Greetings Travelers
Yesterday afternoon I went for a walk along a woodland trail in the park beside my house.
This trail is known as "The Ladys Walk" it connects my area of Woodside in Glenrothes to the neighboring town of Coaltown of Balgonie.I believe it is named after Lady Helena McDonnell daughter of Alexander MacDonnell, 5th Earl of Antrim who in 1888 married Charles Balfour , the Laird of the nearby Balgonie Castle.
It is supposedly a medieval pathway first used in the time of Alexander III (Circa 1286 ).
It's been a long time since I walked the full length of this path which is around 2 miles in total. I had forgotten how many photo opportunities and how much history is literally right on my back doorstep.
As I walked through the woods I saw a couple of robins on the trail and darting in and out of the trees.
Several grey squirrels ran past me and scurried up into the trees.I managed to get a couple of good shots of this one resting..
As I went to snap a second shot the squirrel ran higher into the tree resulting in a rare squirrel movement shot. Normally these guys are far too fast for my camera to catch them moving.
The trail follows along the edge of a local farmer's field.
A little burn runs along the edge of the fields.
Far of in the distance, we can see both east and west Lomond hills .The hill furthest to the right is East Lomond or Falkland Hill named so because the historic town of Falkland lies at its base.This hill was the site of an Iron age hill fort and an even older burial cairn.It is considered a site of national historic importance due to its multi-period historical finds which include a Pictish carved stone, a mould for casting metal ingots and glass beads, as well as a cup-and-ring marked rock.
Looking across the fields towards the town of Markinch we can see the now disused Haig Whiskey Distillery building which was built in 1937 although there was a smaller whiskey distillery on this site as far back as the late 1800s.This building has been unused since 1984.In this shot we can also see the tower of St Drostans church which dates back to the Norman period of the 12th century.In late summer these fields are full of bright yellow rapeseed and offer some fantastic photographic opportunities.I will be heading back here for some more photographs in a few month's time.
This area here marks the spot where the town of Glenrothes ends and Coaltown of Balgonie begins
This bridge leads into an area known as Star of Markinch.The railway line connects the station of Markinch to the rest of the Fife coast and onwards across the Forth Railbridge and into Edinburgh.
Instead of crossing the bridge, we head up this road into Coaltown of Balgonie. Again we are treated to some stunning views of East Lomond hill far of in the distance.
The road continues on past some playing fields and a kids play park.
As we come into the town one of the first buildings we pass is the Miners Welfare Institute built-in 1926.
This colorful pencil fence brightens up the road on the opposite side of the Miners Institute.
As we come out on to Coaltown of Balgonies main street we pass this wonderful little cottage with a very photogenic garden.
Our destination for this trip was The Balgonie Arms pub.
I was with my father on this visit, we haven't been here since his 60th birthday,4 years ago. We figured it is the perfect location for a Sunday afternoon pub lunch.
I ordered a pint of San Miguel while we waited for our food to arrive.
For starters, I tried their lentil soup which came with a warm crusty roll and some butter.I can't pass up on good homemade lentil soup, this batch was a solid 10/10.I can see myself coming back here regularly for lunch in the future.
For my main course, I decided to try the cheeseburger which comes with homemade chips and onion rings.
The burger was decent but nothing special, ill give it a sold 8/10. The chips deserve a 9/10 for being homemade and very tasty.
My dad decided to go for the steak pie which comes with a lovely-looking homemade puff pastry top and plenty of vegetables.
As we were heading out of the pub I noticed a flyer stating they plan to have live music nights from Friday April the 4th and then every Sunday after that from 8-11pm. This is really exciting as this pub is a brief and scenic 20 minute walk from my house.
There is not a lot happening around here on the local live music scene so I will definitely be making an appearance at these live sessions later in the year.I love the atmosphere of this pub and they have a nice little beer garden so you will likely see some more content from me featuring this place later in the year.
For now, I will end this post with another couple of shots of East Lomond snapped while walking back through the woodland trail.
