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Craigievar Castle
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With the lower angle of the sun as autumn advances, this can, on a sunny afternoon, be the ideal time to visit Craigievar, where artificial lighting was never installed. In deference to the Forbes-Sempill family’s wishes, the Trust has never changed this. Indeed, with the light striking the castle at a lower angle, the portraits are sometimes really beautifully illuminated. September is a quieter month for visitor numbers, which sometimes allows the guides the luxury of lingering with visitors for longer in various rooms.
Some of the specimen trees in the grounds are now starting to change colour, and their variety can be quite stunning. Enjoy watching the swallows start to gather on wires, prior to their long journey home to Africa. Look out too for the large numbers of different fungi in the grounds and along the woodland walks. Soon the fieldfares and redwings will be back to feast on the berries on the trees. Our ‘what’s out and about at Craigievar’ posters will alert you to other wildlife to be seen on the estate at this time of year.
Once the castle closes at the end of September everything in it will have to be ‘put to bed’ for the winter. All items of the collection will either be individually wrapped in the correct material, such as acid-free tissue paper, or covered with dust sheets, to protect it throughout the winter months. All blinds and curtains will remain closed, to keep the light levels as low as possible. Come the spring, everything will have to be unwrapped or uncovered, and then be carefully conservation-cleaned, polished, washed or dusted prior to the castle re-opening. Our aim is not to produce a showroom shine on articles, but to remove harmful dust and to conserve them for present and future generations to enjoy, keeping them in exactly the state that they were when they came into our care. During the winter all the hidden nooks and crannies in the castle will have been brushed out and cleaned, to make sure that any unwanted pests are unable to breed or hide. There is never a ‘quiet’ time in the castle’s life!
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