Will Kelburn Castle be added to the new attractions of Scotland?
Of all the places in the world, few can capture the heart as Scotland does!
“Is it a fantastic new visitor attraction or just interesting drawings”, you may wonder seeing Kelburn Castle murals. The Earl of Glasgow, Patrick Boyle is thinking of making his 13th century Scottish castle a prominent attraction worldwide due to its series of psychedelic images painted all over the castle. The graffiti mural which was not a great eye catcher and an outrage to the locals when it was first painted by the Brazilian street artists has turned out to be a major appeal in the three year gap.
Featuring the surreal urban culture, the murals had cost upto £20,000 and were designed by a group of Brazilian graffiti artists, the identical twins namely Nina Pandolfo and Nunca, Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo who were commissioned by the earl’s daughter and son. The Graffiti Project was allowed by North Ayrshire Council on the grounds that it can stand its course only temporarily and to which Earl had promised to keep it for only 3 years. This has now changed and seeing the interest among visitors the Earl is now planning to keep it indefinitely.
Writing a letter to the Historic Scotland notifying whether he could keep the paintings on the Kelburn Castle, in Largs, Ayrshire, permanently, Earl has clear ideas in mind. With the three year limit in question, the replacement of the harling render on the exterior of the turret is on stay.
As per the memorandum published by the Historic Scotland, the colours to be used by owners of the listed properties in their books should relate to the architectural features of the entire building and should be indeed just one color which is not followed in the designing of the Castle. With the Earl planning to make the castle a landmark and bringing a whole new character in its doing, one needs to wait and see whether this attraction will turn out to be a successful one and add to the books of the existing favorite lookouts in Scotland.
Kelburn Castle is also stated to be one of the world’s top 10 examples of street art by the designer and author Tristan Manco besides being home to the Earls family for the last 800 years.
Scotland Hotels earning top spots among European hotels!
Besides the legends, myths and wide range of holidaying opportunities, Scotland has once more proved its distinction from other places in Europe -the hotels!
The highest standards of many luxurious hotels in Scotland being maintained, it is noticed that they are gradually becoming the hotspots out-riding Rome, Paris and Amsterdam. With higher occupancy rates recorded during the year, Scotland hotels are bringing in tourism money for the government.
The head of tourism at the Scottish Development International, Kenneth Clark is of the opinion that if investors fund growth for the numerous luxury hotels in Scotland is anything to go by then this business could turn out to be one of the most profitable in Europe. With the demand for hotels in Scotland increasing every other day, putting forth the right amount of investment in changing the selection of quality structure for each hotels can be an added benefit to the tourism industry.
It is also noted that in the month of May and June, the records showed the highest occupancy rates for Edinburgh hotels. With figures reaching 86% and 92% approximately, the hotels in Edinburgh were seen to be leading followed by Inverness and were also rated above Rome and Paris.
Harry Potter series leaves a giant footprint in Scotland!
For those young and aged who has spent the last few years being obsessed with Harry Potter series will enjoy reading this news which still remains a mystery to many!
Engineer Sir Robert McAlpine who designed Glenfinnan Viaduct situated in Scotland would have been proud if he had lived to see his construction being recognised all over the world due to it being pictured in many of the Harry Potter movies! The Viaduct which was built in 1897–1901 offers fans of the Harry Potter series to enjoy a trip in the Jacobite Steam Train which was transformed into the Hogwarts Express in the movies.
Known to be a part of the railway line that connects to the West Highlands of Scotland to its largest city of Glasgow and then to its capital of Edinburgh, the Viaduct has grown to become a hideout for thousands of Harry potter fans all over the world. The steam train which offers a ride through the rail line has been depicted in many movie scenes such as the flying car sequence and the one which shows the Hogwarts Express crossing over the viaduct. Not alone does the viaduct add to the glory of Glenfinnan but the place itself has many accolades to its credit.
The author of Harry Potter, JK Rowling has cast her influence all over Scotland and especially in Edinburgh where she began writing this world renowned series of book. Many of her ideas were raised from the beautiful surroundings, the cities and castles of this exotic country Scotland. Here’s a great link for Harry Potter fans.
With the completion of the book and the final series of the movie set to roll out this month, it would be hard for many to accept the fact that there won’t be any entry into the magical world in the future. But don’t worry it’s never fading with Scotland showcasing many of its Harry Potter havens which offers a growing series of prolonged excitement by just watching and exploring these wizardry haunts. So hurry to Scotland and make it a magical celebration with the final movie of the series!
You may also like this:
Scotland’s most famous railway line – West Highland line tops world’s best rail journey!
Scots economy experience boost in Construction sector
Scotland‘s economy experienced a growth by 1.3% in the second quarter of the year 2010, according to official figures. This is the biggest increase since the spring of 2006 and is a higher rate than the UK as a whole which grew by 1.2% in the same period. 
Compared to other services, the best performing sector was construction which rose by 10.4% while services grew by just 0.3%.
However revised figures for the first quarter of this year show that the Scottish economy contracted by 0.2%.
Over the year to the end of June 2010 GDP fell by 1.7%. During this period, the service, production and construction services all recorded downward trends.
While the Finance Secretary John Swinney said, it showed the Scottish government was right to bring forward capital projects.
Cairngorms National Park Expanded boundaries to Scotland
Cairngorms National Park which is UK’s biggest national has now expanded with an extra 282 square miles into Scotland and, hundreds more people included within the boundaries.
An addition of Highland Perthshire and Glenshee now shares the boundary with Cairngorms National Park, which now covers 6 per cent of Scotland. Now, the park is twice the size of parks in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and the Lake District.
The official extension has now put an end to the long-running battle by those in Perthshire who felt they were wrongly omitted from the park when it was set up in 2003.
Residents now hope the new status will bring environmental and economic benefits of the kind outlined in a new study published yesterday. This shows the Cairngorms National Park gained 855 residents in its first four years and now has 13 per cent more businesses.