30th July - East Neuk of Fife, Elie to St Monans

Completely enraptured by the joys of walking, I decided to spend a rare day with my sister by going for a gentler but interesting walk between two picturesque villages in the East Neuk. Starting at that car park at Ruby Bay in Elie, we were immediately able to see Elie lighthouse. It's not the most interesting looking lighthouse but it was duly photographed and added to my collection. I'm an absolute sucker for lighthouses.

Within a couple of hundred yards of the car park we came face to face with the Lady's Tower - a folly built for the local Lady who was a naturist to get her kit off out of the eyelines of the townspeople. we didn't reckon it would be a very comfortable climb down the limpit encrusted rocks for a lady of gentle breeding to attempt in the buff! Sis said it was obviously built by a man. Again photo's were duly taken - unfortunately without the presence of a nudey noble woman. Could be a nice location for a glamour shot though if you are into (have the brass neck for) that sort of photography.

We followed a sheep path down into some high ferns eventually joining a sandy path just above the beach. This walk takes you past a 13th and a 15th century set of ruins. Unfortunately the first is buried in the vegetation and the second is covered in scaffolding/fencing so not many togging opportunities. After a slow stroll we ended up in St Monans and while we dissapointingly couldn't find anywhere that sold cream teas, we were able to get tablet, icecream and drinks and took a time out stuffing our faces on a hill, looking down on the pretty new St Monans Church. I have ancesters who lived in St Monans in the early 1800's, and aged 16, they ran away to Edinburgh to get married. There is a special mention of them in the church records.

The walk back was exactly the way we had arrived, the difference being that it was evening, the light was great and the shore birds were active before roosting time with oyster catchers, sand pipers and curlews fairly close by and feeding.

With the low evening sun bathing the Lady's Tower in golden rays, I got my "shot of the day" - with a small vertical rock in the bay mirroring the geometry of the tower itself.

This was a fairly interesting walk for twitchers and gentle enough to take the kids on. With expansive beaches to play on it yells "PICNIC".