Tantallon Castle

      One of my favorite castles on our trip to Scotland is Tantallon Castle located on the east coast near the town of North Berwick. After doing some exploring, the man at the visitor center showed us a book about the castle. On the cover was a picture of the castle which included cliffs and the ocean. I asked how could I get a picture like that. He informed me that it wasn't possible on the castle property but if I drove a little further, into a farmers property, through a mechanical gate that will accept a 2 pound coin, down a single track road through thick trees and bush, I would find an opening to park the car. Then find the stairs that lead down to a wide sandy beach, head up the coast and the castle will come into view. So that's what we did. It was worth it. While the girls explored the beach looking for shells and building castles of their own, I went looking for a unique composition of my castle. Below is one of them. It is here that I dropped my 10 stop filter in the ocean. Fortunately I didn't lose it and it wasn't damaged but I soon found out that salt water is not easy to clean off.
      Tantallon Castle was built in the mid 1300's and has been beseiged and repaired a number of times, the last being in 1651. It was left in pretty much the condition that we see today. I learned later that there are some scholars that believe this castle is linked with Camelot, associated with the legendary King Arthur.  Even though there is little historical evidence that King Arthur was an actual person, it is neat to have been able to actually wander around the area that some feel gave rise to this famous story.