Crathes Castle

In gardening books, it talks about creating mysterious peeks into the unknown that will make it feel as though we have more of a garden beyond.



In truth, beyond is just as much a "garden" at Crathes Castle!



Here was a favorite staircase of mine--it also is like the gate through the shrubs, with a mysterious end. It actually ends up in the gardens. But notice how narrow the stairs, the hard curve left, that feels oddly unnatural. Think of coming up the stairs, sword drawn, not knowing what's just around the bend. Another swordsman, sword drawn, ready to cut the villain down. The man coming up has the disadvantage if he's a right-handed swordsman. Every aspect of a castle was designed for defense, so even a simple staircase into the gardens was designed with that in mind. :)



I had as much fun or more fun with the gardens here at Crathes as I did with the castle.


Hope you have a lovely day, dreaming of castles and gardens such as these!

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male."
www.terryspear.com