As you’ll know if you have been keeping pace with us over the last few months, we don’t hang around at Dunans Castle, and today I am glad to announce some improvements to the LairdofDunansCastle.com website.

First is that we have changed the registration system for new lairds and ladies. Why? Well, because we were having problems with the accounts and wanted to place the ability to register entirely in the hands of our new entitled. Instead of having a username and password allocated to you, you can choose your own. Once you register we ensure your details are correct and then approve the registration. Much better all around I think you will agree.

Second we have made registration of emails of the type yourname@lairdofdunanscastle.com and yourname@ladyofdunanscastle.com automatic. Simply login and click on ‘Email for Lairds’ or ‘Email for Ladies’ and follow the onscreen instructions.

Finally, we have rejigged the menu system on the website to ensure that only those who are logged in see the various members’-only pages.

And we haven’t finished yet.We still have to style the email element of the job, and there’s a further even more ambitious update in the pipeline.

Well, given that we are using a state-of-the-art blogging system, and that we keep our website updated on a regular basis, it seemed natural to tweet as well. The micro-blogging service is an excellent way of updating friends as well as colleagues. You can find Charles’ tweet at Twitter.com/DixonSpain and news of Argyll, the location of ScottishLaird’s scheme, at Twitter.com/ForArgyll.

Additionally, Charles’ tweets carry news from the Dunans Charitable Trust and summaries of the latest over at LairdofDunansCastle.com.

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Just to keep those wanting to know more about the work that the ScottishLaird.com project is enabling at Dunans we have posted this on the Laird’s Blog, LairdofDunansCastle.com.

The Scottish Laird project has now been running for over six months and in that time we have had a lot of fun getting to know our new Lairds and Ladies of Dunans Castle and of Chaol Ghleann. Everyone’s interest and support has been a real boost to this project. Visits and phonecalls from several of our new friends have been a real positive for us and helped us create a community of folk around a shared enjoyment of Dunans Castle and bridge.

This first period has been one of consolidation and partnership. The purchase of so many titles has enabled work to move on with a couple of projects in the grounds which were faltering. Paths down into the ravine, funded by the Scottish Forestry, have with the help of our lairds and ladies, been consolidated and by the end of the autumn will have been extended and improved greatly.

We have also been able to set up an extensive tree-planting operation above and beyond that which is directly funded by each laird, and we hope by the end of the year to have planted significant replacement trees for ones that have been felled or have died off.

Most excitingly we are now able to go ahead with a feasibility pilot on a method for clearing the castle proper. Using wood won on site, and know-how developed through the renovation of Dunans House, we plan to create a mini-project of Grant’s Cottage. This area of around 5m by 3m and three stories high will be the prototype for an innovative low-impact clearing method in which we construct a series of heavy-duty wooden structures within the existing stone structure. These structures will provide safe areas to clear from, platforms to work on, and eventually give us access to the wall tops, enabling very necessary wall-capping. The idea is that when complete these boxes will make the entirety of the castle a safe place to work in and on without the concomitant spend on scaffolding hire or purchase which often goes with the massive building renovation schemes.