Bridge over the Ceres Burn from grounds of Fife Folk Museum:-

Reverse angle:-

This bridge carries the main road (B939) through the village over the Ceres Burn:-

Castlegate Street, Ceres:-

I have posted a photo of Falkland Palace‘s facade before when I noted the village of Falkland being used as a location for Outlander as in the photo below.

The Palace was the country residence of the Stuart Kings (and Queen,) used as a base for hunting.

Last summer the Palace wasn’t fully open due to Covid; but its grounds and gardens were.

Palace Entrance:-

Entrance arch from inside Palace grounds:-

Part of gallery:-

Gallery:-

Ruined portion:-

Window aperture:-

Tower:-

Last August there was severe flooding in Balbirnie Park. The Back Burn even overflowed by Balbirnie Golf Club’s eighteenth green, probably due to that tree trunk stuck at the bridge. Part of the revetments had been washed away:-

Between Golf Club’s clubhouse and Balbirnie House Hotel the road was flooded:-

The area just at Balbirnie House (and Hotel) which had flooded in February 2020 did so again:-

Culross is a village in the west of Fife. I have previously featured its War Memorial.

It is an old village and still a royal burgh. Many of its cottages are now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. It is one of the many Scottish locations to appear in Outlander.

Street sign and thistle motif on doorway:-

Mercat Cross:-

House by Mercat Cross:-

Cobbled street:-

Steep street. Culross Abbey church in background:-

A curiosity; the Lockit Well. Click on photo then again to enlarge and read the plaque:-

The old Balbirnie Estate had some extensive grounds. About half of these were converted to a golf course. The rest makes up what is now Balbirnie Park.

The back burn runs from the upper part of the former estate – now sold off for housing – between the golf course’s 18^th fairway and green before wending through the wooded area of the Park.

There are some exposed tree roots on the burn’s banks in the upper estate:-

Part of the burn is very shaded:-

We often take a walk through the woods and beside the burn. There are three wooden bridges over the burn after it passes the golf course. This is one of them:-

Close-up. (The wooden superstructure on this has recently been replaced):-

The burn:-

I mentioned the Balbirnie House Hotel a few posts ago and again here.

One day last August I noticed on our daily walk that a whole load of tents had sprung up in the grounds.

This was the hotel’s response to Covid restrictions on gatherings inside. Instead they had introduced al fresco dining.

A brave move in Scotland!

Normally we skirt round the side of Balbirnie House Hotel when we take our daily walk to Markinch for the Guardian. (To the left in the photo below and round past the front of the building.)

During the first lockdown last year we felt able to take a stroll through the House’s gardens.

Balbirnie House was the “big” house nearest to Markinch and was home to the Balfour family before being sold off in 1969. It is now a hotel, the Balbirnie House Hotel and the estate grounds are now Balbirnie Park.

Nearly every morning I walk past it and through its grounds (more than half of which is now a golf course) on my way to Markinch to pick up the Guardian.

This is a photo of the hotel from just over a year ago:-

There had been reasonably heavy rain and a pool of water had collected beside the footpath which skirts the estate road leading upo to the hotel. This was followed by a freeze:-

Lower down the estate road, nearer to Markinch, this area of the golf course had also been flooded and frozen:-

On the other side of the estate road this part of Balbirnie Park remained flooded for almost all of 2020:-

One of Inverkeithing‘s oldest buildings is the former Hospitium of the Grey Friars (Dominicans) which dates from around 1350 and is in modern Queen Street.

Hospitium from north:-

A represenatation of how the Hospitium looked in its heyday can be seen here.

Hospitium from southwest:-

South gable:

Rear:-

North gable and part of rear:-

Just after the War Memorial gardens on approaching Inverkeithing from the north, on the opposite side of the road, lies this old building called Fordell’s Lodging:-

St Peter’s Kirk is on the same side of the road as the War Memorial gardens, some of whose trees are in the foreground here:-

St Peter’s Kirk:-

Inverkeithing Town Hall is on a side road:-