The Kingdom of Fife

HeatherTheVet

Top Veteran
Location
Scotland
Name
Heather
I'm back on the East Coast for a couple of months, camera bag in tow. For two weeks I have been itching to go, but the haar has been so dense and the light so poor that I have barely attempted a shot. Today the sun broke through and started to burn the sea fog away. I was caught without camera, but my trusty phone was to hand when I went out on the East Sands for a run with the dog at lunchtime.

I was thinking maybe it could be the start of a Fife thread. I know Briar has some great pictures of the Kingdom, and I'll no doubt have a handful of pictures over the next while to add. So if anyone has anything from the Tay to the Forth, here's the place.

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[/url] Lunchtime wandering by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]

The East Sands, St. Andrews with the ruined cathedral and St Rules tower in the distance.
 
Good stuff Heather. This wee Fifer appreciates this thread and will watch it wth keen interest. I don't get over to Fife so often these days so it will be good to see the place through your eyes.
 
It was a nice evening last night so I packed the dogs and a camera and headed off to Balmerino, looking to get a good picture for "my favourite place" on the SC2. Sadly I didn't get the right light to find the picture I wanted, but I did get to spend a couple of hours wandering around a place which is very important to me.
Balmerino Abbey was an important religious centre in Scotland, home to the Cistercian monks from 1229. It enjoyed the support of Queen Ermengarde and King Alexander II and was a massive building on the bank of the Tay. Now it's just a ruin, with a cross where the alter would have been.
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[/url] The Old Rugged Cross by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]

It was a very nice evening for sitting on the stony beach, looking across the Tay to the Carse of Invergowrie
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[/url] Tay Sunset by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
The tree in the background is a Spanish Chestnut, the legend is that it was planted by Queen Ermengarde in 1229, but it has been dated as 450 years old, so maybe not. It's a nice thought though. This is the tree that taught me how to climb, where rows of us used to sit along the lower boughs during the annual village picnic. A few years ago when I was having a hard time I came back to the tree, climbed up into the fork and sat for a very long time contemplating life. I never come here without running my hands along its scars and barkless wounds.

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[/url] Balmerino by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
A breath of fresh air - and if these were taken with the current iPhone...well, you're all set, Heather!

Love seeing that your dogs are along with you - they're so photogenic!

My favorite, I think, is the Free Beach.

Keep 'em coming!
 
One of the problems with being the vet on call is that it is so unpredictable. Friday night I finally got home and off to sleep at 2am. At 5.30am I was called out again, a house call to a wee dog who sadly was losing his battle with heart disease. In a rare moment of clarity I realised that this would present me with an opportunity to take some photos in the early morning when things were quiet. I grabbed the camera bag (ever primed and ready) and made my way to the middle of Fife. The sun had very kindly deigned to show it's face after hiding for oh so long. After my call was finished I found a handy layby and took a few shots before dragging my sorry behind into the office where I crashed out for an hour before starting work again.
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[/url] Whiskery Barley by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]
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[/url] The Lomond Hills, early morning by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]
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[/url] Early Morning in 'Muchty by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]
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[/url] Summer visiting Fife for a few minutes by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
We get some lovely sunsets here. This was last night's on the Tay.
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[/url] Sunset from Woodhaven by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]

There are two bridges over the Tay at Dundee - the road and the rail bridges. This is the railway bridge. It is the second one to be built. The stumps to the right are the remains of the first one. It didn't last very long. The building of it was a calamity fraught with problems. Everybody was very proud of it when it was completed. Then one night there was a terrible storm which blew down the middle section, called the "High Girders". The steam train coming over from Fife was unaware of the problem and carried on over the bridge, plunging into the river. It is known as the Tay Railway Bridge Disaster and many lives were lost. The engineer who designed the bridge committed suicide shortly after. The disaster is most famous though for the poem written about it by the worlds worst poet, William McGonagall. Look him up, he's really awful.
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[/url] DSC04162 by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]
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[/url] DSC04163 by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Thanks for the pretty shots and the interesting background stories! I think I won't spend my precious sleeping time awake and reading the world's worst poet's poems, but I might just find myself in those barley fields in my dreams...
 
HeatherTheVet said:
... the worlds worst poet, William McGonagall. Look him up, he's really awful.

Heather, thanks for reminding me of McGonagall. If I recall correctly:

O beautiful city on the silvery Tay, Thou art the second most beautiful city in Scotland at the present day!

Wonderful!
 
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