News – Tagged "Dunans Castle" – Scottish Laird
Menu
Cart 0

News — Dunans Castle

Fence completion at Dunans Castle The Fence is Completed and we are in a mood to celebrate 🐑

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

Wednesday the 18th March, the fencers finally left Dunans, and we have a fully browser-proof fence! Here's the latest video update – with footage of both the track and Pepper our Spaniel(!): Above, without intervention the tracks will end up turning into burns. Below left, a pedestrian gate, and below right, the stumps in the old commercial coups are starting to disappear, even as the mounding stripes the hill above. Below, the question is whether the areas left outside the enclosure will regenerate without significant intervention. Only time will tell! Our native woodland is the first step on an inevitable progress...

Read more →

Newsletter header image Dunans Castle update: the latest on Floris, Rainforest & Ruradhs!! 🎁

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

Dear Lairds & Ladies,July and August have been warm, blustery and fairly damp, but despite the inclement weather, we have been privileged to host Val & Scott's lovely renewal of vows (above) as well as several picnics. In this month's edition of the newsletter we have three short films for your delectation on woodlands and storm damage (yes, we have had another one, though not quite as disastrous at January's). We are also offering the Ruradh for pre-order - of which we have an ever-decreasing number for you. Seedlings, Saplings and Temperate Rainforests with Charles A short video about our...

Read more →

Newsletter header image News on Volunteering! ⚒️ And the Bridge! ‼️

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

Dear Lairds & Ladies,The photo of trees above, and more specifically sessile oaks in temperate rainforest, is a lovely image of the type of woodland we are going to create around the restored castle - an arboreal mantle if you like: this newsletter we are offering you a different kind of mantle as well as the opportunity to participate in the planting of this gorgeous forest. First the mantle that everyone can wear: our Ruradh in the Dunans Rising Tartan is on pre-order exclusively for subscribers of the newsletter. There are limited numbers and they will be sent out in...

Read more →

Newsletter header image Of Tours 🚍 Whisky 🥃 & Handbags 👜

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

Dear Lairds & Ladies,The summer is a time when I am either wanting to be out in the grounds or in the castle working away at maintenance or reparation projects, but that ends up being impossible at the height of the midge season (see How to Restore A Castle: Part One, Admonition the Twenty-Ninth) so, either I shelter in doors being frustrated or I do something different instead. This year I managed to find two new ways of bringing people to Dunans. The first was a West Coast Tour of Whisky Distilleries for "the Glen 8" who rounded up a...

Read more →

Newsletter header image 🎁 Wedding Pics 💍 & New Tartan Couture! 😍

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

Dear Lairds & Ladies,We have slipped almost unnoticed into June and summer. Partly because it seems we have had summer already with almost six weeks of fine weather, and partly because lots has been happening. In this week's newsletter we are concentrating on the lighter side, with two lovely things that have happened here. The first, as the photo above shows, we had a lovely fairy-tale wedding with Holly and Bruce organised by Wee Wild Weddings. Such romance, such fun! And then quite out of left field, our youngest produced a rather wonderful design in Dunans Rising tartan for her...

Read more →

Discover Dunans Castle: Charles's Presentation to the Forbes House Museum Discover Dunans Castle: Charles's Presentation to the Forbes House Museum

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

Charles's hit presentation to the members of Forbes House Museum in NY, USA.

Read more →

Tours at Dunans Castle in 2025 in Full Swing Tours at Dunans Castle in 2025 in Full Swing

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

Our venerable tour guide Gordon continues to guide Lairds, Ladies and their friends around the grounds of Dunans Castle, with historical anecdotes, tales of the project and future plans. This is an unmissable hour which always finishes at the plots of the Lairds and Ladies as well as a Q&A which Laird Charles. If you would like to come to Dunans and go on a tour, then please use the links above in 'Events & Visits'. Please note all visits are by appointment.

Read more →

Wedding at Dunans Wedding at Dunans

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

Love is in the air, among the bluebells and the rhododendrons at Dunans. If you are thinking that we might have the perfect venue for your celebration then please check out the photos of our Early May wedding. The happy couple's photographs show just how stunning a back-drop the policies are at Dunans. Photographer Bruce Mackenzie captured some really stylish images of the happy couple, and showed the castle and grounds off to stunning advantage. We wanted to share some more of the images of our happy couple's big day this early May Bank Holiday – it was all so romantic,...

Read more →

Charles Recommends The Conservation Plan for All New Lairds and Ladies Charles Recommends The Conservation Plan for All New Lairds and Ladies

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

If you want to know more about Dunans and the project to restore both the castle and the bridge, then the Conservation Plan, published in 2014 has all the detail you could ask for, including the history of Dunans, its heraldry and a full condition survey from 2013. Charles recommends the book as the definitive account of Dunans Castle from 1590 to the present day, especially if you are unable to visit to learn about the project firsthand. For more information on the project and our efforts to restore the castle you can watch our videos here -> https://youtube.com/@CharlesDixonSpain 

Read more →

#Instagram #Live for #AIP #Jammers: Repairing #DunansBridge and #DunansCastle

Posted by Dixon-Spain on

This week I was asked to update the Adventures in Preservation Volunteers (or jammers) on our projects for 2021, so on Friday at 5pm I livestreamed from the bridge and then took my viewers on a short walk to the castle to give them a flavour of what the project would consist next year. The … Continue reading #Instagram #Live for #AIP #Jammers: Repairing #DunansBridge and #DunansCastle

The post #Instagram #Live for #AIP #Jammers: Repairing #DunansBridge and #DunansCastle appeared first on And The Next Thing Is ....

Read more →

#LatestNews from #DunansCastle in #December #video from #theLairdHimself

Posted by Dixon-Spain on

Including a tour of the cleared castle and news on the ongoing works for the restoration.

Read more →

#Cross-stitch Experiment for #DunansCastle with #flyingbuttress & #virginiacreeper

Posted by Dixon-Spain on

After several requests, and given that we are nearing the festive season, I thought I would finally try my hand at developing a cross-stitch pattern! The results can be found here and below is a gif of the unrestricted palette version (you’ll need 95 colours!!).

Read more →

Spinning Castles in the Air

Posted by Dixon-Spain on

Rough and ready take of overflying Dunans, showing the cleared castle and practicing for detailed aerial survey! Unfortunately the quality is also rough and ready, but you’ll still get a feel for the height and shape of the castle as well as the plan of the interior!

Read more →

Packaging ScottishLaird’s Most Prestigious Decorative Title

Posted by Dixon-Spain on

Graphic and product design has always been a passion of mine, particularly in relation to restoring Dunans (of course!). Our new red boxes are spectacularly lovely, and I just wanted to share the design (and the rest of the package) which includes a square foot of the castle itself. If we can sell every square … Continue reading Packaging ScottishLaird’s Most Prestigious Decorative Title

Read more →

Dunans Castle Clearance Continues in Kitchen & Library: More Images Dunans Castle Clearance Continues in Kitchen & Library: More Images

Posted by Anne MacPhail on

The clearance of the back two compartments of the castle has taken much longer than the others, simply because they aren’t accessible by the minidigger and there’s not enough room for more than a couple of workers. Our luck continues with the floors, which are all concrete, making clearance much much easier than suspended floors. … Continue reading Dunans Castle Clearance Continues in Kitchen & Library: More Images

Read more →

September 2019 Report from Dunans

Posted by Dixon-Spain on

Meet Speak!
To subscribe to our newsletter please click here

Read more →

Monthly newsletter just published! | Scottish Laird Monthly newsletter just published!

Posted by Charles Dixon-Spain on

Every month we send out our email newsletter to over 40,000 Lairds and Ladies! Are you receiving it? Or have you stopped receiving it? Let us know and we can add your email to this list, or reactivate it. Email us at help@scottishlaird.com or join by clicking here and filling out the form! What can you expect? Well, every month you'll receive an email with news on our progress on the recovery of the castle, the bridge and the grounds - and the essential links to catch up with where we are!  We're presently working on  phase one  of the castle restoration, the Clearance and Consolidation...

Read more →

Extraordinary Ecosystem change: Can Pine Martens control Grey Squirrels to the benefit of the Reds?

Posted by Dixon-Spain on

Another one of those thought-provoking ecosystem observations, this time from Ireland, which if taken up could see the grey tree rats exiled from these islands altogether. I kid you not! http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/30/how-to-eradicate-grey-squirrels-without-firing-a-shot-pine-martens Something perhaps to consider and debate with the community forest at Stronafian … Should it be Grey or Gray – given the source of … Continue reading Extraordinary Ecosystem change: Can Pine Martens control Grey Squirrels to the benefit of the Reds?

Read more →

A Valentines Day Gift: Chocolates from ScottishLaird

Posted by Dixon-Spain on

Not sure we need to say much more, except that our sensational selection of six Scottish chocolates were made as a special commission for us by the excellent Caramiche Chocolatiers who can be found in Dunoon in a gorgeous haze of chocolateness … Chocolates helping restore a castle in Scotland – wonderful! There’s the Dunans … Continue reading A Valentines Day Gift: Chocolates from ScottishLaird

Read more →

Landslip at Dunans: Ravine path closed, repairs imminent!

Posted by Dixon-Spain on

This winter has been very hard on the grounds at Dunans. We’ve seen so much intense rainfall that the paths, like last year, are a quagmire. Some relief was afforded by the freeze of last week, but the problem is deep-seated and is about what is happening to the climate overall. In early January the … Continue reading Landslip at Dunans: Ravine path closed, repairs imminent!

Read more →