location

94 Glasgow Road
G82 1JP
Dumbarton

The cafe has a nice cosy, warm and relaxing look and atmosphere.

On entry we were welcomed and took a table, we were then given menu’s and took a few minutes to decided what to have before our long walk around the Castle.

I decided to order a Cappuccino and a roll and bacon, I didn’t want to fill myself up too much as my girlfriend prepared lunch for both of us.

I could have easily had a few of the cakes as they looked really good, but I thought I better be good.

I didn’t take note of the costs, but it was about standard prices for these items.

If I was ever back in Dumbarton I would return here to try a few other things, and some of the cakes as they looked really nice.

Onward to the Castle…

When we came out the cafe the Castle was only about a 10min walk, so we just took our time and enjoyed the sun that was starting to come out.

I took many many photos but I will only add a small amount, so you can see some of the locations I visited.

The castle has many many steps, so if you are not able to do a lot of walking then maybe this Castle isn’t for you. If you don’t mind lots of steps, then you will be treated to some amazing views and a lot of history.

As you’re walking about the grounds of the castle, you will come across several points of interest these include a prison, where they stored the gun powder etc etc I didn’t expect to find as many as I did.

There are also educational post markers about, where you learn a little about this specific area e.g. one was feeling how heavy a bucket was as this was to represent how heavy it would have been when they were carrying water around the castle.

The land is kept in very good condition, and I saw they are always working on it to keep it really nice, clean and tidy.

The main areas that you will visit when you are here, thats if you manage all the stairs are :

1. Bower Battery : This is where cannons once controlled the route up the Clyde
2. White Tower Crag : This is the highest part of the Rock at 74m high, where you get a 360 view.
3. Guard House : The 16th Century Guard House
4. Crane Bastion : Built to raise stores and munitions to the summit from the ground
5. French Prison : As the name suggests it held French Prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars
6. Powder Magazine : Use to keep gun powder barrels

Plus as you are walking about, the views you are treated to is amazing.

Overall the visit was very nice, the weather today was really good which made that more enjoyable as if it was raining climbing all the stairs wouldn’t have been nice.

I would come back and see the castle again, firstly as it’s a nice cheap day out and also if it’s a nice day the views are amazing.

As I said just a nice short post on my visit, if you want more historical details check out the website or go and visit….or even both.