Why we love Culross Palace

Transcript

4 speakers: Linda Whiteford (LW), Fiona, Neil Campbell (NC), Abby

LW – How do you describe Culross? My goodness, it's got something for everyone and I honestly mean that.
From the minute you step out of your car or get off the bus. there is something that you'll be fascinated with and you will learn something every time you visit here.
Now the Palace is unique. It glows in the sunshine!
It's got so much amazing history attached to it.
The man who built this was Sir George Bruce; he started it in 1597.
So it’s got all this history, it's got the original features, it’s got painted interiors that are second to none. It’s just the most fantastic place.
We’ve got amazing ghosts and spirits as well, and they’re here because they never want to leave!
There’s something for children here: we have Lego trails throughout the Palace.
We’ve got the most amazing gardens that are tiered and you can look over the top of the Palace out to sea, to the River Forth, which in its day was the busiest highway of its kind. That was the best way of getting around and getting out to the rest of Europe.
We’ve got amazing cafes here -- we’ve got Bessie’s Café.
There’s just something for everyone, no matter what the weather, and you can be assured of going away with your head brimming full of information and you’ll never want to leave, and you will always come back again.

Fiona - I just love the general atmosphere. It’s got a lovely, happy, family feeling.
I also love the garden -- we’ve got a beautiful garden and we've got the little Scots dumpy hens, which are quite a rare breed and it's just lovely to hear the cockerel crowing every morning.
During the summer, or later in the summer, we sell lots of the produce as well, so you can take home some actual plants from Culross as a nice memory of your day here. We’re a lovely, friendly, welcoming place and we just pride ourselves in providing a great service to everyone who comes to see us.

NC - My name's Neil Campbell. I’m the food and beverage manager of Bessie’s Cafe at Culross Palace.
This year we've had a total refit, so it's a beautiful venue for visitors to come.
So we do soups and scones, cakes that we bake in house, and sandwiches and baked potatoes with fillings that change seasonally, depending on what we can access from the Palace garden and also just seasonally in general to this area.
The options for herbs, for a start, is endless, so with scones and soups we can use all of that and then depending what our gardener can grow for us, obviously she can't grow everything that we need, but if we can use onions and spring onions and garlic and things like that then she has loads of space to grow them for us and we try and incorporate at least a little bit into what we're doing.
Even before I started working here, I was in the garden at least once a week, buying bits and pieces for myself.

Abby - I've just started working here at the Palace and I’m a guide, so inviting visitors into the Palace and showing them around.
I love Culross Palace because it's got a rich history -- you’ve got the surrounding village with just so much history from when the village was just an abbey to growing into this massive merchant port and the Palace itself was a massive family home for George Bruce and his family with eight children, and it's just amazing to imagine them living in such a grand place.

LW - What do I really love about Culross?
I think it has to be the fact that I am lucky enough to work here.
I have got the keys to get into this beautiful building, which has so much history.
And that is so special!
And even last night I didn't want to go home because the birds were singing so loudly in the garden at six o'clock and then the most beautiful rainbows came out and I saw them across the river, and I just felt so fortunate to be here.
It's fantastic.
And you're in the heart of a village -- a living, working place where the history meets the present, and every time I go through that side door into the Palace, it just gives me such a thrill.