An Evening in the Great Hall of the Castle!

Oh, and what an excellent evening it was too.

Quite a few months back, September I think!, I briefly mentioned the really cool project that James' class were involved in at Edinburgh Castle.

In collaboration with Historic Scotland, they were to be Gaelic Junior Tour Guides for the castle, and film an educational DVD that will be shown to visiting groups for many years to come.

Once a week, for quite a few weeks they walked up to the castle (about a 15 minute walk from the school) to learn about the history of the Great Hall. They were then involved in writing the script for the DVD before filming it, wearing specially made costumes.

Last night there was a special reception held for parents and other invited guests to celebrate the launch of the DVD and the children's 'graduation' as the Edinburgh Castle Junior Tour Guides.

So, time for a few photos of the evening, some of which were taken by Calum.

The outside of the great hall, built exactly 500 years ago by King James IV.

Inside the hall. 

The tables are only there for the children's play. In the middle, closest to the fire are James and his wife, the English Margaret.

I don't have the photos to show this, but on the side of the hall where the King sat, all the stone carvings and stained glass related to his family. On the Queen's side they related to hers.

Some courtiers.

My favourite courtier.

The graduation photo.

My favourite courtier with his two friends, the King's servant and the shipbuilder who built the roof.

Yes, that's right, shipbuilder. Roof.

 James loved his fleet of ships so much he wanted the roof of the hall to look like an upturned boat. And it does. My photo of that is stuck on my phone, but another day I'll show it. It's quite an amazing roof.

It was after 8pm when we were leaving, and such a beautiful evening.

The castle gives such amazing views over all of Edinburgh.

Remember my post a couple of weeks ago about our child-free meal in a posh hotel? I ended with a shot of Edinburgh and mentioned the Balmoral hotel. Straight ahead, in the middle of this photo is that same hotel, from a different direction.

At the bottom of this photo is Princes' Street Gardens.

I should rename my blog, Kirsteen's Scottish History & Tourism Blog!

It has been such a great opportunity for them to be involved in this and definitely the kind of experience that they will remember for many years.

Oh, and a report of the evening and project can be found on Historic Scotland's site, here.

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