Andrew Spratt

When we were in Scotland four years ago we visited Dirleton Castle near North Berwick.  The castle is now a ruin situated on a rock in a garden, but it played a role in the days of Edward III, and again in Cromwell's time, by being besieged, captured and knocked down.  To me the most interesting feature is the nearby dovecote (pronounced dooket), essentially a stone beehive for doves.  The man in charge of the park is Andrew Spratt, a gregarious sort whose method of shooing away stragglers at closing time is to fire arrows in their direction.  He seriously wants to rebuild a Scottish castle, but in the meantime has done a series of historical paintings.  His site is here.