Thursday 11th December 2008 - Glenrothes to Ladybank via Star Moss and Kettle Hills (Take Two)

David writes - Despite the fact that I couldn't really be bothered with this one and would rather just have couched it with another couple of episodes of Band of Brothers - I was talked into it (well bribed into it really) with the promise of breakfast at McDonalds.

Parking up at my place , it's an easy 10 minutes along the flat to said fine establishment, and suitably refreshed we started off on our latest adventure. This is a fine walk up through The Kettle Hills and although you are never far from civilisation actually feels very rural.

Glenrothes, as Graham previously mentioned, is one of Scotland's five New Towns and was purpose built after the war to provide housing for workers in the many coal mines in the area. Now of course, all the pits are closed but there is still plenty of good employment to be had here - a lot of it in the electronics industry. The town is certainly designed with the car in mind, but there are a vast number of pathways winding in all directions throughout the town. Following one of the well signposted routes saw us heading east towards the old town of Markinch.
Now practically joined on to Glenrothes, Markinch was very prosperous during the first half of the 20th Century. Papermaking and whisky bottling (see picture) were major employers and Markinch is still an important agricultural centre with a thriving co-operative society.

Our route takes us through the village, under the railway and then puffing and panting up Cuinin Hill towards the small village of Star. There are fantastic views in all directions. (Note how it has also suddenly become summer as well!)

Skirting the village sees us heading up through Star Moss which is an area of protected marshland. The elevated path passes through the middle of the woodland but the marshland on either side was frozen solid. Despite our best efforts we were unable to break the ice to the point that it was all starting to get a bit silly!

On leaving Star Moss we were surprised to then come across the beautiful Taj Mahal. Most people are under the impression that is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. However, it is really just a glorified tractor shed in a corner of a field - pretty boring really.

Carrying on up the hill towards Rameldrie Mill we noticed this house, clearly recently finished but still unoccupied. It has fantastic views over the hills and fields and you can easily see Edinburgh too. Yours for a cool £475,000

Turning left at Rameldrie, we were astonished to see the launch of this rocket by Ladybank Scouts. It's so nice to see youngsters doing something productive instead of just hanging about street corners making a nuisance of themselves. Well Done Lads!

Another mile or so down the hill sees us entering the village of Kingskettle where we stop for lunch at Fast and Fresh - sitting outside like a pair of old Jakies, then the last mile to Ladybank and the 67 bus back to Glenrothes.
Another jolly good day out for the heroes - although somehow I think that more calories are being consumed than expended!

Monday 8th December 2008 - Kirkcaldy Town Walk

In the house today having arranged for a Sky engineer to come to the house some time between 8am and 1pm. Would you believe it, he arrived at 8am saying that I was his first call of the day. after twenty minutes he was finished and I took the kids down to school. Arriving home about 9am I realised that I had the rest of the day to myself so I decided to sneak in an extra walk without my chum Davy.

I had previously thought about a walk round Kirkcaldy and, call me an anorak, had driven the car along the route to find that it measures 8.2 miles (circular).


I figured that the walk would take approximately 2 hours 30 mins, walking at a reasonable pace. I set off from my house at Hollybrae at 10:10am and headed west along Chapel Level towards the roundabout at the retail park (Sainsbury's). The retail park was built a few years ago on the site of the old Chapel Farm house, easily identified by the large glass conservatory attached to it. In fact this whole farmland and wooded area has been / is being developed for retail units and housing, my house included.


From there I then turned southwards (all without the aid of a compass you know) along Wester Bogie Road. The name of this road seems to be a constant source of amusement for my kids, not sure why! Continuing along this road takes you onto Oriel Road which heads into the town centre area of Kirkcaldy. At the southern end of Oriel Road you pass the site of the old Slaughterhouse and Auction Market. This building was still in use when I was a young police constable in Kirkcaldy in 1980, in fact I remember having to visit it periodically to check their various licences were in order. I think it was demolished in the mid eighties. On the other side of the Oriel Road they are now building a new Lidle supermarket on the site of the Dutch Mill pub. Many a drunken night was spent there in my youth (yeh I know, I'm sounding like an old fart!)


At the bottom of Oriel Road I turned right onto Forth Avenue and walked southwards towards the roundabout at the entrance to the Beveridge Park. The park dates back to 1892, when Provost Michael Beveridge bequeathed 104 acres of Raith Estate to the people of Kirkcaldy. It has undergone some major improvements in the last couple of years and is getting back to its former glory.


Turning left at the roundabout I then headed eastwards down Nicol Street. Crossing the road at the crossroads with High Street, I noted that the pub building on the south east corner of the junction is still empty. This has changed hands a few times but I remember it best as Uncle Toms Cabin. Davy and I used to be regulars in this pub in the eighties and remember a memorable 'lock-in' one Christmas night with the bar staff. I seem to remember that the manager found out and one of the bar staff got crucified for it and had the pub keys taken from him so there couldn't be a repeat.


At the foot of Nicol Street I turned left onto the Esplanade. This is the site of the longest street fair in Europe in April each year, the Links Market.

On the left, just after turning onto Esplanade is Volunteers Green. Volunteers’ Green is all that is left of almost 9 acres of ground presented to Kirkcaldy by Charles I in 1644. In 1972 plans to create a multi-storey car park on a large area of Volunteers’ Green brought floods of protest and a petition was signed by around 2000 people to save the Green. Out of this protest the Kirkcaldy Civic Society was born. In 1992 the council landscaped the area.

I continued along the Esplanade, passing the site of another old haunt of Davy's and mine, Jackie O's. This used to be the busiest night club in Kirkcaldy, although I think we used to call them 'discos' in the eighties. It's still a night club, called the Candle Rooms I think, but I don't think i've been in it since it was Jackie O's.


At the north end of the Esplanade the roadway continues on to become the High Street for a short distance, passes the harbour area and then inclines steeply onto The Path. At the top of the path you pass another historic old building, Path House (formerly Dunnikier House). This was built by John Watson, a local skipper and merchant in 1692.



Continuing along The Path, the roadway joins Nether Street at Pathhead. On the seaward side of he road lies the remains of Ravenscraig Castle. The castle was built by James II in the 1450's and is located on a promontory, high above the beach, with views across the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh. Ravenscraig was one of the first castles in Scotland built to withstand cannon fire, with very thick walls. The long flight of steps leading down from the castle to the Pathhead Sands is said to have been the inspiration for John Buchan's novel "The Thirty-nine Steps". On one of our drunken escapades in our twenties, Davy and I were walking along the road at Nether Street on the way back (not sure to where?) from a night on the town. We were so pissed that Davy fell against a low boundary wall at Ravenscraig Castle and fell over it, landing on his shoulder with such an impact that he fractured the ball joint within the socket. I remember killing myself laughing and I don't think Davy realised how hurt he was until the next day when he sobered up. Anyway, I think it led to a few weeks off work for him.



On the opposite side of the road at Nether Street, loom the tower blocks which dominate the skyline. Built in the 1960's they are regarded by some as an integral part of the town and by others as an eyesore. I think I probably think that they are a bit of an eyesore, particularly as they are built opposite such a historic site, Ravenscraig Castle.



I then turned left at Nether Street and started the long walk up St Clair Street. Turing left onto Park Road I continued northwards onto Dunnikier Way.

Dunnikier way is very flat along its length and before very long I was back onto Chapel Level and heading back into Hollybrae estate and home.

The walk took me 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete and was pretty tiring on the legs as it was all on footpaths or road.

Thoroughly enjoyable though, I had music to keep me company rather that the incessant jabbering of Davy. Only kidding Davy!

Friday 5th December 2008 - Glenrothes to Ladybank via Star Moss and Kettle Hills (8 miles linear)

This is another local walk which starts out from the very heart of Glenrothes town centre. Following the very well signed public footpaths leading to Woodside and then into Markinch, the path winds its way steadily under the railway viaduct and then over Cuinin Hill before skirting the lovely little hamlet of Star......... At least that's what should have happened!

After dropping their respective offspring at school, our brave heroes met up at the designated point, suitably prepared with flasks, sandwiches, hats and gloves. Unlike all the previous walks, today was bloody freezin'. "What's the forecast?" asked one of our bold boys. "Rain, sleet, snow, drizzle, mist, fog, high winds and freezing temperatures" came the reply.
Although their motives for getting fit and healthy are pure and true, our heroes know when enough is enough.
"Let's just go for a fat boy's breakfast instead" suggested the evil one, to which the other - easily led as usual - agreed.
A quick drive to a nearby high class venue with an unsurpassed reputation.

Soon saw the table overflowing with a feast fit for a king.

Well, that's partly true as one half of the intrepid duo opted for the less calorific toast and scrambled egg option.Having taken their fill of the heart attack inducing goodies and almost bursting at the seams (well one of them at least), the lads could take no more and after going their own way for a couple of hours to perform a few chores, met up at the small one's residence for tea and cake - a swatch at the papers and a muck about on the computer.
All in all much better than trudging up some bleak hillside in sub-zero temperatures.
And..................
As if that wasn't bad enough only a few hours later our brave lads would be found giving an excellent account of themselves with some chums, swigging wine and beer, eating curry and telling tales of their fantastic exploits in the great outdoors.

Who said getting fit can't be fun?

Tuesday 2nd December 2008 - Bathgate to Livingston (6.5 miles)

Something strange is going on! Despite the fact that it was cold and there was some snow lying about, we have had another great weather day for this, our fourth walk.

We drove to Livingston and parked the car near to Livingston North railway station where we were to get the train to Bathgate and the start of the walk. After some initial confusion on my part we eventually sussed that we had to get the train on platform 2 (there are only two platforms!). At the time of writing this there are engineering works taking place at the railway station and the route to the platform isn't immediately obvious. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

The train journey from Livingstone North to Bathgate only takes seven minutes and cost £1.90 each for the single fare. David had only just found out my plans for the days walk and as you can see was still looking a bit confused on the train.

On arriving at Bathgate we both realised that we hadn't ever been to the town before and don't know much about it. There looked to be a bustling town centre but we didn't have time to explore and made out way across the car park in front of the Focus DIY store to the start of the walk.

This walk actually follows part of National Cycle Route NCR75 and is very flat along surfaced paths. Although the paths were snow covered the going was easy, in fact it stayed very cold all the way along the route and this kept the snow from becoming slushy and wet.

Before very long the route takes you past this sculpture by Jeremy Cunningham called 'Poured Metal'. It is a reminder of the heavy industry which used to dominate the area and is very clever, looking like the bucket is suspended in mid air.

The walk is very well signed for the entire route and you just follow the NCR 75 directions towards Livingston. We walked around the outskirts of Bathgate past the golf course to our left. Being a keen golfer, I realised that I haven't played Bathgate but it looked like an interesting enough wee course.

Just before leaving Bathgate, Davy took this picture of a tit, standing next to an oddly shaped hill!

The route follows the line of the railway out of Bathgate before turning south towards the M8 and the famous 'Pyramids'. I have seen this sculpture many time during my travels at work along the M8, but obviously always from the motorway. What has become apparent during the walks so far, is that you see well known landmarks from a completely different perspective.

There are usually sheep grazing over the grass on the pyramids. Nothing unusual about that except that is that their wool is usually dyed bright red.

After crossing over the M8 via a bridge constructed for the cycle route, the path winds its way southwards away from the motorway and traffic noise towards Blackburn and Seafield, two other towns which I have never been to.

The path then passes close to shale bings, no doubt remnants of industrial waste. These seem to attract dirt bikers as there were numerous tracks over the bing.

The path then continues eastwards towards the outskirts of Livingston. This 'new town' was started in the 1950's and we were immediately struck by how similar it looks to Glenrothes in Fife (which is another new town built in the same period).

The walk takes you past a housing estate near to the railway line. We immediately noticed how many houses were boarded up with metal shutters. I easily counted more than 100 empty properties and could see that the whole place was run down and looked like a ghost town. It was also apparent however that there were families living in these streets. Often we would see one occupied terraced house surrounded by five or six empty and boarded up houses either side.

It is a real shame to see this kind of neglect, particularly when there is such a national shortage of affordable accommodation.

The last part of the walk followed the railway line back towards Livingston North station where we had parked the car.

The walk lasted approximately two hours and, maybe because the walking was all on constructed pathways, I really felt in in my legs at the end. There was no immediately obvious places to eat in the area around the railway station so we jumped in the car and drove to Dunfermline where we enjoyed our lunch in the pleasant surrounding of Dobbie's Garden Centre.

A different type of walk this one. It was all on constructed pathways, which although they were snow covered, made for tired legs at the end.

The other difference on this walk to the others we have completed so far was that the scenery was more urban and industrial. Enjoyable just the same though.

As with our other walks so far, this one is also featured in the book, 25 Walks Edinburgh & Lothian by Roger Smith and printed by

http://www.mercatpress.com/

Wednesday 26th November 2008 - Cupar to Ceres and Hill of Tarvit (8 miles)

This Blog written by David - The weather has continued to be surprisingly fair for late November so off we go again, staying in Fife on this occasion and for the first time including some (gentle) hills in our walk.

North East Fife is a lovely part of Scotland and the old market town of Cupar is always well worth a visit. We drove up and parked the car in the free car park near to the primary school. From there we walked out of town and onto the Moor Road. This is an ancient drovers road and was used by farmers and traders taking their produce to market from the nearby farms and villages. The path itself is shaded and rises steadily uphill with just enough gradient to have us puffing and panting by the time we reached the top. After about a mile and a half we entered the beautiful little village of Ceres.

Although small, this is a place steeped in history and is the home of the Fife Folk Museum which is well worth a visit. The Griselda Hill Pottery is also to be found in Ceres and this is where the famous Wemyss ware is now recreated - very collectable in it's own right!

There really is a whole load of history in Ceres and no shortage of eating and drinking places either. If you visit on the last Saturday of June each year you will catch the historic highland games taking place on the perfectly manicured village green.

Heading out of the village we joined Waterless Road. Like the Moor Road, this is an ancient right of way and although today it is little more than a farm track, it was once part of the main route through Fife from Broughty Ferry to Pettycur - the motorway of it's time!. As we headed up towards Denhead farm the countryside really opened up giving us some great views of rural Fife.

Across to the right we could see the chimneys of Hill of Tarvit House so we cut through the farm and across the main(ish) road, following narrow paths and over an ancient arched packhorse bridge before heading up the hill towards the mansion. A short detour takes you into the grounds of house which is maintained by the National Trust for Scotland. This is a beautiful showpiece property and is well worth a visit. The hill which extends from behind the house rises to only 211 metres but affords fantastic views over the whole of Fife and up the Tayside coast - maybe we'll climb it one day!!

Picture of Graham standing on the packhorse bridge.

Continuing down the road, we turned left up the long driveway towards Whitehill Farm, through the farm itself and then across a couple of fields and back onto the Moor Road. We then simply retraced our by now fairly muddy steps back down towards Cupar.

A quick circuit of the town via the railway station, County Buildings and the historic Mercat Cross led us back to the car, but not before we'd stopped of at that famous Cupar bakers for some light refreshment. http://www.fisheranddonaldson.com/

All in all a very enjoyable walk on a lovely crisp autumn day. Easy enough going but good boots essential!

Monday 24th November 2008 - Linlithgow Loch and Union Canal

Having completed our first walk last week, Davy and I were keen to get started on this new walk. This walk is 6 miles circular and we estimated on setting out that it would take us a couple of hours to complete. Surprisingly the weather was fine yet again and there was even a wee bit of heat in the sun. We parked the car in a small car park next to Linlithgow Loch and set off through the town centre and around the back of the railway station to the canal basin.

There were only a couple of barges in the basin and no doubt were about to undergo a bit of maintenance whilst moored for the winter.

We then started heading west along the canal tow path. The path is well made and very easy to walk along. After 10 or 15 minutes walking you start to lose the traffic noise from Linlithgow and find yourself out in the open countryside. We never actually saw any barges or boats using the canal although I understand it is navigable for its entire length.

After about 2km, we reached the old stable building at Woodcockdale, once used for the canal horses. As you can see from the picture to the left, the building is not being used at present.

I couldn't help feel that it is a shame that the building is not occupied. It would make a lovely cottage or even a tourist attraction in the summer months if it was developed as a Union Canal museum (maybe there already is one somewhere else?)

Dangerous Davy under a 'danger - thin ice' sign. He is always sailing close to the wind that boy! Look how close to the water he is!

After another few minutes walking, the magnificent Avon Aqueduct is reached. At 247m long, this is the longest aqueduct in Scotland and is approximately 200 years old. It boggles the mind to think of the effort that must have gone in to creating this aqueduct back in the early 1800's. Apparently one of the navvies who worked on the bridge was William Burke. He was hanged in Edinburgh in 1829, one half of the infamous murderers and body snatchers, Burke and Hare.

After reaching the aqueduct, the terrain changes from the very easy to walk canal tow path, to a wee bit more tricky underfoot as the route follows the Avon River valley. The ground was pretty muddy underfoot when we did this walk and there were some fairly slippy descents as the path followed the route of the river.

The photograph shows the view from the Avon Aqueduct down the river valley towards the railway viaduct.

The viaduct marks the start of Linlithgow and the walk then takes you through the outskirts of the town toward the loch.

The distance around the loch is 2.3 miles and makes a very pleasant finish to the walk. As you can see, Linlithgow Palace looks rather majestic sitting above the loch. Whilst we didn't visit the Palace, I've been before and it's well worth seeing. Bonny Prince Charlie was born here in 1745 you know!

The finish to this walk brings you to the east side of the town centre at Linlithgow and there are numerous pubs and restaurants to eat at.

This was a very pleasant walk, helped in no small way by the weather. It probably took nearly three hours to complete, mainly due to the slow going along the muddy banks of the River Avon. Well worth the effort though as some of the scenery was gorgeous.

Once again, this walk features in the book, 25 Walks Edinburgh and Lothian by Roger Smith and published by http://www.mercatpress.com/

Thursday 20th November 2008 - South Queensferry Circular Route

This is the first walk in our new found hobby and breaks us in gently at a modest 5.3 miles.

As you can see from the picture, the walk starts off with spectacular views of the Forth Road and Rail Bridges at South Queensferry. You should also note the blue skies, which for November in Scotland isn't really the norm!

We parked the car in South Queensferry near to the harbour and started along The Craigs towards Hawes Pier. You cetainly get a flavour for the history of South Queensferry as you walk through the town. It's the kind of interesting little town you could spend a good few hours pottering about, if you were a pottering about kind of person. There are specialist shops, small art galleries and some nice eating places to be found but I guess it's not to everyones liking! We passed a woman speaking to her teenage son and they were obviously having words as we overheard the boy say, "I'm f***ing sick of this place!" It's a shame really that this young guy couldn't appreciate his surroundings, but who knows, it might not have been about him not liking South Queensferry and more about his mum trying to give him the same fish for lunch as he had for his dinner the previous night?

The initial part of this walk follows the south coastline of the river Forth and has some glorious views of Fife. The pathway is well constructed and is very easy to walk.

In about 3/4 hour we reached Dalmeny Estate.

As you can see from the photo, Dalmeny House is a really grand old building and was built in 1814 by the 4th Earl of Rosebery on the site of a much older house.

The estate is actually open to the public during the summer months and apparently houses a large collection of tapesties, porcelain and portraits. There is also a 9 hole golf course on the estate grounds on which I think members of the public can play for approximately £3?
I didn't know this place existed and will definitely be visiting it in the summer months.

(Just before leaving the estate I snapped this picture of a horses ass and a bronze statue)

Continuing south along the coast line takes you into the Crammond area of Edinburgh, however we turned to the west and made our way into the small town of Dalmeny. There is a nice church in Dalmeny which dates to the 12th century, however I thought that it looked a bit odd as it is missing its spire.

From Dalmeny, a cycleway took us back towards South Queensferry where, after our two and a half hour walk, we enjoyed a light lunch in one of the little cafes in the town.

This walk was very easy and took us 2 hours to complete. It sticks to minor roads and good tracks and if the weather hadn't been so good when we were doing it, I dare say we could have shaved 20 minutes off the time by stepping up the pace. All in all, a fine introduction to exercise and walking and really enjoyable.

This walk is featured in the book - 25 Walks Edinburgh and Lothian by Roger Smith and published by www.mercatpress.com