The pictures you sent in for our Stirling Castle photo competition were great. Gillian McDonald, castle manager and competition judge, said it was a real pleasure to open up the emails each morning and look at the latest entries. Just as delightful was that they came from people of so many ages and different parts of the world.

                                          

Some of the ones we particularly liked included Elise Swanston aged seven, of a stilt-walking, fire-breathing jester who was entertaining visitors one spring morning. Then there was Sheryl Ratcliffe, from Australia, who sent a picture of her partner and son on steps at the castle that really emphasised how high it is above the surrounding plains. Then there was Carrie Lang from St Louis in the USA, who sent a lovely shot of one of the trees in the castle grounds. John Smith of Ontario, Canada, also entered his picture of the outside of the Great Hall.

All the different angles and aspects of the castle that people captured were also very impressive. Christine Strachan and Lora Hall Graham were among those sending striking views looking the other way, from the lands beneath and up the rock to the fortress.

The palace, and especially the ornate statues overlooking the garden, was a popular subject. So thanks to Derek Hogg, Kass Bet and Karen Williams Namaste for some of those. Many of you took the chance to look upwards and take pictures of some of the rooflines and statues round the castle that some visitors can miss. These included Kenneth Rough and Bruno Billion and Rainer Ahmelmann, from Germany. There was also Julie Gilbey’s lovely picture of the moon hovering above a tower.

As ever with these competitions, it was tough to choose a winner and Gillian also wanted to give special mentions to a number of the other entries. These included Robert Wojtczak’s image in which he lined up two statues on the esplanade with the Wallace Monument. Then there was Anne Lylick’s picture of the grounds in late spring, where she had taken her Canadian husband to see the area she grew up. Gillian also very much like Sven Wifstrand, of Sweden’s, cleverly taken photo of the outer defences through the battlements.

Gillian said: “It was great to see so many entries to this competition, with so much variety and imagination. I have known the castle for many years and there were still some angles that were new to me. I was very impressed by Graham Harris’s stunning picture of a lamppost near the entrance to the castle, with the rain-soaked cobbles beneath.

“Eventually I went for Michael Matuszak’s photograph, taken from a distance, which shows the castle bathed in light from the sun on the horizon, with mist rising from below. It’s a classic image that captures the way the natural setting of the castle and its architecture combine to give it such a sense of romance and beauty.”

So a Stirling Castle Tartan tie and scarf are on their way to Michael with our congratulations – and thanks to all the rest of you. We hope to run all sorts of little competitions in the future and expect you to keep up the high standards and numbers of entries.