Eyemouth and Coldingham Bay

A foot of snow on the ground and I am thinking back just a short while to our day out to the coast.

Forecast good and promised to be one of those lovely Autumn Days, so we deceided to give the dogs a run on the beach

Trying out my new camera phone, finding it a bit fiddley but I expect I will soon get the hang of it

This is some kind of Junk tied up beside the museum in Eyemouth

and this looks like some kind of crane barge to me

Wonder where he left his motor bike????

Autumn In The Borders

Dawyck Gardens Near Peebles

Arrived early doors, a miserable day but started off well with hot chocolate and scone in the Visitor  Centre

A perfect time of year to visit

Astounding colours

By autumn

the hues change to deep reds and yellows as the trees

prepare for winter.

  

Hints & Tints of Autumn, Fungi & Fairy Rings

A walk along the Tweed from the Toll Wood

One of those blustery days that promises rain

Luckily we were out and back before the downpour

Edinburgh Butterfly Farm

Set off over the Granites 

Up onto the A7 and down towards Dalkieth and to

Edinburgh's Butterfly and Insect World

at Dobbies Garden World

The Tree Nymph seemed to be the most prolific of the butterflies, they were everywhere

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Close to Home

Close to Home

As is usual I don't have to wander far to find something of interest I really am lucky to live here

Set off down "The Batty" it's just a strip of land with old pine trees  on it and where Leithen Water runs into the River Tweed

        

After a misty morning cobwebs covered in dew festoon the grasses and hedgerows

  

Sun shining in through the trees lighting up the feathery heads of the Rose Bay Willow Herb

A Wander over Windy Knowe

Rose Bay Willow Herb

Beech Nuts

Higher and Higher

Out For A Wander

A dull start to the day but it promises to brighten up

We head out of the town over the bridge over the Tweed by the Toll House and make for the Yarrow Valley

toward St Mary's Loch, Tweedsmuir and on to Peebles

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Upstream, River Tweed at Innerleithen

Looking towards Traquair

Downstream
toward Selkirk
and on to the sea

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St Mary's Loch
Local legend has it that the loch has no bottom and is reputed to be the coldest loch in Scotland

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A Few Glimpses from "The Fringe"

These are a few images taken on a day out with Tweeddale Photographic Group

It was a grey miserable start to the day but by the time we had reached Edinburgh the sun was breaking through the cloud and promising to to a lovely day

All the flags Flying

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BOO!!!

***Oblivious to all going on around her or maybe this lady had just seen it all before
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I Do Like To Be Beside The Sea......Part 2

Pittenweem

This village is the only on in East Neuk, still with what seem to be a completely unspoilt working harbour

Not a leisure craft in sight

Walking round the harbour you come to the Gyles, a white, pan tiled three storey house once belonging to a sea captain in 1626 and restored by the NTS. In front of the Gyles is a small slop leading to a beach enclosed by the outer harbour

Although there are fewer boats sailing from here now than in days gone by, it is a unique opportunity to see the daily landings and early morning market. Pittenweem fresh fish is bought here and sold by the many local fish vans who travel all over Scotland selling the fish.

Crail

Definitely the most picturesque harbour in the East Neuk, it is best viewed from the West Braes, as you come in to Crail from Anstruther. Surrounding the harbour are houses dating back to the 17th Century, with white walls and red pan tiled roofs. One of these used to be the customs house and on the side has a plaque bearing the town arms

Unfortunately I forgot to pack my spare battery and ran out of power before we even got down to the harbour and never had the chance to return for more photos

Enjoyed the day and spent the evening just watching the sun go down

I Do Like To Be Beside The Sea

Getting away for holidays generally means we pack up our Folding Camper and head for the coast. Forget Devon & Cornwall it's usually a blustery coastal campsite somewhere here in Scotland.

Essential Camping Gear


This year the first two week in July was spent at East Neuk a delightful piece of the east coast, populated with small fishing villages and harbours.

Anstruther

Anstruther is the largest of the villages in the East Neuk and provides the main shopping centre, a typical seaside village with many of the shops in a long line overlooking the harbour.
The harbour here has changed dramatically over the years, most of this information can be seen in the Scottish Fisheries Museum, going from a full working harbour to one which hosts mainly pleasure craft. The harbour has undergone changes to now include 100 pontoon berths for pleasure craft and is a very popular visitor attraction.

The Scottish Fishing Museum on the quayside is well worth a visit, it is also much bigger than it first appears, allow at least an hour and a half for a visit
http://www.scotfishmuseum.org/index.html

http://www.scotfishmuseum.org/reaper/

There are stories behind many of the buildings in Anstruther and the one that stands out most is the Buckie House, on the corner just before crossing the Dreel burn from West Anstruther. The house was covered in shells by Alex Batchelor last century, who supposedly used to charge a penny to see his coffin which was also covered in shells.

Anstruther can also boast "The Best Fish & Chips" I have ever tasted

St Andrew's Castle and Cathedral

It was a grey miserable day for our visit to St Andrew's, best to get here early for the Castle if you want to get a parking space close by.

On a headland to the north of St Andrews stand the ruins of the city’s castle, the main residence of the bishops and archbishops of St Andrews – the focal point of the Church in Medieval Scotland.

Hoping to get the place to myself, just my luck, a coach load Just ahead of me

The Mine and Counter-mine – these unique underground passages give visitors a palpable sense of the horrific nature of medieval siege warfare.

I decided not to venture down here alone

Looking back into the town

The Bottle Dungeon – one of the most infamous castle prisons in medieval Britain, cut out of the solid rock. John Knox and George Wishart may have been imprisoned in this dank and airless hole, and Cardinal Beaton’s body was kept here.

The Cathedral

Viewed from the castle walls

I thought that the Cathedral more interesting than the Castle, accessed from the visitor centre there is an exhibition of many of the stone carvings and memorials salvaged from the ruins of the Cathedral

Wandering amongst the graves I found it interesting that the profession or trade of the deceased engraved on many of headstones, it would seem that "Willie Russell"

was a very popular name in this area

There was a monastic community in St Andrews in the 8th century. Due to pressure on Iona from the Vikings, the centre of the church in Scotland moved east, first to Dunkeld and then to Kilrimont (the Celtic name by which St Andrews was known in those days). A church, dedicated to St Rule was built there early in the 12th century. The original, tall (108 feet high) tower of that church still survives (and gives great views over the town). Legend has it that St Rule (or St Regulus) was the original guardian of the relics of St Andrew.

A much more recent addition in the adjoining graveyard is a monument to Tommy Morris, one of the early golfers from St Andrews from the 19th century who won the Open Championship at the age of 17.

Will definately go back

http://www.standrews.co.uk/

All these image were taken with a Panasonic Lumix FZ 50