Stirling 900
Stirling is 900 years old.
It was in 1124 that King David I granted Stirling the status of being a Royal Burgh.
To mark this anniversary there was a year’s worth of special events taking place which ran from April 2024 until the closing weekend of March 2025.
I had to miss most of the other things through the year due to other commitments, family, work, trips etc. For these last events I really wanted to make a point of getting along..
There were two main events of this weekend.
The first was Culture Night at Stirling Castle which showcased things happen in the city.
The second event was a parade of pipe bands from the Castle Esplanade through the City Centre and over the Old Bridge towards the rugby club.
Culture Night took place in Stirling Castle and was designed to let you walk through and explore both the Castle and the exhibits.
Which was a good way of letting you discover things.
On arrival we were greeted by a rainbow over the Abbey Craig and a large queue to get in.
The Castle was divided into sections with each area set up with stalls.
The Great Hall had groups from Stirling University, particularly promoting their Chinese links.
There was also a presence from the Stirling Photography Festival, Creative Stirling, The Distillery and Forth Valley Food And Drink CIC.
I tried Chinese cakes and white tea, some locally produced tablet and saw performances from some blues musicians and the Stirling Gaelic Choir.
The Chapel Royal had groups like Artlink Central and the MacRobert but it also had performances on the stage there. There was a comedy group involving some Stirling High School Students, who were actually pretty funny, and some more performances from the Callander Jazz & Blues Festival.
The Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders Museum had the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival and some historical displays while the Palace Apartments had Taiko drumming and Innis & Gunn, who
are sponsoring the Callander festival and were giving out free samples.
So I had the odd experience of being in the Royal Bed Chambers after dark drinking a beer and wondering what I would do if they locked me in.
.
There was music on in the Great Hall later as well as a laser light show but there were very few spaces available for that.
I was distracted by the view from the castle walls anyway. The view from the castle is as much worth the entry fee as the view of the castle.
Finale
The parade began with a gathering outside the gates of the castle.
There was a declaration read out on behalf of King Charles III and the keys to the city were ceremonially handed over.
I was told that they'd hoped to get 900 pipers. They didn't manage that but instead they did get around 900 people to take part in the parade. Around 300 were musicians.
900 people and one Shetland Pony called Cruachan.
The parade left at Midday and headed down Broad Street, onto Baker Street, King Street, Murray Place and Barnton Street then down Cowan Street and over Old Stirling Bridge to Stirling County Rugby Club where they were going to take a photo.
I'm not sure if I made the right choice of location to photograph them.
I wanted a place that just screamed "Stirling".
So I chose Broad Street, with Mars Wark, The Tolbooth and the cannons in the background.
It also allowed me to run down Upper Bridge Street to cross the river before they did and to see them head over the historic bridge.
King Street with the Atheneum would have been another choice but I'd have been limited to 1 shot of the parade.
It is a shame that it wasn't better attended but it was a really horrible day. I wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to go out in that.
If you'd like to see more of what I saw on those days I have a ebook that you can download from my website. It’s available in exchange for your email address.