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Kinross
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Although by no means a large place,
KINROSS
, ten miles east of Dollar, has been transformed in the last couple of decades by the construction of the nearby M90 Edinburgh-Perth motorway. The old village is still there, at the southern end of the main street, but apart from the views of Loch Leven its charm has been eroded by amorphous splodges of modern housing, which threaten to nudge it into the loch itself.
Without doubt the most attractive part of Kinross is by the shores of trout-filled
Loch Leven
, signposted from the main street. In recent years the loch has become a National Nature Reserve and as well as some interesting birds, including visiting geese and various types of duck, you'll almost always find a number of fishermen casting from small boats. From the shore a small ferry chugs over to an island on which stands the ruined fourteenth-century
Loch Leven Castle
(April-Sept daily 9.30am-6.30pm; Oct Mon, Wed, Thurs & Sat 9.30am-4.30pm; Sun 2-4.30pm; HS; A?3.30), where Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned for eleven months in 1567-68. This isn't the only island fortress Mary spent time in, and it's easy to imagine the isolation of the tragic queen, who is believed to have miscarried twins while here. She managed to charm the eighteen-year-old son of Lady Douglas into helping her escape: he stole the castle keys, secured a boat in which to row ashore, locked the castle gates behind them and threw the keys into the loch - from where they were retrieved three centuries later. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United Kingdom,
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