It’s hard to decide which is the biggest star in our new TV ad – the castle, the well-known actor, or Larry ( whose stage name is Grant) the huge grey horse. Viewers can decide for themselves when it’s first broadcast on 26 March. For many it might be Hamish Clark, famous for his role as Duncan in Monarch of the Glen, who is fronting Historic Scotland’s 2010 promotional campaign. But as you can see from our pictures taken during the filming, he has a bit of competition as the castle makes a stunning backdrop, and his steed is simply magnificent.

The whole thrust of the campaign is to encourage people to abandon boring weekends and head for places like Stirling Castle instead. It’s a message which Hamish was delighted to promote, especially as the great medieval fortress is one of his favourites. He said: “It’s great to be back here at Stirling – it’s just about the perfect castle, it’s so dramatic it’s almost like a film set. It’s perfect for kids because they can just run about and pretend to be soldiers.”

Filming took place over two days, with footage being shot at Doune, Blackness and Edinburgh castles as well as Stirling. As ever with this sort of work, a huge amount of activity and organisation was necessary to get the final short but polished product. Part of that involved Hamish, whose past riding experience had tended to be on foreign holidays, clip-clopping round the castle on top of the 16.2 Irish draught horse. It was an experience which Hamish thoroughly enjoyed, and which Larry seemed to as well, remaining placid and inquisitive throughout. More than anything, though, he loved being slipped the odd carrot to munch – Larry that is.