12.09.10 Roslin Glen and Rosslyn Chapel

It had been almost a year since we visited Rosslyn Chapel, so we figured it was time to go back (and because our free membership would soon run out...). But we had been told there it is nice walking in the area, so we checked our guide book and indeed there was a recommended hike through the Roslin Glen. So off we went!
The walk starts close to the remains of Rosslyn Castle, former home to the family St. Clair who still owns the chapel. Part of the castle is still intact and can actually be rented as holiday accomodation. Now that sounds pretty exciting!

The Roslin Glen is a valley carved out deeply in sandstone with a pretty little creek at the bottom (called the North Esk). The path went up and down and was pretty muddy, but eventually we descended all the way to water level. The path gets very narrow in places.
And yes, it really is called Roslin Glen, after Roslin village, in which sits Rosslyn Chapel...bit of a spelling oddity! Thats said, on the Ordance Survey map it is called Roslin Chapel. Confusing.

 Iwona serves as the perfect scale marker for these impressive cliffs! It's a wonder the trees on top are still standing. There's a number of small caves in the cliffs as well, one of them called Wallace's Cave according the guide book, but any connection to Wallace himself is supposedly unclear, although he was involved in the Battle of Roslin Glen in 1303 when the Scots beat the English army during the Independence battles.

Further up the path went back to the top of the valley again, and the views down to the bottom were not for the faint of heart! Needless to stay Iwona stayed well clear, whereas Cees-Jan couldn't resist the tempation to shuffle closer to get an even better view.
A very rewarding walk and the highlight was still to come!

At the end of the walk there was Rosslyn Chapel waiting for us in all her glory. We were thrilled to see that the roof canope had finaly been taken off, and even better, the scaffolding inside had been removed so we could finally see the roof and the windows in all their glory.
Coincidentally, the BBC broadcasted an interesting documentary about the architectural history of the chapel a few days after we went; if you missed it you might just be able to find it on iPlayer. Recommended!