The Unicorn Tapestry recreation in Stirling Castle
Day 12. Thursday, May 19, 2022: Our last day on tour in Scotland has arrived! Most of the group visits one final mill, Knockando Woolmill, but a few of us visit Cardhu distillery, both in the Spey Valley.
Our tour guide at Cardhu, Natasha, is great. We learn that single malt whisky has but three ingredients: water, barley and yeast. She explains the various steps from malting, drying and distilling, and we get to see these steps in the malt house and stills. She takes us to the original 1884 stone warehouse, and we play a guessing game to try to identify which wood barrels are made from and which spirits are in a barrel. At the conclusion of the tour, we have a tasting of three whiskies plus a whisky cocktail. Tasty, and the highball is particularly delicious!
On the road to Pitlochry for lunch and shopping. It’s a cute little town with lots of shops and restaurants, and we spend a pleasant hour there.
Further south we go to Stirling Castle. We’re just in time for the 4 pm tour, which gives us a great overview of the historical importance of the castle. After the tour, we explore on our own. The restored palace rooms are quite different from other European castles. Of particular interest to this group of weavers, the famed Unicorn Tapestries (the originals of which are on display in the Cloisters in NYC) were recreated in a 13-year long project at the castle and a Scottish tapestry studio. During the fabrication phase, the public could watch the weavers at work in the castle. Now the completed tapestries hang in the palace, and there is a small exhibit detailing the process of recreating the tapestries, including interviews with some of the weavers. Really fascinating, and the new tapestries are exquisite. Stirling Castle is truly the cherry on the top of a wonderful trip.
After that, it’s back to Edinburgh for a final group dinner before flying out in the morning. We can hardly believe how amazing the trip has been. We have seen so much of this stunningly beautiful country, been welcomed warmly by so many weavers and mills and strengthened relationships both between Guild members and with our new Scottish textile friends.
