Doune

Doune was a railway station located in Doune, in the council area of Stirling, Scotland. The station was rebuilt in typical Caledonian Railway style in the early 1900s after the completion of the Callander and Oban Railway in 1880. It closed on 1 November 1965 and was demolished around 1968. The site was used by a timber merchant for many years. In the late 1990s a private housing estate was built on the station site. Although little or no trace of the station remains, the station house still stands at the entrance to the housing development.

Doune Castle is a medieval stronghold near the village of Doune, in the Stirling council area of central Scotland and the historic county of Perthshire. The castle is sited on a wooded bend where the Ardoch Burn flows into the River Teith. It lies 8 miles (13 kilometres) northwest of Stirling, where the Teith flows into the River Forth. Upstream, 8 miles (13 kilometres) further northwest, the town of Callander lies at the edge of the Trossachs, on the fringe of the Scottish Highlands. Recent research has shown that Doune Castle was originally built in the thirteenth century, then probably damaged in the Scottish Wars of Independence, before being rebuilt in its present form in the late 14th century by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340–1420), the son of King Robert II of Scots, and Regent of Scotland from 1388 until his death. Duke Robert's stronghold has survived relatively unchanged and complete, and the whole castle was traditionally thought of as the result of a single period of construction at this time. The castle passed to the crown in 1425, when Albany's son was executed, and was used as a royal hunting lodge and dower house. In the later 16th century, Doune became the property of the Earls of Moray. The castle saw military action during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and Glencairn's rising in the mid-17th century, and during the Jacobite risings of the late 17th century and 18th century. By 1800 the castle was ruined, but restoration works were carried out in the 1880s, prior to its passing into state care in the 20th century. It is now maintained by Historic Environment Scotland. Due to the status of its builder, Doune reflected current ideas of what a royal castle building should be. It was planned as a courtyard with ranges of buildings on each side, although only the northern and north-western buildings were completed. These comprise a large tower house over the entrance, containing the rooms of the Lord and his family, and a separate tower containing the kitchen and guest rooms. The two are linked by the great hall. The stonework is almost all from the late 14th century, with only minor repairs carried out in the 1580s. The restoration of the 1880s replaced the timber roofs and internal floors, as well as interior fittings.

The Ardoch Burn is a stream in Stirling council area, Scotland, which flows from the Braes Of Doune into the River Teith at Inverardoch, just behind Doune Castle.

Menteith or Monteith (Scottish Gaelic: Mòine Tèadhaich), a district of south Perthshire, Scotland, roughly comprises the territory between the Teith and the Forth. Earlier forms of its name include Meneted, Maneteth and Meneteth. (Historically, the area between Callander and Dunblane was known in English by the similar name of the “Vale of Menteith”.) Menteith encompasses the parishes of Callander, Aberfoyle, Port of Menteith, Kippen, Kilmadock, Kincardine, Lecropt and Dunblane.

Deanston distillery is a Single Malt Scotch whisky distillery located on the banks of the River Teith, eight miles from the historic town of Stirling, at the gateway to the dramatic Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park. It is the largest distillery owned by Scotch whisky producer Distell Group Limited, who also own Bunnahabhain Distillery on the Isle of Islay and Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull. Deanston Distillery started life in 1785 as a cotton mill designed by Sir Richard Arkwright, and remained as such for 180 years until it was transformed into a distillery in 1966. The constant supply of pure water from the River Teith contributed to the decision to turn the mill into a distillery and Deanston is now the only distillery in Scotland to be self-sufficient in electricity, with power generated by an on-site hydro-energy facility. Deanston sits in the Highland single malt region of Scotland and produces whisky which is handmade by ten local craftsmen, un-chill filtered, natural colour and bottled at a strength of 46.3% ABV.

The Stirling torcs make up a hoard of four gold Iron Age torcs, a type of necklace, all of which date to between 300 and 100 BC and which were buried deliberately at some point in antiquity. They were found by a metal detectorist in a field near Blair Drummond, Stirlingshire, Scotland on 28 September 2009. The hoard has been described as the most significant discovery of Iron Age metalwork in Scotland and is said to be of international significance. The torcs were valued at £462,000, and after a public appeal were acquired for the National Museums of Scotland in March 2011.

Deanston (Scottish Gaelic: Baile an Deadhain) is a village in the Stirling council area, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Teith east of Doune, in south-west Perthshire. It is a part of the parish of Kilmadock.

Argaty is a farm estate located just over a mile northeast of Doune, Stirling, Scotland. The present Argaty House dates from the 19th century with baronial additions in the 1860s and 1920s, but was largely destroyed by fire in April 2011. Argaty farm is host to central Scotland's only red kite feeding station where visitors can come and watch the birds, recently reintroduced to their former natural habitat through a program managed by the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage. In 1982 ownership of Argaty House and the farm estate were separated.

Kincardine is a civil parish in the Scottish council area of Stirling and the former county of Perthshire in the historic district of Menteith. It lies between the River Teith and River Forth and contains the villages of Blair Drummond and Thornhill. The parish church is 2 miles south-west of Doune. In 1877, the Thornhill part of the parish was erected into a separate parish for ecclesiastic (but not civil) purposes. At the last census (2011), the population of the civil parish was 1,148. The area of the parish is 10,207 acres. Kincardine parish is also a Community Council area under the name Thornhill and Blairdrummond.

Blair Drummond is a small rural community 5 miles (8 kilometres) northwest of Stirling in the Stirling district of Scotland, predominantly located along the A84 road. Lying to the north of the River Forth, the community is within the registration county of Perthshire and the civil parish of Kincardine

Doune Hillclimb, Carse of Cambus, near Doune in the district of Stirling, Scotland, is the home of the only round of the British Hill Climb Championship currently to be held in Scotland (Bo'ness, Fintray and the Rest And Be Thankful have featured in the past). The course has been 1476 yards (1350m) in length since 1977. However, from the first meeting in 1968 until 1973 the start line was around 33 yards (30m) further back, and from 1974 until 1976 it was located beyond what is currently the first corner. Prior to 1968, Lothian Car Club ran rounds of the British Hill Climb Championship at the Bo'ness Hillclimb from 1948 until 1967, when a house estate was built over part of the Bo'ness track. In 1967 the hillclimb track at Doune was designed by Ray Fielding and built with the first event taking place in April 1968.The current outright record holder is Sean Gould, who set a time of 34.67 seconds on 20 June 2021. Video of a 35.05 second run by Jos Goodyear in his GWR Raptor can be seen here: [1] For many years, Doune Hillclimb hosted rounds of the Scottish Hillclimb Championship in April, June and September each year, and rounds of the British Hillclimb Championship in June and September. No meetings were held in 2020 or in April 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The British Hillclimb Championship was scheduled to visit Doune in June 2021, but not in September of that year.

Blair Drummond Safari Park is a family visitor attraction located near Stirling in Scotland. It opened to the public on 15 May 1970 and is home to over 350 animals, many of which roam freely or are kept in large enclosures in the 120-acre (49 ha) estate. The Safari Park is open from mid March until the end of December each year.