Inverkeithing to Dalgetty Bay

Posted on January 1, 2020 by AMWeston

The start of the year so it was time for a walk. The next part of the Fife Coastal Path. After parking at Ferrytoll Park and Ride we started walking towards Inverkeithing. We had never been to Inverkeithing or even driven through it. Like so much of the Fife Coastal Path, Inverkeithing is full of surprises.

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Next to the Civic Centre is The Old Hospitium of The Greyfriars. It is one of best surviving examples of a friary building in Scotland. The majority of the building dates from the 14th century, and it was remodelled into a tenement after the Reformation in the 17th century. It became a museum in 1934-37. The building is now used as a community centre.

A little further on we came across the mercat cross which is said to be a fine example.

We walked out of Inverkeithing along the coast towards St David’s Harbour. As we walked we had lovely views of the Forth Rail Bridge.

 

 

 

 

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North Queensferry

Posted on August 5, 2019 by AMWeston

Today we parked the car back at the park and ride to start the next part of the walk. Early on we were rewarded with lovely views of the two road bridges.

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We walked under the approach road of the Queensferry crossing and headed towards North Queensferry.  Just as we walked into North Queensferry we walked under the Forth Road Bridge. I took an interesting picture of under the bridge.

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As we headed into North Queensferry it started to rain and it got worse so we were lucky to find café for a coffee, Rankins in North Queensferry.  The rain eased and we walked down the hill towards the harbour and the rail bridge.

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Nearby is the monument to those who lost their lives in the building of the rail bridge.

Some confusion ensued as to where the path went next. On reading the guide book we realised that we had to climb back up the hill to the Napoleonic well which was the previous start of the Fife Coastal Path.

 

Near the well was the sign of the original start of the Fife Coastal Path. In the wall were collages made by local school children.

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The next part of the walk took us through the Carlingnose Point Nature reserve. The path descended to Port Laing beach, a WWI seaplane base – below is the remains of a WWI pier.

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Near Port Laing beach we found a memorial to  Lt George CO Paton who died near the spot.

 

We continued along the path through woodland finding this large fungi. After the woodland we past an active quarry – Whinstone – the only working quarry in the area.  It was then a short walk back to the Park and Ride.

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Limekilns to Rosyth

Posted on August 5, 2019 by AMWeston

After parking one car at Ferrytoll park and ride we parked the second car in Limekilns. We started the walk reaching the old Rosyth graveyard quite quickly. The path was beside the coast for a while and we had great views of the Forth.

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As we climbed away from the coast to the main road there were great views of the naval dockyard – the reason why the path has to leave the coast.

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The path turned back down to the coast through a housing estate then into Rosyth Europarc.  As we headed down towards the port we came across a doocot.

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The doocot was part of Rosyth Castle. Yes there is a castle at Rosyth. Mary Queen of Scots once visited it. The castle or at least it’s ruins is at the gates of the dock.

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We took a short detour to visit the castle. It was an ideal place for a short rest!

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Here are a few pictures of the castle.

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From the castle we walked back to the park and ride. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Crombie to Limekilns

Posted on July 28, 2019 by AMWeston

A couple of weeks ago in sunnier weather we did the next part of the Fife Coastal Path. Terry had checked the buses and we decided on one car this time. We parked in Crombie and started on the path again.

The first part took us back to the main road before turning south past the Scottish Lime Centre – training centre.

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It was then a walk into Charlestown. The village was established in 1770 by Charles Brus, 5th Earl of Elgin. The planned village is laid out in the shape of a letter E for Elgin.

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The path continues towards Limekilns. We took a detour to the harbour and limekilns. We walked via the road though we found a path we could have taken when we were at the bottom of the hill.

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Charlestown Harbour

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Charlestown Limekilns

The limekilns have recently had conservation work on them. Further information can be found here.

We then continued on along the route towards Limekilns. Like Charlestown has a harbour.

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Limekilns harbour

We continued along the path till we came to Old Roysth Churchyard.

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After a look round the graveyard we headed back to Limekilns to catch the bus back to Crombie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fairy Glen

Posted on July 15, 2019 by AMWeston

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Near Uig is a village called Balnacnoc – this means the village or township in the hills – is the Fairy Glen – a Quirang-like landscape in minature.

The road to the Fairy Glen is single track and there is a warning that the road is not suitable for buses. At the glen there is no parking as such so cars have to park by the side of the road but please be careful not to block the road. The drive is worth it to see this wonderful and magical place.

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Culross to Crombie

Posted on July 12, 2019 by AMWeston

It was a nice day, a few weeks ago, so we decided to do another part of the Fife Costal Path. This time we took two cars parking one at Crombie and then driving to Culross to start. Before we started there was time for a bacon roll and a coffee. With the increase number of tourists in Culross due to Outlander the number of cafes has increased. We went to The Admiral which is opposite the mercat cross. It is small but serves lovely coffee and excellent bacon rolls

After breakfast we headed back on the Fife Costal Path at Culross. This took us along passed the railway line out of Culross towards the Torry Bay Nature Reserve.

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Once passed the nature reserve we crossed the railway line – over a bridge – and onto a path my the road. Before reaching the main road we found a memorial to the Valleyfield Colliery.

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We continued along the path through Valleyfield and then onto Torryburn. At Torryburn the path follows the coast line. In the middle of Torry Bay there is a witches rock. The rock was used to tie those who were suspected of witch craft. Here they were judged and sentenced as the tide rose.

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Witches rock

As we walked away from the coast we discovered a graveyard. It was Old Crombie Parish Church.  There were several interesting gravestones.

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From here it was a walk through some farm land to the car in Crombie.

 

 

 

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Kilvaxter Souterrain

Posted on July 11, 2019 by AMWeston

After our trip to the museum and graveyard we headed south to Kilvaxter.  A sign directed us to a small car park and from there we walked into a field to discover the Kilvaxter Souterrian.

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A souterrain is an underground stone-lined tunnel typically associated with Iron Age settlements along the Atlantic fringe. Over 500 have been found in Scotland, of which around 20 are on the Isle of Skye. Souterrains, from the French sous terrain meaning “underground” were constructed by digging out a trench, lining the sides with stone, then roofing it over with more stone and reburying the whole thing. The end result was a stone-lined passage leading to a chamber.

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Entrance

 

We found the entrance and Terry went to have a look.

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Kilmuir Graveyard

Posted on July 11, 2019 by AMWeston

After visiting the Museum of Island Life we visited Kilmuir Graveyard. Why visit this graveyard? Well it has several graves of interest.

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The main grave is that of Flora MacDonald, it towers above all the others. It has an epitaph written by the notable author Samuel Johnson – who with James Boswell had met Flora in life during their tour of the Highlands.  This reads “Her name will be mentioned in history and if courage and fidelity be virtures, mentioned with honour.” Seven other members of her family are also buried here.

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Another magnificent grave marker is a carved effigy of a knight in armour that lies close to the very old chapel/burial enclosure at the far end of the main graveyard. This marks the grave of Angus Martin or Aonghas na Geoithe (“Angus of the Wind”). Angus is said to have earned his nickname by insisting on going to sea whatever the weather and he is believed to have married a Danish princess with whom he had seven sons.

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A more recent grave in the cemetery is that of the fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

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Museum of Island Life

Posted on July 11, 2019 by AMWeston

In the north of Skye at Kilmuir is the Museum of Island Life. It is a small museum based in a small township of thatched cottages, each depicting, as closely as possible, the conditions on the island at the end of the nineteenth century. The museum is worth visiting to see how life used to be on Skye, especially as entry to the museum is £3 for adults and 50p for school aged children (as at July 2019).

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The largest cottage contains the croft kitchen and bedroom.

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Croft Kitchen

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Croft bedroom

One of the other cottages is set up as a weaver’s cottage.

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Weaver’s Cottage

In the ceilidh house there is an exhibition about Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora MacDonald. It also contains old photos and documents of Skye.

 

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Sheep on Skye

Posted on July 8, 2019 by AMWeston

One thing you notice when driving on Skye especially when off the main roads are the sheep. There are lots of sheep of Skye and they graze everywhere! We had to keep the gate to the cottage closed or they would have wandered in.

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Sheep watching me close the gate.

We saw lots of sheep and had to slow down many times to wait on them moving from the road.

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