Heading east on A975, a dirt road turned off from the highway on the right and led to a side of the New Slains Castle. It was a little bumpy for my Ford Fiesta rental car on my drive in on Monday 8 July 2019, though not too bad. At the end of the road, by cliffs overlooking the ocean and the New Slains Castle ruins was a larger area with space for parking. Grass was growing high and clusters of white wildflowers were in bloom throughout the castle ruins in a number of the rooms/areas with dirt as floor. Some of the walls were quite intact, while others were entirely gone or crumbling. The interior was shaded by the taller walls on the warm morning with walls and stairs cool to the touch. Climbing the watchtower, the views out the windows looked over the water and the view from the top of the stairs looked out over castle rooms and the grounds surrounding the castle. Outside the castle, there were footpaths through the grass. Seacliffs to the water below had different birds nesting and foraging about in crevices in the rock. On my visit I did not spot any informational placards about what each room was. I enjoyed this type of exploratory experience as it got me to really tune into what remained of each room to try and sleuth out what its function might have been. read more

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