This fortress along with  Dumbarton was known  as ” Fortress of the Britons ” , attesting to the closeness of our ancient peoples , culture and language.   It was sacked by the Vikings who used the plunder to help establish Dublin as a centre of thier power in Ireland.  The castle continued to be  a bastion of medieval Royal power and  was used as a military garrison and prison until recent times .

Dumbarton Castle is off the A82 , postcode G82 1JJ  ,     01389 732167

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# D               Afterwards we travelled to the nearby Scottish Maritime Museum where we enjoyed a tour of this beautiful Victorian Building , given by a most enthusiastic guide . Sometimes called a ” Cathederal of Engineering ” this building was a showcase for the cutting edge technology of its time and was home to the Denny Ship Model Experiment which used exact scaled down models of new ships to prove their effectiveness before the real thing was built , thus guaranteeing proven results for the shipping companies. Later we had an open workshop in the museum cafe , we couldnt help but draw comparisons to our own world famous Belfast  Harland and Wolff shipyard , with its similar history of innovation and expansion followed by decline with all the implications for its employees as they struggled to adapt to a changing society and the prospect of finding employment and feeding their families in a new generation.

Scottish Maritime Museum , Castle Street , Dumbarton ,  01839 763444

many thanks to

Fantastic Scottish Destinations , Minibus Tours ,  0141 2787277