A project to resurrect the mediæval Fife Pilgrim Way is now well in hand.

There were two main routes across the county (or kingdom as the locals still refer to it at times,) starting at Culross and North Queensferry and ending up at St Andrews.

The ancient route went through the nearest small town to Son of the Rock Cottage, Markinch, the ancient capital of Fife.

There are some hopes the restored route(s) will bring modern day pilgrims (and other tourists) to the town.

A year or so ago there was an information day about the Pilgrim Way at St Drostan’s church. On display were several representations of monastic and pilgrim life, rendered in knitwear.

Trees and pilgrims:-

Church:-

Monks:-

Monks’ garden:-

Monastery vegetable patch:-

I captured this heron on the bank of the Kinness Burn at St Andrews harbour:-

HMS Queen Elizabeth is the Royal Navy’s latest aircraft carrier. (That’s the one there’s not enough money to fit out with any aircraft.)

She sailed out from her fitting out at Rosyth in the Firth of Forth for her sea trials in June 2017. We happened to be in Cellardyke, Fife that day and caught a glimpse of her near the Isle of May.

HMS Queen Elizabeth (yacht in front) and the Isle of May from Cellardyke Harbour:-

HMS Queen Elizabeth and Isle of May closer view:-

HMS Queen Elizabeth closer view:-

Isle of May:-

HMS Queen Elizabeth and another ship:-

The War Memorial stands in St Monans Church yard overlooking the sea and is a Celtic Cross surmounting a trapezoidal plinth. The inscription reads, “Erected by St Monance Parish in memory of those who fell in the Great War 1914 -1919.”

Great War names:-

Names for the Great War. St Monans Kirk in background:-

World War 2 Names. “Remember also the men of this parish who gave their lives in the war 1939-1945.”:-

There is one war grave in the churchyard. Deck Hand W Innes, RNR, HMS Victory, 20/3/1916, age 21. Possibly a casualty of the Battle of Jutland:-

St Monans (sometimes spelled St Monance) is a seaside village in the East Neuk of Fife.

Its church, standing as it does prominently above the village and visible from the main A 917 road between Pittenweem and Elie, must be one of the most painted in Scotland certainly in Fife.

Church from village:-

From access road:-

From graveyard:-

Isle of May from St Monans:-

Rocks at St Monans:-

Panorama of village and sea:-

Memorial altar:-

Leuchars was home to an RAF base for almost 100 years starting in 1916 and ending in 2015. It now hosts an army base.

The RAF had a close association with St Athernase Church. The refurbishment going on (see previous post on St Athernase) meant the memorials had been temporarily removed from the walls.

Memorial to ex-cadets of 1302 (St Andrews) Squadron Air Training Corps who died in World War 2:-

547 Squadron Memorial:-

Memorial to the hospitality shown by the people of Leuchars to Dutch members of the armed forces during World War 2:-

Parts of St Athernase date back to the twelfth century. It was undergoing renovation when we visited and it looked like a long project. It seems to have reopened in March this year.

Church from the gateway:-

That apse is a very distinctive feature.

From path:-

Close to:-

While we were looking round its grounds the incumbent Minister, a former RAF chaplain, came up to talk to us and invited us inside.

Ancient archway. Note large crack:-

Within the apse there are several carved heads which give the place a Viking feel:-

A lot of the stonework had apparently been hidden behind wooden panelling for a long time.

Stonework Detailing::-

Pictorial stonework:-

Figural stonework:-

Carved panel:-

There is a further waterfall on the Ceres Burn at Kemback, a bit upriver of the village. There has been some sort of man-made interference with the flow of the burn though with a stone projection at its centre:-

Video 1:-

Video 2:-

Thsi one is on the Ceres Burn which runs through the village:-

Closer view but through trees:-

Video. It looked like goats that were in that small compound near the waterfall:-

This waterfall at Kemback is to the left of the Community Hall:-

Reverse View:-

Video:-

Video reverse view. The building in the background is the Community Hall:-

The waterfall goes into a gully that goes underneath the road and into the Ceres Burn:-

Video:-