Our Latest News

Thanks for checking out the latest news from the Bannockburn House Trust. Here you will find the latest blogs from the gardening, history and operations teams and any news updates for the project. We encourage our volunteers to write blogs for the website and would be delighted to hear from you if you volunteer and would like to write a blog for us. Email [email protected].

Garden Blog

‘June is bustin’ out all over…’

by admin | June 11, 2020 | Gardens, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

June is such a colourful month. Everywhere you look there are flowers and for us in the North, we have the extra daylight hours as well. Summer is upon us and in a couple of weeks it will be the Solstice - the turning point of the year when the sun stands still having...

Where the Wildflowers Grow…

by admin | May 14, 2020 | Gardens, Latest News, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

Usually May is a quiet and reliable month which gradually leads us into summer with longer days, warmer temperatures and blossom. The early leaves have sprung on most trees, butterflies are on the wing and if you look carefully, you will find wildflowers blooming in...

“Sex in the Garden”

by admin | April 16, 2020 | Gardens, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

As I write this, it is almost Easter. The month is passing rapidly, and we will soon be in the middle of April. April is month of great change in the garden, and in nature, and the biggest factor driving this change is sex - the urge to reproduce. It is happening all...

Rain, rain go away, come again another day!

by admin | March 13, 2020 | Gardens, Latest News, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

February is the shortest month but as we have crammed so much into the month it feels as if it must have been at least six weeks long. A Busy Month We have had three poly tunnels erected despite the mixed weather which prevailed almost the entire time the team was...

Grey skies are just clouds passing over

by admin | February 12, 2020 | Gardens, Latest News, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

To me, poor February seems to be stuck in the middle between Winter and Spring, not sure whether it is one season or the other! Signs of Spring The days are starting to be noticeably longer and there is a faint warmth in the returning sun, but it can still be really...

New Beginnings

by admin | January 13, 2020 | Gardens, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

A new decade needs to be approached with a degree of organisation. Consequently, on our first day of volunteering in 2020, the garden team thought it would be a good idea to clean out our “Howff", or tool-shed, which had become a muddle of spades, rakes, builders...

Deck the halls with boughs of holly

by admin | December 11, 2019 | Gardens, Latest News, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

As I write this, the late autumn rain is falling, and the wind is blowing hard but in the next few weeks we will reach the Winter Solstice - the turning point of the year! Winter Solstice Solstice comes from the Latin ‘sol’ - sun...

Dull November brings the blast, then the leaves are falling fast . . .

by admin | November 12, 2019 | Gardens, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

November is the month of geese as they fly south to reach our country for a warmer winter just at the time of year when we begin to feel cold and find frosty mornings on our doorstep along with bleak raindrops and dying leaves. Home for the Winter I cannot...

Leopards, Toads and Scarlet Elf Cups

by admin | October 13, 2019 | Gardens, Latest News, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

I have to admit that October is my favourite month of the year . . . The colour shades of autumn Once passed the Autumn equinox the encroaching winter darkness begins to make its mark. There are special sunny, warm days when the sky is absolutely crystal clear and...

WANTED: Partridge for a Pear Tree

by admin | September 11, 2019 | Gardens, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

September is the ninth month of the year and is usually called the harvest month. Accordingly, we have been harvesting some of our fruit and vegetables but not always at the time of our choosing. Potato Thief! On a walk around the garden recently we...

History Blog

Bannockburn House & its links with Stan Laurel . . .

by admin | January 22, 2019 | History, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

Stan & Ollie Movie Cold, dark months Now that the glitz and overindulgence of the festive period is well behind us, we turn our attention to the cold, dark months that are always present during the first part of the new year. Movie Awards Season ...

Voices from the Past

by admin | July 26, 2018 | Gardens, History, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

What an exciting time we have been having recently In the last three weeks we have been visited by two former gardeners who were employed (not simultaneously) by Miss Mitchell in the 1950’s. It is so important for us when we make contact with people who have been...

The Auld Alliance still lives!

by admin | July 26, 2018 | History, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

Descendants of Sir Hugh Paterson visit Bannockburn House after 350 years Isabelle Chardon and her husband Guy from France visited on a glorious sunny day in June (2018). Isabelle is a descendent of Sir Hugh Paterson (find out more about the house history here) who...

Bannockburn House and the 45’

by admin | June 12, 2018 | History, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

The word Jacobite derives from the Latin Jacobus (follower of James). The Jacobites were supporters of the Stuarts who had been overthrown during the Glorious Revolution of 1688/89. The Catholic King James VII had been deposed by William of Orange & his wife...

William Ramsay of Barnton & Stirling Racecourse

by admin | May 1, 2018 | History, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

Bannnockburn House Links Between 1787 and 1883, Bannockburn House was owned and occupied by various members of the Ramsay family of Barnton in Edinburgh. In 1787, William Ramsay, an Edinburgh merchant banker who also owned Barnton House in Edinburgh, Sauchie House and...

Events Blog

Bannockburn House Summer Fayre 19 a Brilliant Success

by admin | August 12, 2019 | Events, Latest News | 0 Comments

What an amazing event, thank you to all our amazing volunteers who put in so much hard work to make sure this event could happen. Both Saturday and Sunday were very well attended, and we had such a positive response from everyone which made the hard work worthwhile....

Easter Event opened the doors to Bannockburn House for 2019

by admin | May 1, 2019 | Events, Latest News | 0 Comments

Easter Event Bannockburn House celebrated the start of its popular spring and summer tours with an Easter Open Day for all the family on Sunday 14thApril 2019. Visitors enjoyed egg-painting, heritage treasure trails, storytelling, face painting and home baking,...

Our Lavish Victorian Garden Party

by admin | September 10, 2018 | Events, Latest News, Volunteer Blog | 0 Comments

On the 4th and 5th of August our wonderful volunteers organised a superb and greatly successful weekend. Even the weather was beautiful to go with it. Hundreds of visitors came to explore the house and gardens over the two days and enjoyed the...

Come to our Victorian Garden Party

by admin | July 12, 2018 | Events, Gardens, Latest News | 0 Comments

Housewarming! Like any other new house owner, Bannockburn House Trust is throwing a party to celebrate! Join us this August at our Victorian garden party. We'll be having garden games, live music and other entertainment, plus lots of activities for all the...