Conquering a Scottish castle
Pablo//2 min
One of my last days in Scotland I decided to visit a small coastal town called North Berwick, not far from Edinburgh where I was staying.
The town itself has its charm, but the real tourist draw is a few kilometres out: Tantallon Castle and Bass Rock — a great lump of rock rising from the sea not far offshore, with remarkable birdlife. It was also known as the fifth tower of the castle, since it was once used as an additional watchtower.
After a long walk toward the castle following the most scenic and winding route — a golf course hugging the coastline — I finally arrived.
My surprise was considerable. As I approached, I found a fence with a thick hedge blocking the view of the castle about 500 metres away, and a toll booth to get any closer.
I can understand charging entry to a castle — but to simply approach it? I stepped into the booth and asked a stiff Scottish attendant whether I could walk closer without paying. His answer confirmed my fears: to get any nearer you have to pay — £4.70. I thanked him politely and walked away, having already decided internally to get in without opening my wallet.
Back outside the booth I was already running a mental map of the terrain — the security points, the fence, the hedge...
I started walking slowly along the entrance path until I spotted a small gap in the hedge separating the path from an adjacent field, which in turn ran along the castle perimeter. As I approached the alternative entry point, a car pulled up to the toll booth. Keeping one eye on the attendant distracted by his new visitors, I took my chance and slipped quickly into the field.
From there I made my way to the protective fence running around the castle perimeter, in line with the booth — apparently the last line of defence.
The invasion force was ready for the assault on the castle. I jumped the final fence, crossed the moat, and began covering the remaining distance to the castle — blending in with the rest of the "legitimate" visitors.
As expected, there were no further checks inside the grounds. The interior was unguarded, so I decided to make the walk worthwhile by exploring its nooks and crannies and immortalising the conquest with a few photographs of the views from the top.
Tantallon Castle has fallen! Scotland is ours! They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!
And so the Spanish army took this Scottish castle — echoing the days of Philip II when the sun never set on the Spanish Empire, and extending once more the territories that, at some point in history, bent the knee to the Spanish crown.