1 EAGLETON NOTES: The Kingdom of Fife

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Saturday 29 June 2013

The Kingdom of Fife

Well a tiny bit of it anyway.  When I was on my recent travels David and I went North along the coast road from West Wemyss as far as Anstruther one afternoon.  

The Fife Coast from West Wemyss to Anstruther
The Ship Inn at the charming little town of  Elie (where we had an excellent lunch)
I love 'proper' inn signs
St Monans Church
St Monans Church interior
Very typical sea-front housing along the coast 
At Pittenweem
These photos hardly scratch the surface of what the area has to offer.  Hopefully I shall return to do it justice.  There are a few more posts to come.  After all who could forget Anstruther?

15 comments:

  1. I think I'm in love with this town and its houses and pub, and the church.
    Not to sound morbid, but I think I would have a better chance of enjoying the afterlife if I were buried in such a serene looking graveyard with such a lovely view looking out to sea...bliss.

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    1. Oh yes Virginia if you are going to spend the rest of your life - sorry the rest of your death - somewhere then that churchyard would be a beautiful place to do it.

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  2. GB,
    "Oh, Pittenweem, Pittenweem / She's every fisher laddie's dream . . . ". Your photo has revived a couple of memories attached to the Fife coast. When I was staying in Lewis a couple of years ago, there arrived to much excitement in town one afternoon, a restored "fife", with its big brown square sail. had sailed from the Scottish Fisheries Museum, in Anstruther, a little further along on the Fife Coast from where you walked and took your photos. For six weeks, the restored drift net herring fishing boat (first registered in 1902!) had been moving around Scots coastline from the east to the west coast, calling at ports all along the way. The Captain and crew welcomed visitors aboard that day, me among them. The schoolchildren lined up chattering, and I asked if I might come aboard, as well, and on board the lovely floating museum I went - to be served most memorable cup of hot tea of my life, while the patient crew members answered my questions. It was an experience of a lifetime for me. Aside from two trips to the Island on the ferry from Ullapool and back, I had never before been on a "real" boat, and I haven't been on one since.
    The museum has a website worth looking up if only for a series of photos of , in which one of the crew - volunteers all - I discovered, had invested in a labour of love for a passionate 25 years. I didn't make it to the museum last year when I walked from Elie to Pittenweem, but I have dreams of another time. (Keep an eye out for photos - asnwers to yours in a manner of speaking, by separate mail.)
    Thank you GB for posting your photos!
    Take care, McGregor

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    1. Ah. McGregor! Welcome. So many questions answered and I hadn't even asked them. I have the photos. Thank you. I shall respond.

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  3. Great shots of a grand area. Pittenweem is a great place.

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    1. Yes Adrian Elie to Pittenweem is delightful and Pittenweem has a working fishing harbour whereas the others have lost their fishing fleets now.

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  4. I was distracted from enjoying the church by wondering who the hell was St Monans? To my delight I discovered what appears to be his main claim to fame was his friendship with St Adrian. Are those crab pots at Pittenweem. The fishermen are a much tidier lot than those at Pukenui. No surprise there really.

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    1. Yes, Pauline they are crab and lobster pots. I'm not sure why but most piles of pots are very tidy.

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  5. I love Anstruther. First saw it about 28 years ago. It had been sheeting down with rain and when we arrived - suddenly the sun came out. Beautiful. Wandered around eating ice cream. Then - about two hours after leaving, discovered that we had left Kate's very expensive jacket behind. Oh well - we just had to put it down to experience.
    Too late to go back and could not remember exactly where we had left it. Funny how a blog can remind you of so much. Beautiful pictures Graham.

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    1. Oh dear Pat. I'm not sure you are going to like me very much if I tell you what I think of Anstruther now (and I'm not alone in my view). The other towns were all delightful but.....

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  6. Photos like these make me really long to go travelling again (...until I start thinking of the actual practicalities involved...). Seems you had a really beautiful day for photography as well. Love that neatly whitewashed inn - and the sign, of course. And that old church looking out over the sea. I was also always fascinated by semidetached houses where the owners chose completely different style and wall-colour. I suspect that might not even be allowed here. Semidetached buildings are unusual in Sweden though.

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    1. Yes Monica the completely different styles of houses forming a single building is fascinating and one of the principal things that make the towns so attractive.

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  7. Inn signs, churches, lobster pots, what more could one want?

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    1. Good places for a cup of coffee or afternoon tea, Bruv. And there were plenty of those as well.

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  8. A beautiful area! I love it when old buildings have original looking windows, such as the multi-pane ones. Only too often, in Germany you see old buildings that have been lovingly restored otherwise, but have modern one-pane windows. It just doesn't fit. Also, many a sin has been committed on the front door department. You wouldn't believe the creativity some front door designers have put into dreaming up really ugly doors. Maybe they were the result of nightmares.

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