The Winter Months

After 7 weeks the snow has finally gone, leaving the castle grounds in the more normal winter livery of greens and browns.
The castle is now closed for the winter, opening again to the public on the 2nd April, Mother’s Day weekend.
But the absence of the general public doesn’t mean that any of us are idle. Glamis is very much a hive of industry in the cold dark days of winter.
Our house manager directs operations within the castle interior; organising carpenters, electricians, plumbers and other services. When you consider the age of the castle itself, you can imagine the amount of maintenance it takes to keep the fabric of the building in good condition. Over the 630 year history of the buildings, there have been many additions, rooms added or demolished, change of use for much of the later buildings like the Victorian kitchens etc. All this makes for a constant battle with the effects of time. There is always a job to be done as in all old buildings as anybody who lives in an older property will tell you and no job is ever straight forward. All maintenance done here is in keeping with the history of the castle which means you can’t always use the quickest or most obvious method.
Our cleaning staff (a devoted team of 5 ladies) undertake the spring cleaning of the castle with a flurry of washing, polishing, oiling and dusting. There is a lovely smell of polish in the Dining and Drawing Rooms that makes both rooms seem even more comfortable, even more like a home you live in rather than a museum. The cleaners keep the castle interior up to a high standard for visitors, reflected in the much coveted “Visit Scotland Five Star Grading” that the castle has maintained since 2008.
Outside, our garden staff are busy with their own winter maintenance programme, “Putting the garden to bed for the winter” is a big job here anyway but with the lengthy period of sub zero weather we have experienced recently, staff have kept a watching brief on the tender plants in the plants in the garden. Some have been moved to the greenhouses in the walled garden with the larger ones covered by straw or wrapped up in situ against the penetrating frost. Edging, sweeping, gutter clearing and lots of bonfires keep them busy until the first bulbs of spring burst through the frozen ground.
For the office staff this is the busiest time of the year. The bookings begin to pile in and tour times become crowded with requests from the many companies, UK and abroad that visit us throughout the year. There are brochures to organise for distribution, translations of a dozen languages that have to be checked and reprinted, end of year statistics to compile, the yearly stocktaking in the Pavilion shop. We still have the odd private tour during the winter months and weekly pheasant shoots to host. And of course we also organise or administrate the many events that take place on and within the castle.
So despite the apparent calm, we are all like the swan in the old saying, working very hard underneath the surface.