Tag Archives: Crail

Bowhouse, near Crail, Fife

Posted on by
8

On December the 8th we went to the Bowhouse Market which is held in barns on a farm between Crail and St Monans. I think Bowhouse (Bauhaus) is a pun on the owner’s name which is I think Bowie. For some reason there were alpacas there, I don’t think they’re particularly festive but they were very cute.

alpacas

I got the distinct impression that the alpacas thought we were very strange beings – don’t look at them those two said as they turned their backs on us.
alpacas

After buying some lovely food and drink at the market we drove home admiring a gorgeous sunset which of course the camera didn’t do justice.

sunset over the Forth

sunset , Fife

It’s obviously a rural part of the county and the road back home is quite a narrow one.
winter sunset , Fife

These houses will have a great view over the Firth of Forth, a sea view seems to be very popular with so many people, and I’m sure it adds lots of value to a house, but I must say I prefer the soft green of hills and field. It probably depends on what you grew up looking at as a youngster. What about you – are you a sea view sort of a person, a hills and meadows fan or do you prefer the bustle of a city and all the culture and conveniences that that brings with it?
winter sunset , Fife

East Neuk of Fife, Scotland

Posted on by
10

Yesterday we picked Peggy of Peggy Ann’s Post up from Edinburgh airport, she was here visiting us last year but we didn’t quite manage to visit all of Scotland that time, despite running around like crazy – so she’s back for part two! Luckily she brought the good weather with her, for a few days at least.

K & P

Can you believe that we didn’t have time to take her to the East Neuk fishing villages last year? It’s true that you tend to overlook the attractions right on your own doorstep. Anyway we rectified that today.

You can see images of the Fife fishing villages here.

You can see Peggy’s recent blogpost and just some of the many photos she took here.
I didn’t take many photos of the villages as I’ve taken so many before. But look what I spotted parked outside a shop in Pittenweem.

car 3

Yes, a British Racing Green Morgan. I knew that that is Joan of Planet Joan‘s dream car so I had to take some photos for her. It’s possibly just as well that Joan wasn’t with us, she might have been tempted to at least sit in the car and vroom vroom!

car 1

car 2

Then Peggy spotted an Irish Wolfhound in the shade of a ‘close’ across the road, trying to stay cool in the unusual heat. So Jack took a couple of photos just for Joan.

hound 1

I don’t know if this hound looks anything like her beloved Murphy did but I suspect that if she had been here she might have been very tempted to abduct the dog and the car. Too tempting!

hound 2

And this is what Crail harbour looked like when we got there.

Crail 13

That was a great day out for the first day of Peggy’s holiday with us, I hope the rest of her time is as good but I suspect the weather isn’t going to hold out that long.

Crail, a fishing village in Fife, Scotland

Posted on by
8

Last Saturday, after visiting Cambo to buy some snowdrops we ended up nipping along the coast to the old fishing village of Crail in what they call the East Neuk of Fife, just to have a walk around the place. Below is a photo of the bay, it was a nice bright day and the sea was very clear, but of course it was chilly.

Crail

The photo below is of the harbour from above, these coastal villages are all built on cliffs really so they are always very hilly. It’s just a wee harbour so the boats aren’t big. I think it’s only at nearby Pittenweem where they still have the fishing trawlers in the harbour.

Crail

No two houses are the same and they’re all very higgledy-piggledy, it’s all so quaint. Again there are the red pan-tiles on the roofs as well as the slate, something which you see all over Fife. The pan-tiles came from Holland as ballast in trading ships, so it’s a similar landscape to Holland. The crow-stepped gables are another feature of old Scottish buildings, the birds are making good use of the roofs for perching on, they must have been getting heat from the roof I think.

Crail

You can see the lobster creels piled up close to the gable end of this house, if it wasn’t for the cars this could have been a scene from a couple of centuries ago.

Crail

There seems to be quite a good lobster business going on but I doubt if it’s as busy as it was. These East coast fishing villages used to be really thriving but the fishing has not been as good in recent years. By the looks of this though it might be on the up again. I suppose it all has to do with fishing quotas nowadays.

Crail

Crail is a lovely place to visit and has the usual tea-rooms, a pottery, an art gallery and some food shops, including an organic food shop.