A few days ago I posted about a trip that David and I made to some of the little towns on the Fife Coast. I purposely omitted to mention the last and most northerly of the towns: Anstruther. Several people have commented, however, how much they loved Anstruther. Unfortunately neither David (who lives on that stretch of the coast) nor I found anything in Anstruther to take us back (apart from the possibility for me of a visit to the Fishing Museum).
Why? Firstly the town frontage is just one long eatery and drinkery. So if that's what you want then the choice is large - boasting at least three of the 'best chippie in the world' type signs. However there is an air of neglect:
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| The ice cream may have been mad but the shop window was an estate agent. |
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| A missing sign and a tatty frontage was typical |
Go behind the front and we both felt that the air of neglect was even greater.
The harbour is now mostly a leisure craft harbour:
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| The northerly end of the harbour and town frontage. |
So I'm very sorry Anstruther but I think that in the attractiveness race you are living on past glory. However you have lots of car and coach visitors during the summer at least which takes the pressure off the more attractive towns.
Hmm... it does look picturesque enough in the last picture - from afar. And if coach loads of people are happy with one eatery and drinkery after the other, then that's fine, as long as they don't expect me to join them. The neglect is sad; if there's so many tourists coming in, I wonder why not some of the money they undoubtedly bring isn't spent on a bit of upkeep.
ReplyDeleteIt's become one of those 'certain sort of places' Meike where (and this is a supposition on my part) a lot of businesses compete for a lot of people for a relatively short period of time each year and the rest of the year they compete for a very much smaller number of visitors. I really do not understand why so many of the buildings look sad and uncared for. Perhaps it is just a general air of tattiness that tends to come with so many trippers.
DeleteYou have done it proud. I didn't even bother switching the camera on.
ReplyDeleteAdrian I took fewer photos in Anstruther than anywhere else between it and Elie.
DeleteI think the town looks quite charming as seen in your last picture from the harbour. You were probably spoiled by all the other even more picturesque sights by the time you got to Anstruther ;)
ReplyDeleteNo, we were not. Graham has said it better than I could, and much more politely.
DeleteI'd like to see him make Methyl look attractive.
DeleteA task beyond any person.
DeleteNo Monica. Whatever adjectives one can apply to Anstruther I'm afraid 'charming' is definitely not among them.
DeleteNot a task beyond any person. What he can do for Anstruther he can try and do for Methyl.
DeleteOh Graham! It wasn't like that 28 years ago. My vision - as I remember it - has been destroyed. Perhaps my memory was the same as the long hot summers, crisp frosty winters and hardly any rain of my childhood. Did it ever rain when we were children?
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry Pat that I've spoiled your memories. Rem,ember it as it was and forget this post. As for long hot summers and snowy winters I can recall that Liverpool was snowbound for three weeks in the Winter of '47 (I still have the photos - I was three at the time. I can recall being too hot to sleep and sitting on my bedroom windowsill looking at the 'big' children playing out in the gardens of the houses whose gardens backed onto our road's gardens. How often these things happened though is far from clear.
DeleteI would still pay the town a visit on my travels....it's quite different from what we have here.
ReplyDeleteVirginia, my view is that everywhere may be worth a visit even if only to show me that it's not - if you see what I mean.
DeleteGraham give us your take on Methyl. It must have a good point somewhere.
DeleteIf I have been through Methyl then I am blissfully unaware of the fact Adrian.
DeleteWhat a shame, it looks so charming at a distance (as in the last image). I'd like an answer to your question - why?
ReplyDeleteEither, Pauline, because you like seaside 'ice cream town days out' or, like me, you are just curious.
DeleteI doubt so much has been written about Anstruther for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteLittle did I know when I penned it Marcel.
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