Scotland 2019 15: Kingsbarns and Craighead

The Kingdom of Fife is not the first location which springs to mind when thinking about Scotch Whisky, but in 2014 a new distillery was set up at Kingsbarns in one of the remotest part of the East Neuk.  As well as whisky, the distillery is cashing in on the current interest in gin drinking.  Not only is gin very popular; but, unlike whisky, it doesn't need to be aged before it can be sold.  As a result , it's a way of keeping the distillery in business until the whisky is of sufficient maturity.

Given how young the whisky would have been (a maximum of five years old, with anything less than three not even deemed worthy of the name), we opted for a tour of the gin distillery.  The gin is sold under the brand Darnley's: named after the ill-fated husband of Mary Queen of Scots, who met his future bride at Wemyss Castle - just down the road.

The tour - and tasting - were excellent, with plenty of opportunity to find out about the botanicals used in the distilling process.  The still itself is tiny, meaning that the gin is produced in relatively small batches.  Interestingly, the botanicals are prepared into what look like overgrown tea bags, guaranteeing batch-to-batch consistency as well as making the cleaning job easier.

The weather was still very changeable when we left the distillery, but we decided it was worth going for a walk around Craighead at the tip of the East Neuk peninsula.  A quiet and peaceful place, give or take the risk of being mown down by low-flying golf balls!  The Golf Club was surprisingly welcoming to walkers, in fact, with well-maintained paths from the car park to the beach.  Something to do with it not being owned by the 45th President of the United States, perhaps?

After a passing shower we were treated to a complete rainbow over the beach, with only a few birds for company.  Perfect.

Scotland 2019 14: St Andrews

We spent the morning in St Andrews, which is very attractive indeed.  Unlike other locations we'd visited on this trip, the town was absolutely heaving with both students and tourists.  Like Cambridge it was almost impossible to find somewhere to park too, so we didn't stay very long in the centre.  This meant skipping the Cathedral Priory, which was a shame, but the sheer number of coaches meant that we wouldn't have visited the British Golf Museum even if we'd been remotely interested in the game.

Yes indeed, yet another Turkish Barber.

In order to avoid the crowds we headed for the West Sands Beach, which is where the famous race sequence in Chariots of Fire was filmed.  Astonishingly it was almost empty; and, even more astonishingly, the car parking - courtesy of the golf links - was completely free.

Despite the approaching rain clouds and harsh mid-day light, St Andrews was still really beautiful.  What an fantastic place to study at University.

Scotland 2019 13: Pittenweem

While spending a couple of hours looking around the Scottish Fisheries Museum (highly recommended), the weather took a distinct turn for the worse.  No idyllic sunset sitting by the harbour eating world-beating fish and chips on this evening, unfortunately.  Instead we went along the coast to Pittenweem - of witch fame - to check out The Dory, a restaurant which had been recommended to us.  Just as well we reserved a table, since the place was deservedly packed in the evening.

It was a real pity about the weather, as Pittenweem is another of the small, attractive fishing communities along the south coast of Fife's East Neuk.  Definitely a place worth revisiting.

Scotland 2019 10: Crail and Anstruther

Having driven around the outskirts of Edinburgh and gone over the new Queensferry Crossing, we headed along the Fife coast.  The weather wasn't great; nor, to be honest, was the scenery until we'd passed Kirkaldy and the mining towns of East Wemyss, West Wemyss and the (appropriately named) Coaltown of Wemyss.  Once into the East Neuk (literally, "corner") of Fife, everything started to improve - including the weather.  We were too early to check into our B&B in Anstruther, so headed along the coast to Crail: a picturesque fishing community overlooking the Firth of Forth.

 

I've decided that, when I grow up, I would like a house with a tower.  The views from the one below must be spectacular.

The Crail "lobster and crab" shack, where the seafood is cooked to order.

The East Neuk has a reputation of being somewhat isolated, and there's an old story about a man who - when asked if he had ever been abroad - said: "Na, but I ance kent a man who had been to Crail".

After Crail is was back to Anstruther for a bite to eat.  Given the location, and the town's reputation for serving the best fish & chips on the planet, we made a beeline for the Anstruther Fish Bar.  

Yet another Turkish Barber, which we had begun to realise is de rigeur in any Scottish settlement.

The Holy Grail of fish & chip shops, but time spent in the queue was repaid tenfold by the quality of the food - made better still by eating it in the evening sunshine overlooking the harbour.

 

 

Replete, we walked slowly back to the B&B having booked slots on the following day's sailing to the Isle of May.