I know that I have visited this area before, but in this case I am going to look more closely at some of the subjects I have already covered. So please bear with me as I think I am starting to get the hang of this thing now.
I begin my journey at Kinneil Museum. This is a small red roofed building in front of Kinneil House. The museum has an extensive display of the history of the Kinneil Estate.
From the museum I follow the red bales path and head towards the imposing Kinneil House. The oldest part of the house dates back to the late 15th century. It was remodelled in the 16th century and turned into a stately home for the family of the Dukes of Hamilton in the 1660s.
The house has some of the best wall paintings in Scotland. Apparently it also has a ghost. I am sorry to say I did not encounter this ghost, but if I ever do, I will let you know.
The family of the Hamilton’s has a long and distinguished past. One of the best known members was Air Commodore Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton and 11th Duke of Brandon. Sounds posh and he was. His big claim to fame occurred in 1941 when Adolf Hitler’s Deputy Furher, Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland in the mistaken believe that the Duke of Hamilton would be sympathetic to his cause and would arrange a peace treaty between Germany and Britain. He was wrong. And as we know the Second World War lasted until 1945.
As I stand in front of the house, I look to the right of the building and see a wall. In this wall there is a door that is just asking me to go through it, which I do. As I do, I come to a roofless 18th century building. This building was used by the engineer James Watt. Here he carried out early experiments in order to develop the steam engine. He
carried these experiments out with his friend John Roebuck, who was leasing Kinneil House at the time.After looking at the old cottage and soaking in the atmosphere, I head towards the small foot bridge and head towards the next part of the walk.
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