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. 

 

First impressions

Fife holiday 2026 #1

I've recently returned from an excellent holiday in Scotland with a group of friends. Our aim was to walk some of the Fife Coastal Path, on the northern side of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh. We rented a large house in the fishing village of Crail, one of the East Neuk of Fife villages. This turned out to be ideal for the ten of us and a convenient base for getting around. The house, pictured above where the people are, had apparently been a shop at some stage and the dining room held this old print (below), though you can't tell what the shop sold. The village still has a few shops, so it was easy to get any supplies we needed. 

After a long journey, it was good to stretch my legs and start to explore - in the sunshine too! First impressions of the village were good. It was rather larger than I expected and still has some very old and interesting buildings. It is apparently one of Scotland’s oldest Royal Burghs, granted (I think) in 1178, which gave it the right to hold markets. Fishing has always played a big part in the local economy. Crail was noted in the middle ages for the export of salted herring and 'Crail Capons' - haddock dried in the sun or smoked by a fire. Much of its early trade was with the Netherlands, and there seem to be many clues to that link. Many of the buildings have pantiles and stepped gables such as you see on old Dutch and Flemish houses. 

Of course, I made my way pretty quickly down to the harbour, though at that point of the late afternoon the tide was out and the boats were beached. It's very attractive, with cobbled streets winding down to it and a scattering of cottages and buildings related to the fishing trade. 

Later, after dinner, a few of us took advantage of the light nights and evening sunshine and took a walk down to the harbour again, by which time the tide was coming in. It was lovely - I could say it 'floated our boats' with happy anticipation of the week to come. 

(My blog is now going to be flooded with 'holiday spam' for as long as it takes me to sort and organise my many photos!)

The night sky

No apologies for another night sky picture. This one, last Friday evening, was so breathtaking I have to share it here. Even more incredible when you realise this was 11pm at night. The moon was so bright. It's a bit blurry in my pic but it was a phone shot and it was too late to be bothered to go find my big camera and tripod. 

Friday was my birthday and I'd had a lovely day: time with friends and quiet time alone. I had some wonderful news from my elder granddaughter, who has been awarded the 'Character Prize' out of her entire school year group (about 250 pupils). They said she: 'flies under the radar but is an A-star student, demonstrating all the qualities, character and values [that the school seeks to foster].' I think she's amazing - she has a quiet strength - and it's lovely that her teachers and peers think so too. So that was a delightful birthday gift, as was the beautiful sky to round the day off. 

Today would have been my mum's 99th birthday, so this is for her. She'd have been very proud of her great granddaughter too, and I'm so glad she lived long enough to meet her a few times. 

Solstice

Here we are at the mid-point of the year, the summer solstice. The seasons fly by these days! I love these light nights, and always mourn when we start the downward path to darkness again. 

A couple of nights ago, at 10.30 pm, in the throes of England's first World Cup match (!), I got up to draw the curtains and I noticed the thinnest crescent moon - a waxing crescent - and the brightly shining Venus in very close conjunction. I found this rather thrilling! The match was rather thrilling too, it has to be said: England 4, Croatia 2. A good start to our campaign. 

Martin Parr

 

Another repost, a flashback to ten years ago when I visited The Hepworth in Wakefield :

'Everything in The Hepworth is worth seeing but I especially went along to view the current exhibition of the photographer Martin Parr's work. It is entitled 'The Rhubarb Triangle and other stories'. At its heart is a new commission of photographs of the famous 'rhubarb triangle', an area near Wakefield that specialises in growing the sweet and delicate Yorkshire forced rhubarb, grown in dark sheds and harvested by candlelight. Alongside were many of Martin's other photographs, among them his documentary series focussing on the seaside and the middle classes in the 80s. If you don't know his work, do look him up. He manages to be both funny and poignant, and some of his images are a scathing commentary on life in Thatcher's Britain towards the end of the twentieth century.

The wonderful collage shown above is called 'Common Sense' - highly saturated images of 'bits and bobs' of life in the 90s, wonderfully kitsch and quite bizarre but somehow a fascinating archive.

The four people were watching a video about Martin Parr, listening through headphones. Every now and again they'd all guffaw with laughing, which added to the slightly odd feeling, since I didn't know what they were laughing at.'

It's poignant now, as Martin Parr died in December 2025. He was the same age as me... That's quite sobering. 

Back on the beat

I returned on Tuesday from a holiday so I shall have a lot (!) of photos to post here shortly, as soon as I've had time to sort them and process them. For now, I'm in the midst of piles of laundry and just getting to grips with life at home again. I'm feeling fit, and determined to continue with this healthy kick, so I have been for a walk each day since I returned. Yesterday it was hot and humid; very, very still with no wind at all. It felt quite thundery, but there was no rain. 

I'm back to exploring my usual beat - along the canal, along the river - noticing the changes since I last walked that way. The river was unusually calm and mirror-like. 

Can you see the heron on the far side of the water? Unless you're looking on a big screen, it's probably hard to spot. I only had my phone with me so I can't 'zoom in'. I love to see them; they stand so still as they watch for fish and amphibians. 

My last photo is of a fallen tree. There are so many, a legacy - I think - of the hot, dry summers we've been having. They get so stressed. (I read today that the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, reputed hide-out of Robin Hood and a big feature of my own childhood, since I grew up nearby, has died. It's thought to be 1000 years old, and has this year produced no leaves or shoots at all. How sad.)

This old stump by the river may have no leaves of its own but it's now hosting a number of different species of plants and fungi. It reminded me of some kind of Japanese garden feature. 

Roses galore

All of a sudden there seem to be roses everywhere. The gardens in Alexandra Square, in front of the almshouses, are full of them. I think they are quite old bushes and look a bit leggy - and I'm not fond of all the messy woodbark mulch, though I know that's to help the overstretched council gardening team to keep the weeds in check. Lovely to see the bright blooms though. 

I've photographed the red door and its red roses before. The artist in me gets endless pleasure from the colour matching. 

A more modern apartment block nearby has a hedge of roses and these smell gorgeous as you walk past. The recent rain and strong wind has left them a bit bedraggled but they still give me pleasure.