A walk through Yester Estate and Yester Castle

‘Your friend Jamie – I feel a kind of kindred spirit with him. We were both imprisoned and tortured at Yester by that scum-washed harridan of an Ælf-queen. So I’m determined to help recover his soul, and I think I know how it might be done.’ - 'Touchpaper' by David Dodds.


Gorgeous tree shadows in the winter sun

Instead of moping around the house because I can’t get anything done in the nursery because its all frozen solid, we took ourselves off for a winter walk in the lovely sunshine. After a warming bowl of porridge and blueberries we headed to Gifford and took a walk through the Yester estate on the Yester path; a mainly woodland walk and partly along side the Gifford Water. With the low winter sun shining through the trees it was lovely and a walk I’ve wanted to do for ages. More so now because it’s the way to Yester Castle and the Goblin Ha which feature in David’s newly released novel Touchpaper. An ideal opportunity to get some photos for marketing and social media posts and to understand it from the novel’s point of view. David visited many years ago when he was doing bat surveys in the area but I’ve never been. 

The gate in the wall at the end of Park Road

Follow the signs for Garvald

There's plenty parking in the village itself and then a short walk down High Street to the end where there's a path in the left hand corner. Follow this through to Park Road and turn right towards the estate wall at the end, here you will see a metal gate in the wall and then the first signposts. Turn left following the path up a slight hill and go straight on where it joins a more substantial track. At every junction there's a sign post, so you shouldn't go wrong.




The path opens up past this field and the huge old trees and highland coos, follow the path down hill to where it meets the Gifford Water and turn left following the path. The path meanders along the side of the river, over old stone bridges through the woodland on either side.
The Gifford Water


The Gifford Water meanders through the woods

One of the old bridges carrying the track

Maisie leading the way

It' an easy 4 mile linear walk on a well made path that looks like it could be muddy in places but today it was frozen solid, so easy walking for us. There are plenty sign posts for the Yester walk (keep heading for Garvald and then Gifford on the way back) and dog poo bins. To reach the castle you have to head off the main path so make sure you have an OS map or app on your phone to find it. A sloped bridge half hidden in the trees is the start of the path into the castle from the Yester path. Sadly the castle has become a tick list place for social media, and because a lot of people can't be trusted to just visit, enjoy the place and leave, instead they set fires, deface the stone work and take away parts of the structure, so the subterranean Goblin Ha is now barricaded off with stout iron gates. 


The author and his side kick



Towering trees in the winter sun


The castle from the path

Remains of the gate house



The remains of the curtain wall through the trees

Yester Castle sits on the edge of a ridge above the Gifford water, hidden by trees, even in winter. Its skeletal remains are reached over an ancient bridge that crosses the Hopes Water. From the small path,  scrambling up a steep bank brings you to the ruins of the castle. Originally triangular in shape, all that remains is part of the gate house and some of the 40 foot height curtain wall and of course the subterranean Goblin Ha. Parts of the remaining walls are six to eight feet thick, originally supporting a tower above the subterranean hall. Reaching an estimated three stories high it would have been a giddying view looking out from the castle and over the precipitous sides of the peninsula to the river 50 to 70 feet below. A set of now half buried steps leads down to the "Goblin Ha'" which is thought to date from the 13th century and the western range was probably built towards the end of the 14th century, while the masonry of the defensive enclosure walls would appear to be of 15th century date.

The stairway down to the Goblin Ha

The Goblin Ha roof is supported by a pointed stone vault with massive close set ribs. There is evidence of joist holes to support a mezzanine floor; both floors are entered from pointed arched doorways from the stairs outside. In the northern end of each of the lateral walls is a high pointed arched doorway, beyond these doors may be seen the start of a passage covered with a pointed vault. These doorways have probably been intended as doors emerging midway down the steep slope of the site. The eastern doorway has been partially blocked up, and within it is the entrance to a staircase which descends steeply for 20 feet, where it terminates against solid rock. The staircase is narrow, sufficient only for the passage of people in single file. For what purpose this elaborate passage was constructed is unknown and why it wasn't completed, perhaps the builders feared that further tunneling would threaten the stability of the angle of the structure above.



Inside the Goblin Ha



The lands were property of the Giffords in the 12th century and Sir Hugo de Giffard was considered to be a powerful warlock and necromancer. It is in the under croft of the castle that he was thought to have practiced his sorcery. Legend supposed that Hugo was able, via a pact with the Devil, to raise a magical army to his aid, and use them to carry out his will. It is this army of hobgoblins that was considered the builders of Yester Castle.




Looking back towards the remains of the castle



The castle has seen much history in its life and was occupied by the English during the Wars of Independence until recaptured by the Scots in 1311. John Hay, 2nd Lord of Yester, was slain at the Battle of Flodden in 1513 and Baron Yester also fought at the battle of Pinkie ( I had ancestors die in both these battles too, where large numbers of the Scottish nobility were wiped out). Baron Yester was thrown from his horse in the confused Scots retreat at Pinkie, captured by the English then imprisoned in the Tower of London for three years. The castle was abandoned in the 17th or 18th century when John Hay, 2nd Marquis, who supported the Act of Union began Yester House more than half a mile away, a fine mansion dating from the 18th century, replacing the old castle.


Remains of the gate house





The walk back takes you the same route back through the estate woodland. In winter the old and ancient trees really stand out with their huge size against the winter sun, conifers planted a couple of centuries ago when estates were the first to plant the new trees being brought back by plant collectors and native trees and undergrowth, old yew trees and holly all growing to form very mixed woodland. Once we got back to Gifford we had lunch in the lovely, dog friendly Lanterne Rouge Café. Maisie was as always well behaved and welcomed with a dog treat and we enjoyed some lovely food and coffee, and cake, of course. 


Gorgeous shadows




Frost covered butterbur

You can buy David's newly released novel 'Touchpaper' from amazon and hopefully eventually your local book shop. It is also available to buy as an audio book.


David Dodds Author website

David Dodds Author facebook and instagram



Lunch at Lanterne Rouge in Gifford




Our walk route



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Comments

  1. What a place! And what a history. It is always amazing to visit places in books in real life, I'm sure even if it is your husband's book. Or especially!

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    Replies
    1. Its an amazing place, and we had it to ourselves which was really nice. Yes I always love visiting places I've read about, it adds to the experience

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