Strathkinness - 19/01/2020

When you wake up to a morning like this, you have just got to get out as early as you can!

Sunrise from East Wemyss, 0810 hours.  NT3396

I was heading somewhere today that I had often read about, but never visited, and that was the village of Strathkinness. The reason I had read about it often was its connection with the Covenanters, for it was near here that the Covenanters finally exacted their revenge on Archbishop Sharp by murdering him at Magus Muir. That would be my final destination of the day, but, that was 13 miles away. I parked near the church under the watchful eye of a resident, who put me off searching for the first benchmark of the day. It always takes me an inordinate amount of time to get ready for a walk as I gather my various belongings, attach my camera to my rucsack, put my boots on, make sure the GPS is up and running, attach that to the rucksack, buckle up the rucksack and hey presto! I'm ready, usually about ten minutes after everyone else. Tim's patience is sorely tried!

At last I got out of sight of the watchful resident and strode off towards Bonfield.

Road in Strathkinness towards Bonfield. NO4516

The tarmac road soon became a farm track and I was barely in the next gridsquare, so the choice of subject was limited to the path ahead of me.

Towards East Clatto. NO4416

I turned at the sound of Pink-feet above my head. I'm always glad to add this bird to my alphabetised list.

Pink-feet above Clatto. NO4415

So to my first trigpoint of the day and an easy one to reach, although I felt bad at disturbing a resting, lame sheep at the concrete pillar.

Clatto trigpoint. NO4315

I retraced my steps down the hill and carried on to Blebocraigs, where an attractive Pine Tree caught my eye.

Pine Tree, Blebocraigs, NO4315

"Fine day for a walk," a cheery resident said as I passed. Blast! I'd wanted to photograph his house as there was a benchmark on it. I merely agreed and went on to greet the next walker, a lady who advised me that there was a super photo opportunity of one of her chickens in her garden. I felt obliged to ask where that was, but with little intention of making a detour for the purpose of photographing it. It was obviously a popular area for walkers as I overtook another couple just before reaching the next gridsquare. 

Thornbank Stables. NO4215

I was approaching Kemback, and did so by the myseriously named 'Jenny's Steps'. Whoever Jenny was, she has 217 steps named after her. Apparently Jenny lived in a much smaller version of the red-roofed cottage at the bottom of the steps and legend has it that she was involved in the production of bootleg whisky.

Jenny's steps. NO4215

I paused at a bench at the bottom of the steps and drank my first cup of tea of the walk, wondering if I should make a detour to the church or the ruined church beyond it. I did neither, but will add this to the list of things to do another day.

 Kemback Church. NO4115

Former Kemback Church. NO4115

Cupar from Kemback Wood. NO4114

Although the Covenanter's Cave is temptingly close to the path on the map, it is not so easy to reach it. I have seen it once before from the Pitscottie road and it looks very difficult to access, but I would like to give it a go sometime. Little, if anything, is known as to which Covenanter hid in the cave, but Fife has an extensive Covenanting history, so there are plenty to choose from!

My sojourn in NO4114 was brief; my last visit to this square was not as straightforward or as brief as I had got entangled in woods and slipped down slippery slopes in an attempt to find the real Dura Den. (Walk not yet listed)

Today, I followed the path with ease to Blebo House, where a ruin caught my eye. A lady with a dog passed and I asked her if she knew anything of the history of this ruin. "Only that it belongs to Blebo House," she replied, adding that she was a visitor, probably to explain her lack of knowledge. I later found out though that D C Thomson (of Beano and Dandy fame) once owned the property - the house, not the ruin!

Path through woods near Blebo House. NO4214

Ruined building in grounds of Blebo House. NO4214

Entrance to Blebo House.NO4214

I was travelling almost the entire diagonal length of NO4214 as I crossed the B939 and continued straight on to Blebo Mains. I was glad to finally be in a new gridsquare, not that there was much to photograph, merely a muddy field and unattractive improved farmland, a lovely shade of green but offering no 'home' to wildlife.

'Improved' farmland near Blebo Mains. NO4213

At Blebo Hole I made the mistake of thinking I could take a shortcut across the fields to Kinninmonth. It would save me about a mile, but I had to give up as I could seen o way across a fence. This, of course, meant, I'd not only NOT found a shortcut but had lengthened my walk, albeit only by about quarter of a mile.

Walking along the B939 to Pitscottie was not pleasant and I was glad to reach the village and a pavement.

Approaching Pitscottie from the east. NO4113

I turned left onto the equally busy B940, but an attractive milestone with a benchmark cheered me up.

Milestone near Pitscottie. NO4112

Pitscottie milestone in context. NO4112

I was glad to reach the Kininmonth turn off, where I discovered I was once more joining the Fife Pilgrim Way. I seem to do that a lot! The more observant of you will havenoticed what appears to be a typo in the way I've spelt Kininmonth - it is not; in fact it is spelt one way on the map and another on the farm sigh, so I'm not sure which is correct.

Kininmonth turn off. NO4112

It had just turned midday and I was beginning to think of where I might stop to eat my lunch. the glorious sunshine of early morning had retreated behind clouds and the wind was picking up. I plodded on past Kininmonth Farm.

Kininmonth farm. NO4212

I nearly stopped at a memorial bench near the summit of Kininmonth Hill, but decided against it as it was a bit breezy.

Memorial bench on Kininmonth Hill. NO4312

The summit of Kininmonth Hill did not have much to commend it, but I went all the same - I was too close not to!

Summit of Kininmonth Hill. NO4312

At Arnsheen I joined a minor road and entered NO4413 briefly.

Ladeddie Hill. NO4413

Back in NO4412 I snapped an unsatisfactory picture of some cottages, hidden by trees. If I waited till I was past the trees, I risked being in the next gridsquare!

Cottages at Ladeddie. NO4412

I spied two girls with horses at Drumcarro, just ahead of me, so I snapped a photograph of the farm quickly, bemoaning the fact I wouldn't be able to even surreptitiously look for the benchmark.

Drumcarro Farm. NO4512

Drumcarro is another place with two different spellings. The hill is spelt Drumacarrow, which seems more complete somehow, but the farm is Dumcarro. I was now approaching my second trigpoint of the day and the time was approaching 1 pm. I was getting desperate for my lunch. I suddenly had a brainwave; I would eat in the quarry. I was sure to find a sheltered spot in there. Perhaps I'd also find a Peregrine. Now that would make my day!

No sooner had I thought this than a Peregrine shot by over the quarry. I only got a brief glimpse of it, but that was enough. I was very happy to have seen it. I hoped it would reappear as I sat with my lunch by some horse boxes. It was certainly sheltered in here and I could hardly hear the wind at all. But what was that engine noise that was getting closer and closer? I just managed to pack away my lunch stuff when a tractor came round the corner. I could see he was heading towards the same gate that I was heading for; loaded with two huge bales of hay, he was obviously going to feed the horses I could see running towards him in the next field. I sped up in an attempt to open the gate for him, but it is difficult to run on slippery mud. I got there just as he hopped out of the tractor to open the gate. "I was going to do that for you," I said or at least that's what I motioned with hand language and waved to him as I continued up the hill.

Drumcarrow Hill masts and trigpoint. NO4513

Drumcarrow Hill cairn. NO4513

I returned to the horse field just as the farmer was getting back into his tractor, I stood at the open gate waiting to close it after he had gone through, but he went through and got out of his tractor again. Was this man looking for extra work? No, it turned out he was looking for conversation. He said he enjoyed welcoming people up the hill as long as they were responsible. "Got to go!" and he bolted back into his tractor and 'sped' down the hill to where a car had come through the other open gate.

I strolled down the hill, amused by this tractor/car chase and took up my position by the open gate for the third time, thinking he might have got the hint by now. after giving the owner of the trespassing car a good talking to, tractor man bumped his way down the hill, got out once again and continued his conversation with me. "I don't mind walkers and I'm always interested to hear where they've been and where they're going," he said, "but cars aren't supposed to come up here." I had been up the hill for about half an hour and in that time of the gate being opened (it had been padlocked when I arrived), probably the only car of the day to want to go up the hill had appeared! Why anyone would think of driving up there, I cannot imagine. It's a horribly bumpy track, but once started, you're committed I suppose.

My tractor friend told me I could have walked the whole ridge of Drumcarrow Craig, which I could actually see from the map and it would have saved a bit of road walking. Another time I would consider that.

For now, I've spent far too long on this tractor story, but it was the only human interaction I had that day and it spiced up my walk a little. A fork in the road provided a subject for NO4612, a square I was in for the briefest of spells.

Turn off to Drumcarro. NO4612

Drumcarrow Equestrian Centre provided the next square's subject and I wondered if this was where tractor man lived with all his horses.

Drumcarrow Equestrian Centre. NO4613

Weary of road walking, I plodded on past Elderbank and Elderburn with its attractive gate.

Elderbank (same gridsquare) NO4613

Elderburn (still in NO4613)

At last I was in the next gridsquare and I celebrated with a photograph of a milestone with a benchmark, yippee!

Milestone near Elderburn. NO4614

I was approaching Strathkinness now, but had two detours to make before reaching my ultimate destination; they were the main reasons for my choosing and devising this walk in the first place.

At Claremont I entered what I hoped was not a private garden and said hello to the donkeys who immediately came up to see me. I had to enter their paddock and cross a burn to reach the Covenanter's grave, which I could see amidst the trees.

Donkeys at Claremont. NO4514

Covenanter's grave, Claremont. NO4514

Andrew Guillane was suspected of being one of the nine Covenanters responsible for Archbishop James Sharp's death in May 1679. He fled, but was later charged with attending conventicles and it was discovered he had been present at the time of Sharp's death (it is said that Guillane had tried to save the Archbishop). He was executed at the Gallowlee in Edinburgh and his headless body was brought back to Fife for burial.

The inscription on the stone reads:

The Gravestone of
Andreu Gullin who suffred
At The gallowlee of Edinburgh
July 1683 & Afterwards was
hung upon a pole in Magus
Muir and lyeth hiar.
A faithful martar her doth ly
A witness against perjury
Who cruelly was put to death
To gratify proud Prelates wrath
They cut his hands ere he was dead
And after that struck off his head
To Magus Muir they did him bring
His body on a pole did hing
His blood under the altar cries
For vengeance on Christs Enemies.

Bidding farewell to Guillane and the donkeys, I retraced my steps to the crossroads where I headed north towards Magus Muir. Anxious to get off the road I entered the woods before my marked route and followed a path to the Bishop's Road - presumably the road Archbishop Sharp travelled along on May 3rd 1679 before his murder - and to the grave in a field of the five Covenanters who were held responsible for the death of the Archbishop, their fiercest persecutor - Thomas Brown, James Wood,  Andrew Sword, John Weddell and John Clyde. All five were hung in chains here after refusing to sign a bond confirming they would not rebel again. It is said none of the five played any part in his murder, but were caught after the Battle of Bothwell Bridge. Two other Covenanters were captured and martyred for their involvement in the Archbishop's murder, David Hackston, who is buried in Cupar, and the aforementioned Andrew Guillane. The other Covenanters escaped.

Magus Muir and the Covenanters' grave. NO4515

Nearby is a memorial to Archbishop James Sharp, who is buried at Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews.

Monument to Archbishop Sharp, Magus Muir. NO4515

I followed the Bishop's Road back to the minor road and then onto the B939 which I was encountering for the third time on my walk.

Bishop's Road, Bishop's Wood, Magus Muir. NO4515

I was greedy for squares today. I was making up the rules about this gridsquaring business as I was going along - that's the beauty of coming up with your own challenge; you can sort of move the 'goalposts' as you go. Here are my new rules:

1) I have to walk into each gridsquare (not take a photo from the car)

2) If driving, I have to have a genuine reason for stopping the car (going to a shop for instance); I can't just stop the car, nip out and take a photo.

3) I have to be standing in the gridsquare I am photographing.

4) The subject has to be in context (ie, not a close up of a butterfly, milestone or road sign)

5) It is up to me how much of a detour I make to include other gridsquares not strictly in my route.

It was rule number 5) which was my new rule. If I could see that by walking just a few yards, I would be in another gridsquare, particularly one which lacks a footpath or link to another square, then I could legitimately (by my self-enforced rules) enter that square to take a photograph. Maybe I should make this a national game!

Anyway, there were two squares that fell into that category at the end of my walk. At the crossroads south of Strathkinness I could see that, by turning right, I would enter a new gridsquare, so I did, and walked just far enough to take a photograph of a specific subject with in that square.

Burnside Farm. NO4615

I then strolled back into Strathkinness.

 Strathkinness from the south. NO4515

Just after the Post Office, I made a bid for my final gridsquare of the day by turning right. Here I saw one of those recommissioned red phone kiosks. I think this one is some sort of art gallery. I love the variety of ways in which phone booths have been 'recycled'. Then I dragged my weary legs back to the car where, I am glad to say, there was no sign of the watchful resident I'd spotted many hours before.

Unusual art gallery, Strathkinness. NO4616

Finally, my final photo of the day, Strathkinness Church. NO4616

Number of new gridsquares: 23 (a record for my Fife walks)

Number of miles walked: 13

Number of trigpoints bagged: 2

Number of benchmarks seen: 6

Walk worth repeating: Not in its entirety, Strathkinness to Kemback nice, and want to return to visit the ruined church, and walk along Drumcarrow ridge would be worth doing. Too much road walking otherwise.

Highlights: Kemback Church and village, Covenanters' graves, Peregrine

Markinch Circular - 04/02/2020

Today's walk was a bonus as I had been due to have lunch with a friend and it had been called off at the last minute, which gave me most of a day free. I love the sort of day when I have absolutely no time constraints and can walk for as long as I like without worrying about getting back for anything. Those are my favourite days, but I don't mind having things to look forward to either. Today I was visiting dad in the afternoon, which meant I had until about 3 pm free.

I chose somewhere vaguely on route to Perth with lots of 'blank' squares (unvisited ones). That's how I happened upon Markinch. Why else?!

I parked at Balbirnie Park and my first task was to buy batteries for my GPS as they were low. Once that was done I could relax into my walk. I passed the railway station, which made a good subject for my first square.

Markinch Railway Station. NO2901

Entering Markinch from the east. NO2901

I was glad to see a pavement heading eastwards along my route as this turned out to be a busier road than I'd expected. I dipped into St Drostan's  cemetery for some respite from the traffic, which also happened to be in the next gridsquare.

St Drostan's Cemetery, Markinch. NO3001

There is a nice old sign on the gate here.

The public are requested not to . . . . notice at St Drostan's Cemetery, Markinch. NO3001

For future reference it is possible to walk parallel to the road through the cemetery, which makes for a less stressful walk. As it was, I returned to the road, glad of the pavement and continued to Ballfield where the road turns sharply to the right and I headed straight on.

The Mires. NO3101.

So far I had seen two benchmarks and was feeling quite chuffed about that, but in case you're thinking this sounds a nice walk so far, I'll show you where I was walking.

Road east from Markinch. NO3101

At Bellfield, I stopped to speak to a lady who was visiting the farm there. We merely passed the time of day.

Track at Bellfield. NO3201

Pink-footed Geese at Bellfield. NO3301

Originally, I was going to head north to Treaton, but a footpath sign pointed towards Balcurvie and I thought, "Why not?" I would gain two extra gridsquares by doing so, so it was a no-brainer really. I love these spontaneous moments. It's one of the benefits of walking alone; no need to turn to your companion and wonder whether they're thinking the same thing or, whether, if you asked, they'd agree simply to please you, but secretly wishing you'd not asked. Yes, there are some benefits to walking alone.

I paused at a rock at Markinch burn to have a cup of tea, then it was onwards and slightly upwards to Newton Hall, where, unsure whether I could roam through the grounds or not, I stuck to the obvious footpath.

Tea spot by Markinch Burn. NO3301

Cottages at Newton Hall. NO3302

I emerged at Castleheggie and the only problem with having extended my walk eastwards was that it meant I had further to walk along another busy road, perhaps by another half mile or so. It seemed to take ages to reach the point where I would have reached the road via my original route.

Footpath to Treaton. NO3202

Then I had another half mile or so to walk before reaching where I was going to turn off to Dalginch.

Dalginch. NO3102

This was by far the nicest part of the walk today. There were extensive views south across the flatland of the mires. But I wanted to head north to the trigpoint. It had looked easy on the map; there was a footpath. A man was walking with his dog ahead of me and he turned and came back towards me so I asked him if it were possible to get back onto the main road from where I was. He confirmed it was, for which I read it would lead past the trigpoint, but I was wrong. I also missed a benchmark here as I felt too embarrassed to take a photograph of it whilst talking to him and equally embarrassed to return to do it once we'd parted company.

View south from Dalginch. NO3102

After exploring possibilities for accessing the trigpoint, which I could see round the ruined farm of Dalginch, I gave up It would have involved climbing a barbed wire fence and a wall and navigating my way round various pieces of farm machinery. Disappointed, I continued westwards, where I soon discovered some compensations for my disappointment - a bench with a fine view and an information board.

Bench at Dalginch. NO3002

Information Board at Dalginch. NO3002

I didn't sit here, though it would have made a fine lunch spot, but I did read he information board, which gives a little history of this area, which was known in medieval times as Braes Loan. I applaud these efforts to encourage people to get out and find out more about their local landscape. The Brae Loan Trail is a 2.5 mile circular historical walk from Markinch, of which I was covering part today.

This was my favourite spot of the walk today and I would definitely include this in another walk, perhaps simply doing the Braes Loan Trail. But I particularly liked it because I found a gem of a benchmark here. My GPS beeped as I approached it and I pulled back brambles and last year's bracken to reveal a deftly cut benchmark in the old wall.

Benchmark in Dalginch Wall. NO3002

 And that was after seeing this little community of cladonia cup lichen.

Cladonia lichen at Dalginch. NO3002

When I got to the T-junction, I looked at the time. Should I see if I could approach the trig from this direction? Yeah, why not? I nipped over a difficult fence and walked easily up to the trigpoint. What a sinch!

Dalginch trigpoint, looking northwest towards East and West Lomond. NO3102

I had no sooner returned to the fork in the road than I saw two ladies scrutinising a map. They looked lost. They seemed glad to see me, as I was them. They asked if I knew where the Fife Pilgrim Way went from here. I admitted that I didn't, but that I'd seen signs for it a while ago and pointed in the general direction, trying hard to remember exactly where it was I'd seen the signs. I showed them where I'd walked on my map, adding that my map was now 15 years old and the Fife Pilgrim Way was not marked on it. We (hopefully) worked out which way they needed to go and I recommended a stop at the lovely bench I had just passed. They were doing the whole walk in a few consecutive days, so I hope they completed it successfully and my directions were not totally wrong!

I looked in vain for the boundary stone marked on the map and realised I'd managed to take the wrong turn. Anxious to avoid walking on private property I had ended up in a field which missed the boundary stone (if it was still there). I managed to get back on to the path and continued westwards back to Markinch. The walk here was lovely, through woodland at Cuinin Hill.

Cuinin Hill. NO3002

I walked for a few steps with an old man and his dog, who told me where I could get an excellent photograph of East Lomond. I took the photograph to humour him, but later deleted it as it was not very good. It is a beautiful walk here though, but I excused myself on the grounds of having an appointment to keep later on and bade this slow walker a good afternoon.

I went underneath the railway at Markinch just after a train had passed. There was another information board about the Brae Loan Trail.

Train and Railway bridge at Markinch.NO3002

I decided to have my picnic lunch at the church and sat here on a bench in the glorious sunshine enjoying my sandwiches and remembering a previous visit here with mum and dad several years before on the Covenanting trail. General Sir Alexander Leslie is buried in the church here. He was a Covenanter and soldier in Holland, Sweden and Scotland. He was lord general in command of Covenanters in the Battles of Newburn and Marston Moor and died at nearby Balgonie Castle on 4th April 1661.

St Drostan's Church, Markinch. NO2901. (taken 11/10/2011)

After lunch I passed another historical site, the Stob Cross, with an explanatory plaque nearby.

Stob Cross, Markinch. NO2902

Stob Cross information. NO2902

A little further on I turned left back into Balbirnie Park where the Snowdrops were abundant and delightful.

Snowdrops in Balbirnie Park, Markinch. NO2902

I had less than a mile to walk, but still had two gridsquares to bag, so I walked round in circles in an attempt to get into both squares before walking back to the car.

Junction in Balbirnie Park. NO2802

Balbirnie Park west. NO2801

Car Park, Balbirnie Park, Markinch. NO2901

Number of new gridsquares: 11
Number of miles walked: 8.8
Number of trigpoints: 1
Number of benchmarks:7
Number of benchmarks missed due to embarrassment: 2
Walk worth repeating: No, but the Braes Loan Trail is worth doing.
Highlights: benchmark at Dalginch, Dalginch bench and Braes Loan Trail, Stob Cross, Markinch Church and Snowdrops in Balbirnie Park.