Crazy days

I'm interrupting the run of holiday photos just to prove that I'm still alive and functioning in these 'crazy days'. In common with the rest of Europe we've been having a heatwave, with record June temperatures. In truth, Yorkshire has been on the edge of the heat dome and not quite as boiling hot as places in the south of England... but it has still been very hot. 

It's been a battle of ingenuity to keep the temperature and humidity in my flat as bearable as I can. It doesn't get the sun until early afternoon, but then the temperature just climbs and climbs right through to the late evening. It's been up to about 33°C (91.4°F) outside, and very humid. I've managed to keep the flat below 28°C by various ingenious means (screens, fans), but even so that's hotter than I'm comfortable with. I'm now looking into getting a portable air conditioning unit, as these 'crazy days' seem to be increasingly a feature of our warming climate. Everywhere is sold out of them at the moment though! I know compared to the temperatures many countries endure this is really only 'warm' - but not to me! And our UK homes and lifestyles have not yet evolved to take high temperatures into account. Hopefully it is returning to average this coming week. It was more bearable yesterday as there was a strong breeze.

Having said all that, it's been something of a novelty to take a walk before breakfast, when it has been rather cooler and quite pleasant. I do feel I need to continue getting some exercise and I can't do that in the heat of the day. Luckily there is some shade on the canal towpath too, so it's been pleasant to join the dog walkers, school students and commuters on their early morning routes. 

I'm currently reading a book called 'The Walking Cure' by Annabel Streets (appropriate name!), an enjoyable exploration of walking through different landscapes and how they can calm, energise or refocus us.  She has this to say about canal towpaths:  'Unlike any other landscape, canals and their towpaths operate in a liminal in-between place - neither completely natural nor completely man-made, neither all water nor earth, neither strictly rural nor strictly urban. In their melding of brick, water and path with wildlife and wilderness, and as aquatic arteries linking cities with countryside, canals and their towpaths form a uniquely hybrid walking landscape that simultaneously soothes and inspires... Canals exist in a fascinating intersection of past and present, urban and rural, artificial and wild... a waterscape like no other. One that continuously piques and intrigues, offering tantalising glimpses of long lost lives while herons unfold their wings from the bank. No other landscape offers this beguiling blend of industry, history, architecture, water and wildlife, green space and blue space, peace and people.'

And that is exactly why I love my canal walks. 

St Fillan's Cave

Fife holiday 2026 #6

The name Pittenweem comes from the Gaelic, meaning 'place of the cave'. In a sandstone outcrop above Pittenweem harbour, there is a natural cave, probably carved by an underground river thousands of years ago. It is linked to the Irish missionary, St Fillan, who is said to have lived here for several years around AD 640. Inside the Y-shaped cave is a stone altar where pilgrims visit and occasional services are still held.

Fillan is said to have lived in the cave for several years, writing sermons by the light of his luminous left arm! The cave is very dark and damp, so having his own bodily illumination must have been very helpful! 

The cave is next to the medieval wall of Pittenweem Priory, and later the monks carved a stairway and cellar into the solid rock of the cave, linking it to the priory garden. The cave was owned by the Priory from roughly 1221 until 1560, after which it became a fishermen's store and (so they say) a smugglers' hiding place. 

There's a painting in there, depicting St Fillan and another saint. 

The cave entrance is on Cove Wynd, a picturesque lane leading down to the harbour. To gain access, you have to borrow a key from a chocolate shop in the village. The entrance is through a low doorway and there is a small window cut into the rock to admit a little light. These are thought to have been added around 1600. 

The mural on the wall was designed and erected by children from the local primary school. The cave is a fascinating place, though I wouldn't like to have lived in there! 

Pittenweem

Fife holiday 2026 #5

I had lunch back at our base. Then I, and a friend who also chose not to do the long walk, drove over to Pittenweem, another of the East Neuk of Fife fishing villages. The village has existed since early medieval times, a fishing port that grew around an early Christian religious settlement. Monks had a priory on the Isle of May and relocated from there to Pittenweem in the early 14th century. 

The fishing port is still one of the largest and most active in the area. Unlike the small creel boats at Crail, this harbour has much bigger trawlers, with a daily fish market on the harbour-side where fish is unloaded, sorted, packed and sold.   

The harbour has apparently been extended over the years, notably in the 1770s when Sir John Anstruther needed capacity to ship coal from his mines and salt from his salt pans. There are two or three breakwaters and piers, with harbour lights to guide the boats in. 

I rather liked the collection of old buildings at the eastern end of the harbour, through which you could glimpse the Isle of May across the water. I've read that these were homes for the wealthy sea captains, whereas the other end of the harbour has smaller cottages built by the fishermen. 

Harbours have so many interesting details to capture: brightly coloured floats, tangled ropes and nets. 

Spot those rain clouds (above). There was an absolute cloudburst for about 15 minutes, bouncing rain and hail! Luckily I managed to find shelter but those on the long walk got drenched!

At the western end of the harbour area there is a lovely Fishermen's Memorial, erected in 2019 and sculpted by Alan Herriot. It's a bronze statue of a fisherman's wife and child, staring anxiously out to sea, waiting for her husband's return. Of course, many of them did not return. It's estimated that since the 1800s some 400 lives have been lost in the Firth of Forth off the East Neuk. The memorial's plaque has disappeared but apparently it simply said: 'The memorial is dedicated to the men and women who make their living from the sea and to those who have lost their lives in doing so.'

Exploring Crail

Fife holiday 2026 #4

The planned walk for the second full day was from Leven to St Monans, about 13 miles. I'm sure it was beautiful but, having walked what was (for me) quite a distance the day before, I decided to err on the safe side and have a gentler day. I also wanted time to explore the area in greater detail and take a few, more considered photos, so I ambled around Crail all morning. It was bright and dry but freezing cold! I had to go back to base and put a few more clothes on, including my woolly hat, which I was glad to have taken with me. I'm not sure you should need a woolly hat in June but that's the UK for you! 

Beyond the harbour to the west there's a curve of beach, the end of which you can see in the photo above. I spent some time round the harbour, taking more note of the various old buildings. The large white building on the right was once the Customs House, a late 17th century building with crowstep gables. Some of the adjoining cottages are even older than that.

It was in the harbour that I spotted my first eider ducks - a mummy and two chicks. A true coastal duck, they are resident all around the Scottish coast and the far north of England. It's an amber listed species, meaning it requires monitoring but is not yet critically endangered or facing severe, immediate extinction risks. We saw quite a few of them on our walks and thankfully there appeared to be good numbers of chicks still surviving. 

There are some wonderful old buildings in Crail. Look at the one above, gorgeous red sandstone and rough hewn stones. The marker above the front door was, annoyingly, obscured by the creeper. I've looked it up online and found: 'The date stone above the front door of 'The Auld Hoose' reads 1686 but is actually a marriage lintel reflecting the earliest owners of this ancient house - George Dishington and Jean (or perhaps Isobel) Strachan. The house is actually older than 1686 and a part of the garden wall has been dated to 1540.'

Along Marketgate, you can see the old Mercat (market) cross, signifying the right of the village to hold a market. The shaft dates from the 17th Century. The cap and unicorn and the octagonal steps were added for Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1887. It was here that important proclamations were read. Punishment was also served here, with miscreants attached by an iron collar to the cross.

Also on Marketgate, one of the finest houses in the village, Kirkmay House, which sits in its own grounds within a large gateway. The Georgian Regency era house was built in 1817 by Robert Ingis, the owner of Kirkmay Estate. It later became a hotel and is now, apparently, converted into flats, which perhaps accounts for the blocking up of some of the original windows. 

Next door is St Mary's Church, parts of which date back to 1175. Its graveyard has many interesting tombs, with some  large family plots. I don't fully understand the history of the Scottish church but apparently John Knox preached here in 1559, starting a riot and setting a mob on a path of destruction of churches all the way to St. Andrews! Life is quieter now.

The church door was open but there was a man painting the door, with tarps spread on the floor and paint paraphernalia all over. I judged it best to leave him to it and not try to barge through his working area - so I never got to see inside. 

Beyond the church, on the edge of the village, I found a charming community garden and woodland, quite idyllic, with flowerbeds and lawns giving way to a sinuous walk through a wood bisected by a little stream. Volunteers were busy planting out bedding plants and their friendly border collie came to suss me out and see if I was worth 'herding'.

For me, the most fascinating of Crail's buildings is 'The Doocot' or dovecote. It's a 16th century 'beehive' doocot, with 700 nest boxes, used to house pigeons that provided food - meat and eggs - and whose droppings were used for tanning leather and making gunpowder. In 1503 King James IV ordered all local lords to build doocots to help provide food for the community but, as the years progressed, there were complaints that pigeons from neighbouring properties were eating grain before it was harvested. By 1617 another law was necessary, restricting doocots to owners of land that produced enough grain within 2 miles of the doocot. This was to ensure that the pigeons fed on the landowner's own crops. The building has recently been extensively restored. 

The Doocot stands at the far eastern end of Crail village, overlooking the rocky coastline. There's a large wind farm out to sea, which you may just about be able to discern on the horizon.

Watch out for the rain!!

Walk #1 West Wemyss to Buckhaven

Fife holiday 2026 #3

Our coastal walk continued. You could generally see the next village on the trail in the distance but often it took a long time to actually arrive there - distances can be deceptive! This compact little village is West Wemyss (pronounced Weemz), which means 'cave' - and there were caves in the steep sandstone cliffs. Some were reputed to have Pictish cave paintings but they were so dark inside that you couldn't really see anything. The soft stone of the cliffs was nicely weathered and I could have made lots of photos here.

This area was obviously a gathering place for the local community and had some interesting mosaics. The coat of arms of Clan Weymss features swans, so the mosaic is a nod to that. The Chief of the Clan still lives in Wemyss Castle, I believe, which is somewhere on top of the cliffs. 

It looked an attractive village though we didn't explore beyond the coastal footpath. 

One of my friends is much more expert at identifying flowers than I am and she was keeping a log. We were both excited by the lupins growing wild everywhere, something you don't see in our own local area. Out to sea, we spotted islands off the North Berwick coast. I believe the one on the left is the famous Bass Rock seabird colony (whose guano makes it look quite white). The larger, darker lump on the right is, I think, on the mainland and is the volcanic plug called North Berwick Law. 

It was in this area that we spotted lots of seals basking on the rocks - at least fifteen in my photo! We were not expert enough to know whether they are Grey seals or Harbour seals but we enjoyed watching them. (Not that they were doing a lot!) 

More lupins, and lots of buttercups, as we approached East Wemyss.  Then the track climbed a bit as we passed the red sandstone ruin of Macduff Castle, associated with the Macduff Earls of Fife, the most powerful family in Fife in the Middle Ages.

For a while the path moved away from the immediate coastal strip, through lush green farmland and lanes filled with wild flowers. The Fife peninsula is a rich agricultural area. Our breakfast packet of Scotts Porridge Oats proudly proclaimed them to be grown entirely in Fife. Now I can't be exactly sure what growing oats look like, but I think the field below might be them. 

By this point we'd walked more than eight miles. The last two miles from Buckhaven to Leven, where we'd left the cars, were largely pavement walking, so a few of us stopped at Buckhaven and caught a bus back to Leven, and had a welcome cup of coffee! It had been a very good day - no rain, no blisters and I didn't ache too much. In fact most of us even managed an evening walk around Crail later, after dinner. 

Walk #1 Kirkcaldy to West Wemyss

Fife holiday 2026 #2

Our first walk was from the town of Kirkcaldy to Leven, some 10.5 miles along the Fife Coastal Path. I realise now I've got home that my photos don't necessarily form a good 'narrative'. There are some (with hindsight) obvious things that might have been explanatory that I didn't think to take. For instance, walking through the town of Kirkcaldy I took barely a single photo, though there were interesting sights. We were walking at a good pace and it's necessary to 'keep up' with the group, so I was basically firing off random shots on the go. Even so, they had to keep stopping to wait for me and other stragglers to catch up. Nothing more annoying, I guess, than walking with a photographer! 😬 Everyone was very kind about it though. 

I did spot and capture this little bit of history below. Linen began to be produced in Kirkcaldy in the 17th century. This led to the manufacture of floorcloths, a kind of waxed cloth used to protect floors, which then turned to the manufacture of linoleum in the 1870s. Kirkcaldy soon became the largest producer of linoleum in the world, right through to the mid-1960s. The main manufacturer was Michael Nairn and Co, and we passed the grand facade of one of the old factory buildings. 

We traversed gardens around Ravenscraig Castle (top picture), started around 1460 and one of the first Scottish castles to be built to withstand cannon fire. Ironically, its founder King James II was killed in an accident with a cannon so it was his widow, Mary of Guelder, who proceeded to oversee the construction. There were nice glimpses of the sea, quite a thrill initially for this land-locked lass. (Saltaire is right in the middle of the country, miles from the coast, so I miss the sea, fresh sea air, sea birds...) 

We quite quickly arrived at the next little village, Dysart, with its pretty harbour, its economy founded on fishing and the production of salt to keep fish fresh. 

The tower belonged to the (now mostly demolished) St Serfs Church and the 16th and 18th century painted dwellings on Pan Ha' (ground of the salt pans) have been restored by the National Trust for Scotland. 

A little further along the walk we could see the red-painted headstocks of the former Francis Colliery, with the next village, West Wemyss, on the headland beyond. This was quite a significant coal-mining area between the mid-1800s and 1988 when the last of some fifty pits closed. 

Looking back from just beyond Dysart, the view is up the Firth of Forth, with Edinburgh somewhere in the far distance. You can perhaps see the island of Inchkeith, about a third in on the left, on the horizon. We were being chased by rain but fortunately it kept out to sea and we didn't get wet.