We crossed the Kincardine Bridge heading from Stirlingshire towards Dunfermline in Fife. The bridge was built in 1936 as a swing bridge, allowing ships to pass as they sailed along the Forth, but the lack of shipping in later years meant it was permanently sealed shut in 1989.
Pittencrief Park in Dunfermline has been a destination of ours before and as we knew it had a café we searched it out today for a stopping off point for lunch. Delicious home-made soup and sandwiches and a scone big enough for two of us to share solved the lunch problem! Time then for a stroll around the park in the sunshine.
The park is huge, covering 76 acres, and was given to Dunfermline by Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-American business man. He became one of the richest Americans ever, but was a philanthropist and gave away millions of dollars in the USA and British Empire to charities, foundations and universities. There are paths heading off in all directions leading to all sorts of nooks and crannies, up steps, down slopes, round corners - never quite knowing what you will find. There are numerous grey squirrels running about all over the park and the occasional glimpse of Dunfermline Abbey and Palace.
Although we had been before we still managed to find pathways we hadn't explored before. The outcrop where Malcolm III's Tower was originally built is just an impressive lump of rock now.
We saw Wallace's Well, where William Wallace might have sheltered on a visit to Dunfermline ….
... and passed along close to an ancient route under Dunfermline Palace.
The Laird's Garden and the glasshouses looked very well maintained although not at their best at this time of year. Unfortunately the glasshouses were closed today too, so they will both have to wait for another visit.
Pittencrief House which houses a museum wasn't open either, but the outside of the house is quite impressive - in colour if nothing else!
The house brought us back to where we had begun our wander and time dictated we needed to move on.
A trouble-free journey from Dumfermline to Dundee soon passed and we were suddenly crossing Tay Bridge and looking at the city of Dundee. It is becoming a favourite city of ours so we were really looking forward to the weekend.
After a day of brilliant sunshine we had to remember to turn back the clocks before bedtime! Not looking forward to the dark nights that stretch in front of us until next springtime but felt better next morning on opening the curtains and finding more sunshine! Rather than wander around Dundee - no matter how much we like it, we just had to find a walk in the local countryside in this sunshine.
Crombie Park consists of 200 acres of woodland around Crombie Loch.
There are numerous walking trails around the area along with playgrounds, picnic areas and an orienteering course. The Main Lodge has permanent displays about the area, its walks and its wildlife and Countryside Rangers are available for help and advice. There are also a coupe of wildlife hides and deer, woodpeckers, waterfowl and red squirrels are regularly seen. Although we didn't see an awful lot of wildlife the scenery was as beautiful as the weather.
Having enjoyed our walk we moved on to the Scottish Wildlife Trust site at Montrose Basin in the hope of seeing more than the mallards and moorhens we had seen at Crombie. The Basin is part of the estuary of the River Esk and an important roosting and feeding area for a variety of migrants and important for wintering waders and wildfowl. There were only a couple of visitors in the centre when we arrived who were vastly outnumbered by the volunteers on hand! We soon discovered why - it was just half an hour before high tide! A very high tide was already flooding part of the site and had chased off any birds that had been on the shore. Obviously not our day for wildlife! However the staff were really friendly and we chatted for about an hour while looking out the windows for any activity.
Tree sparrows on the feeders just outside were a real bonus although the volunteers did manage to spot a snipe through the telescope - which I couldn't make out because of its fantastic camouflage!! As we prepared to move on they did suggest another spot opposite their site where we would be looking towards their shore and might therefore see birds. They were right, there were more birds but the bright sun was shining right in our faces! We did manage to spot flocks of turnstones and oystercatchers who were there in good numbers.
Going into Montrose itself we meandered around the harbour and then found the prom where the sea was really whooshing up the sea defences and throwing spray around. The wind was so strong you could see it blowing off the tops of the waves out to sea.
Heading back down the coast now towards Arbroath we found Lunan beach. Another wonderful sandy beach to wander along. As the tide was now out there were lots of smooth pebbles left on the beach looking very pretty, as they were still wet from the sea.
Arbroath of course is famous for its smokies - a type of smoked haddock. Local legend has it that a store caught fire one night destroying the barrels of salted haddock stored there. The fire 'cooked' the haddock and when the locals tasted it - the smokie was born, or so the legend has it!! We found a more traditional fish and chip shop and bought our tea to eat while watching the tide recede from the shore. We could even see Bell Rock Lighthouse on the horizon, the world's oldest sea-washed lighthouse. Built between 1807 and 1810, by Robert Stevenson, it sits 11 miles east of the Firth of Tay, is 35 metres tall and its light can be seen from 35 miles inland!
It was really lovely to sit watching the sun go down - remember the clocks went back last night so sunset is now earlier.
We continued to watch the sky change colour form pink through yellow, red and orange on the short ride back to Dundee.
Yet another morning with brilliant sunshine, although chilly. Setting off on our journey home we crossed the Tay Bridge and headed for the coastal road home, passing through Leuchars and then St Andrews - where we had a short, brisk walk along the beach. The tide was so far out it made the beach look huge and almost empty despite other people walking along it.
The villages along this stretch of coast are wonderful little fishing villages and always worth a wander and today we paused at Elie. A curve of sand gave us a short walk before we sat on a bench on the headland watching the birds get moved off their rocks by the tide slowly starting to come in. A very picturesque village that I am sure is very popular in the summer.
Crossing the Queensferry bridge we headed for the Edinburgh bypass, with a stop for refreshments along the way, before heading home through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders. Finally reaching Moffat we joined the motorway home. Stunning scenery all the way today, the trees and hills a range of beautiful colours.
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