Stonefield Castle

Shortly after leaving Tarbert you pass the imposing presence of the very plush 5 star Stonefield Castle Hotel One matter not included in the glossy brochures for the Hotel is the unfortunate incident some 25 years ago when a Hotel gardner, who was mentally deranged, strangled a young girl in the grounds of the hotel. If my memory serves me correctly he was acquitted - the main evidence against him being his confession, which was found to be inadmissable because of his mental condition. I should therefore have said that he 'allegedly strangled' the girl. In fact, I should make it clear that I could not find anything about the case on the internet, and I am entirely reliant on my memory, which may not be accurate as to detail. A girl was definitely murdered in the grounds of Stonefield - that much is definitely true. The only reason I mention this rather tasteless episode is that the current owners of the Hotel (the Stonefield Castle Group) own a number of Scottish hotels at which a major attraction is their 'murder mystery evenings'. Fortunately, good taste seems to have prevailed and such evenings are not on the agenda at Stonefield Castle itself.