97.
"Let's go castle hunting in the Carse!" I cried as everyone tried desperately to flee the scene. Liam caught a break... his friend, Peter, invited him over for tea. I turned to Linda and said that we could drop Liam off and then head off ourselves, adding that it would be nice to have some time to ourselves for a change. I could see that she wasn't biting, so I put in the clincher: "There are lots of nice wee hotels in the Carse villages, and one of the castles I want to photograph has a good restaurant in it... I'll treat you to supper." So, duly bribed, Linda came with me as I drove through the narrow and winding country roads of the Carse of Gowrie and Braes of the Carse. We were castle hunting! The first one was easy... it is a prison, and very hard to miss - although it is difficult to get near to it. The second one was a ruin in the middle of a planted field, and could only be photographed from a distance. Castles three and four were more difficult, and we just couldn't find them... I should have brought the right map! Castle three was the restaurant! We went back to Dundee to have a meal in a mock castle hotel - but it was full. To make up for the lack of success we went to a local castle. When we got home, I looked at the map for the two castles we couldn't find. In both cases, we had been within 200 yards of them when I decided we were going the wrong way and turned around. So much for planning... and Linda never did get her meal at the castle restaurant (well, at least not today).