Today the Artizans ventured east from their headquarters at the Robert the Bruce Heritage Centre in Renton.
First of all it was a trip to meet curator Elspeth King at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum in ancient Stirling where fellow bowmen were well received by our hosts and treated to an informative and fascinating collection of medieval artifacts, facts and everything connected to the Scottish past.
The museum was first class, well presented, and we would like to thank all members of staff for making our visit an enjoyable one.
Before leaving, the Artizans were treated by being photographed holding the oldest football ‘fitba’ in the world, found in the rafters of Stirling Castle during the 1500’s.The ball was laced up pig skin and was very light in weight . It was a great honour as Renton not only housed the King of Scotland but also the first team (Renton FC) to win the world cup and is graced with a mention in the Guinness book of world records. So all in all it was a great start to the day.

Our next venture was a visit to the car park outside Stirling Castle to photograph our medieval clad members standing beside the statue of their hero King. Unfortunately we were refused permission by staff to take any photographs????????? Scottish Government what is happening??

We then ventured to the Bannockburn Heritage Centre where we took photos freely and toured the centre with kind permission from curator Scott McMaster, finishing off posing beside the huge statue of King Robert the Bruce on horseback overlooking Bannockburn, and saying hi to a local class of primary school kids. Finishing off we were granted lease of a huge Scottish saltire flag for our use at the Heritage Centre in Renton opening day on the 27th of this month. Many thanks for this kind gesture.

While in this ancient town we to popped in to see fellow Bowman/singer/writer Ted Christopher at his local music/instrument shop and enjoyed tea, tablet and a good chinwag.

Last but not least homage was given to Dunfermline Abbey, as we greeted the locals we walked the grounds in sombre mood and flashed the camera inside this huge fantastic monument to Scottish history. We couldn’t leave Dunfermline without going to the local chippy and feasted on well-earned suppers to bring our day to a close.

A big thanks to our own Jim Tannock for being our driver/tour guide today.
Artizans present on our journey were: Duncan Thomson, Jim Tannock, Chris Pollock and Paul Hunter.