Why we love Craigievar Castle

Transcript

Five speakers: John Lemon (Visitor Services Supervisor); Canadian visitor; Paul Cormack (Groundsman); Susan Fincham (Visitor Services Assistant); Lucy Tacy (Visitor Services Assistant)

John
My name is John Lemon.
I am the Visitor Services Supervisor for Craigievar Castle, one of the National Trust for Scotland properties in the North East of Scotland.
I've been here 9 years -- I was only supposed to cover for 2 or 3 weeks, but this is a place that once you come here, you fall in love with the beautiful pink castle that is supposed to have inspired Disney with his castles. 

There's only ever been two families living here: the Mortimers, who started the castle around about 1570.
They built the first three floors, and in about 1610 they decided to sell it.
It was then taken over by Danzig Willie, who made his money trading with the Baltic. That's why he got the nickname Danzig Willie.
He bought Craigievar and he did make it look like Disney's castle.

Inside is just as wonderful as outside.
There are some wonderful ceilings that are virtually untouched for 400 years.  
The visitor experience here is guided tours. 
We've got the kiosk so that, while you're waiting for a tour, or you've finished or you're sitting out  on a beautiful day like today, you can get hot and cold drinks, ice creams and some sweet snacks.
We have two trails -- one, which is slightly easier than the other, goes down below the castle; the other one is more strenuous and has some spectacular views when you get to the top. 
There is a shop with lots of lovely memorabilia of the castle.

Visitor
My grandparents have been here, my great-aunts and uncles, my father and uncles and aunts, and now it's my generation's turn, so that's what we're doing here.
We left Scotland in 1853, and before then we were descendants of Craigievar Castle.
Everybody in our family seems to be connected in some way, shape or form through the naming, but we named my oldest child, his middle name is Danzig, after Danzig Willie.
Every time a family member comes here, we get a picture of walking up the path. 
My great-aunt Marjory's done that, my parents have done that, and now we've done it coming up here! It's a lot of fun re-creating those.
It's a little interesting just how emotional it can be, walking in the places that your forefathers walked.
You think of the castle and you see the pictures, and I remember doing school projects when I was very young on Craigievar Castle.
It's a big part of our history and our family, and to stand here and take it in and stand in the rooms and touch the walls, and walk the gardens; it's ... yes.

Paul
My name is Paul Cormack. I'm the groundsman here at Craigievar Castle. 
That's my main job; however, I do from time to time have to do tour guiding, hence I'm wearing all this fancy gear today!
I love Craigievar because it's a castle which, when I first came here years ago,
I was struck by how much it was like a home, a family home. It didn't seem as grand and ostentatious  as other castles I've visited.
And when you get to know about the families that have lived here and you get to know how they interacted with the building, you can't help but fall in love with it.
 

Susan
I'm Susan Fincham; I'm a Visitor Services Assistant at Craigievar Castle.
What I love about Craigievar Castle is the fairytale aspect of the castle -- definitely the turrets and the way it sits in the hillside as you pass by on the road.  
It's one of the few castles in the area you can  actually see as you travel past, and I think that's really what attracts a lot of people to come up and see us.
 

Lucy
I'm Lucy; I work at Craigievar Castle, our beautiful pink castle.
I love this place because it's an amazing community spirit. It's absolutely beautiful on a lovely day; it's fantastic.
It brings people from around the world and you meet the most amazing people.
So, I'm very lucky! 
 

John
I love Craigievar because it is unique. It gets under your skin.
I can remember bringing my daughters here -- we've got pictures of them outside the castle.  
They now bring my grandchildren, and that's  one of the things that I love about this place in that it brings families to come here, to enjoy themselves and to see the history of the place.