It was a lovely track, full of beech and sunlight and old stone walls and moss and things were about to get even better. I resisted the temptation to turn right into Coalpitden and another gridsquare and watched a sadly deformed Dunnock instead.
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| This poor Dunnock has a deformed bill. |
I continued on to the minor road at Burnturk Muit, wandering briefly into NO3207.
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Near Burnturk Muir. NO3207
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I couldn't find the obvious turn off into Rameldry Den so headed aimlessly into the woods just as yet more cyclists panted out a Good Morning as they cycled up the hill. I didn't see much in the conifer wood, but did flush a Woodcock before I heard a chainsaw. I feared I would end up in someone's private garden, so headed away from the house to the sound of vehicles on the road. I'm glad I did, for I could see it was indeed a private garden.
I headed south now towards Rameldry. I wasn't doing very well for benchmarks, but then I'm used to it. Out of about 30 that I plot on the map for any walk, I end up seeing about 4 or 5 - and that was the case today. I'm always saddened to discover that the structure on which the benchmark was once carved has been removed or has crumbled and left as rubble. The benchmark could be face downwards in the ground, but I can't possibly start picking up every single stone to find it. Many of the benchmarks I plotted today had been on erstwhile walls, now replaced by modern barbed wire fences (yeugh).
There was another non-existent benchmark on the first bridge I came to at Rameldry, so I continued on to the next gridsquare.
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| Bridge at Rameldry. NO3206 |
The next bridge crosses the Rameldry Burn and I was determined to find this benchmar after several 'no shows'. I was in luck; I thought to look on the other side of the bridge and there, slap bang in the middle of the arch was the sought after treasure.
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| Benchmark on Rameldry Bridge. NO3205 |
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| Bridge over Rameldry Burn. NO3205 |
I was looking forward to getting off the road and finding somewhere to enjoy my teabreak. Greenside ruin looked a potential place. Still in the same gridsquare amongst some felled conifer woodland, this ruin is fenced off, but I was able to sit opposite it on a tree stump and have a cup of tea.
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| Greenside ruin. NO3205 |
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| Track near Greenside. NO3205 |
In the next gridsquare, I was pleased to discover that I did not need to walk on the road; I could walk through Kirkforthar Woods, where I flushed another Woodcock, my second of the day.
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| Kirkforthar Woods NO3105 |
I had to bend and twist to avoid trees and soft ground, so quickly reverted to walking along the road, where a poignant memorial to James Goody caught my eye. Who he was or when he died, I don't know, but someone obviously wanted to remember him here.
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| James Goody memorial, Kirkforthar Woods. NO3105 |
When I came to a T junction I turned left onto what I hoped would be a track leading to the Hill of Forthar trigpoing. I began to get a sneaky feeling about this trigpoint now though.
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| Turn off to Hilton of Kirkforthar. NO3005 |
Was this the one that had been moved? I wished I'd double checked before setting off. I'd just have to do the intended detour to find out now though. I was on a footpath at the moment, but turned off just as I met a lad on his bike who was waiting for his father, right where my next benchmark was and right where I intended going off piste to find the trigpoint.
Undeterred by the presence of the cyclist, I turned confidently right into a small wooded area where I was pleased to find a sort of track leading through young trees northwards in the direction of the trig. Alas! It was as I feared. The trigpoint definitely wasn't there. I turned quickly round and retraced my steps, glad to find the cyclist gone and free to search for the benchmark. I soon found it on the wall and it compensated a little for the missing trigpoint.
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| Benchmark on wall neat Hilton of Forthar. NO3005 |
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| Location of Hilton of Forthar BM (wall on right). NO3005 |
I continued south along the track, keeping my eyes open for the next benchmark and consequently taking a wrong turn, or rather not taking a turn when I was supposed to. I passed three lads on their way up the hill from what I realised was Star Moss, the destination of a previous (post dental) walk. As soon as I'd passed them I realised I was going the wrong way and had to turn back. Feeling a little embarrassed, I turned down the same road they were walking along and took some ph otos of moss to put a bit more distance between us.
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| Fencepost near Kirkforthar. NO3004 |
As the lads carried on along the minor road towards the A92, I turned northwards once more, towards the ruins of Kirkforthar House, old Chapel and Doocot. this was to be the highlight of my walk today.
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| Kirkforthar. NO3004 |
I photographed the old chapel from NO3004 at first. It appeared to be a very ruined building within a circular enclosure surrounded by mature trees.
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Kirkforthar Chapel. NO2904
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The chapel is thought to be of pre-Reformation date and was therefore suppressed as protestant worship was forbidden in those days. It
served as the burying place of the Lindsays of Kirkforthar in 1854 while the tenants of the estate were buried in the graveyard surrounding it. There is apparently no evidence of any burial sites now.
I was tempted to have a closer look at the chapel, but decided to leave it for another day as I had also decided to text Tim to see if he fancied meeting up for what I thought would be the last part of the walk. i hadn't texted him beforehand because I hadn't wanted to set a time. I texted him with an estimated meeting time and place, which I later revised and he said he'd be happy to meet me.
Although time was now a bit more restricted I still sauntered up to the ruins of Kirkforthar House and doocot to have a look.
Apparently the house, the erstwhile seat of George Johnstone Lindsay in 1488, used to be surrounded by moat, which has long since been filled in. The remains of a modernised three storey 17th Century house are all that remain.
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| Kirkforthar House and doocot. NO2904 |
The ruined doocot stands nearby. Another one for my collection.
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| Kirkforthar Doocot. NO2904 |
There was another feature which I fancied finding on the map, Lady's Well, but that looked like it would mean a diversion and I didn't have time for that now. I wandered through a conifer plantation, taking a brief diversion in order to 'bag' another gridsquare which was just too close to resist.
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| Kirkforthar Feus. NO2904 |
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| Kirkforthar Feus. NO2905 |
The path led me through a workyard of some sort, through which I hastily wandered to reach the increasing noise I'd been dreading - the rush of traffic on the A92.
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| Workings at Kirkforthar Feus. NO2804 |
This was a road I had driven along many times, but never thought of crossing. If I was to meet Tim at our agreed spot, it meant crossing a dual carriageway and a roundabout. There was no doubt about it; it could not be done. I glanced at the time and quickly texted Tim with a change of plan. He would have to meet me somewhere along the road I would be walking. I'd only suggested the pull in on the Falkland road as an easily recognisable place to meet, but it just wasn't feasible. We would be walking to Muirhead on the A914, still a busy road, but a lot more preferable than crossing the roundabout on foot.
With the text sent, I passed the car wash place, striding nonchalantly as if it was an every day occurrence for a pedestrian to choose this filthy, noisy confluence of roads to walk along. Turning off towards Muirhead, I paused to consider the railway bridge and look for the benchmark. It took some finding, but I could just make it out, very faded in the stonework.
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Benchmark on Muirhead Railway Bridge. NO2805
|
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| Muirhead Railway Bridge. NO2805 |
I had just taken this photo when Tim drove slowly by, hesitating to indicate that he had seen me. He pulled into a bus stop and waited for me. The last half a mile or so had been the most unpleasant of the whole walk and we were glad to turn off the A914 onto a footpath leading to Freuchie. It was well past lunch time and I was keen to find somewhere to sit and eat. Poor Tim had to sit and watch me as we perched on another railway bridge at Forthar Mill Farm. We spent some time looking for the benchmark, with no success, but what I only found out after my walk (just now in fact) is that we missed two things of much greater interest than a benchmark.
We were sitting close to the remains of a World War II anti-tank wall. I didn't even take a photograph, but assume it still exists.The War office Map annotates this as
Road Block 9.
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| Forthar Mill railway bridge. NO2805 |
The other thing we failed to notice was that on the north-west side of the railway line there used to be a station - Falkland Road station, which was
opened in 1847 by the Edinburgh & Northern Railway. Only one of the buildings survived at the time of Hume's survey in 1976 so perhaps that too has gone and we didn't miss it after all!.
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| General view of Falkland Road Station, 1958 (Reverend H D E Rokeby) |
After lunch, we continued past Forthar Mill Farm (no benchmark), crossed the A92 and turned right towards Freuchie. This was all part of Tim's local patch, but he had not walked along all of the footpaths. Still, I could see how his area compared to my own local patch; it was much richer in terms of land bird life. Whilst I have a plethora of sea birds, there is a dearth of the passerines that used to frequent the much less intense farmland. We saw quite a number of small birds flit to and for in front of us - Yellowhammer, lots of Chaffinches and tits.
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| Approaching Freuchie. NO2806 |
This was a pleasant footpath which approached the village from the south through Freuchie Feus (land tenure). It doesn't take long to walk the length of the village south to north and we were soon walking past the old linen works which was built circa 1864. The old arched cart entrances have been made into windows. The building once housed power looms but was converted into flats in 2005. The
historic portal has this to say about the building:
In use as a Linen Works until around the time of the Second World War. Recently used as a mushroom factory. Important as a reminder of the once prominent linen industry in Fife and notable for its little altered principal elevation. Groups with the contemporary workers housing at North Street and Eden Valley Row. Hand loom weaving at home was the principal occupation in Freuchie until it was superceded by the power loom factory. A similar factory (demolished late 20th century) existed nearby at the Pleasance, Falkland. Robertson & Orchar (the latter a Provost and art collector), Wallace Foundry, Dundee, designed and built complete factories that contained their products, principally jute and linen power looms, along with all the mill wright work. They included accomplished architectural draughtsmen who designed most of the linen factories in Dunfermline (eg Canmore, Victoria, and St Margarets Works), East Wemyss, Forfar, Kirriemuir and Perth, besides several in Dundee.
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| Eden Valley Linen Works, Freuchie, NO2806 |
There is a benchmark on this building as well to add to its interest.
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| Benchmark on Eden Valley Linen Works. NO2806 |
We then travelled through the comically named Unthank part of Freuchie. I decided to look up the meaning of strange name. Apparently it derives from a
pre 7th century Old English word "unpance" which means literally "without leave," and described an area of land which was occupied unlawfully. This is in contrast to the south part of the village which is Feus where the tenants paid their due rent.
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| Unthank, Freuchie. NO2807 |
In contrast to the fields around my house, the fields here are full of Rooks, a rare sight on the coast. They are all busy at the moment preparing their nests.
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| Rook fields near Freuchie. NO2807 |
We sat for a few minutes on a bench near a footpath to Lathrisk. The bench had been dedicated to a former cyclist Eck Mackie.
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| Eck Mackie's bench near Lathrisk. NO2807 |
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| Inscription on Eck Mackie's bench. NO2807 |
We continued northwards on this lovely little road through the Eden Valley until we came to an arched bridge known as Shiell's Bridge, which forms the boundary between Collessie to the north and Kettle to the south.
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| Shiell's Bridge over the River Eden. NO2808 |
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| River Eden at Shiell's Bridge (east side). NO2808 |
We were going to follow the River Eden eastwards now and hoped to see some bird life, but all we saw were some Grey Partridges in fields to the south - still a nice and increasingly rare sight.
Shortly after the confluence with another burn at Drumtenant Strip, we turned right.
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| River Eden by Drumtenat Strip. NO2808 |
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| Confluence. River Eden at Drumtenant Strip. NO2808 |
We crossed the A92 and the Freuchie Burn.
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| Freuchie Burn. NO2907 |
It was lovely to see a hare grazing away contentedly in a nearby field. I miss seeing the abundance of these magnificent creatures that I used to see on Islay.
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| Hare near Orkie Miln. |
We were amused to see the cattle at Orkie Miln farm munching away on a ountain of carrots. Something I'm sure I've never seen before.
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| Carrots and Cattle, Orkie Miln. NO2907 |
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| Orkie Miln Farm. NO3007 |
Soon we were back in Kingskettle, where we paused to admire a two toned peeling paint door.
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Lovely old door, Kingskettle. NO3008
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All that was left to do now was take Tim back to his car at Muirhead. Thanks for joining me Tim!
Number of miles walked: 12.1
Number of new gridsquares: 19
Number of missing trigpoints: 1
Number of benchmarks: 5
Walk worth repeating: Yes, if can avoid horrible dual carriageway bit and to explore Kirkforthar chapel
Highights: Kirkforthar chapel and doocot, River Eden, history
