The overnight rain had cleared so before we left the campsite, we had a walk in the woodland opposite. Keil’s Den is a narrow deciduous wood on the slopes of the Keil Burn. It is managed by the Woodland Trust and there are various walks. We did the 5km circuit.

Bluebell foliage was emerging and Dogs’ Mercury, but the primroses were blooming.

It reminded me very much of the woodland I spent many hours in when I lived in Menstrie at the foot of the Ochil Hills in the early 1970s. Afterwards we picked up supplies in Lundin Links and then drove down to the sea front in Lower Largo. Alexander Selkirk was born here and became a sailor. Unfortunately, he had a disagreement with his captain who then abandoned him on the island of Juan Fernandez, in the Pacific Ocean. Selkirk lived there alone for four years until he was rescued by a passing ship. He became a celebrity when he returned to British shores, and his adventures were fictionalised by Defoe as Robinson Crusoe. The house on Main Street where Selkirk was born no longer stands, but the building on the site is now decorated by a statue of him, looking out to sea.

There is a sign outside the Crusoe Hotel indicating the distance to Juan Fernandez which Lower Largo is twinned with.

The railway here was the victim of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s but there remains a very impressive viaduct in the village.

We got talking to one of the locals who said that as in many towns and cities around the world, houses were being bought and let out via Airbnb making the prices too expensive for local young people who were then being forced to move elsewhere. The mobile Post Office now only comes here for 2 hours every week and one of the local shops had recently shut down.

After looking at the beach, we moved on towards Elie, passing through Upper Largo and Drumeldrie before officially entering the East Neuk. As the weather forecast for the following day was not promising, we had a walk on the East Links; out to the lighthouse at Elie Ness

and the Lady’s Tower. The latter was built in 1760 as a summer house for Lady Anstruther who liked to bathe in the sea below.

At the other end of the town, Earlsferry acquired its name because ferries began a thousand years ago when Macduff, the Thane of Fife, took a boat from here to escape from Macbeth. Earlsferry was granted a Royal Charter by Macbeth’s successor. We reached our campsite at Shell Bay in time for a walk along the beach.

Today’s sea glass haul was better than the day before and included one piece of blue glass which is less common than clear, green or brown. Shell Bay had more rubbish (mainly plastic) among the seaweed and driftwood than the other beaches we have visited so far. On Tuesday we walked just over six miles in total. As predicted the night was wet and cold. We awoke to rain on Wednesday with the radio reporting that the snow gates were shut at Cockbridge in the Cairngorms.

The original plan was to walk from Shell Bay to Elie along the coastal path around Kincraig Point and Earlsferry but had to make do with a short stroll in a brief lull in the weather.

It finally dried up in the evening and I hoped to see the sunset through the clouds but it was hidden apart from a hint of pink.