On yet another wet morning we left Shell Bay and continued on the coast road. Passing the ruins of Ardross and Newark castles, we reached the east end of St Monans where the Auld Kirk stands.

St Monans (or Monance, Monanus, Monan: spelling variants have been in use over the centuries) was an Irish missionary who came to Fife in around 832. He is said to have been the first to preach the gospel on the Isle of May but was killed by Vikings in 875. The church was founded in 1265-7 on the site of the Saint’s shrine. Before 1477 the building was granted to the Dominican Friars whose priory stood on what is now the graveyard. It was burned down by English invaders in 1544 but by 1646 had been rebuilt and was the Parish Church. Various changes have been made over the years since then (some resulting from the Reformation) to how it stands today. It is open to visitors. We then walked around the town and harbour (where there were some eider ducks), stopping for coffee and enjoying the Welly Garden.

East of the town, by the coastal path stands a windmill. The Newark Coal and Salt Company was set up here in 1771, the windmill being used to power the heating of the salt pans to evaporate the water and the nearby Coal Farm is where low grade coal was mined.

Afterwards, we diverted inland slightly to Kellie Castle and Gardens. The castle dates from 1360 but was rescued and renovated by Professor James Lorimer in the 19th century. It is now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. In addition to the castle, there is a walled garden and woodland walks.


As we left, passing fields of llamas or alpacas (I am not sure which) we saw a sign announcing a lost African Grey Parrot but sadly did not spot it. Back on the coast, the sun had come out and I donned my sunglasses for the first time this trip. We parked at the west end of Pittenweem by the crazy golf course and walked via the coastal path towards harbour and into town. The old seawater swimming pool lies at the foot of the cliffs but there is a sign warning swimmers that it is no longer maintained by the council and that they swim at their own risk.


It is a busy fishing port


but we also spotted a link with our recent Australian trip:

Our campsite was on the western side of Anstruther, by the coast so the following morning we walked into town in cold sunshine. Anstruther and Cellardykes are contiguous. We first came to Cellardyke Harbour which has been in existence since 1452. Over the centuries it has been destroyed by storms and rebuilt, most recently in 2002 after a 1996 storm. It was low tide when we passed by so there were no boats but it is a handy place to dry your washing.


The East Harbour in Anstruther has a small lighthouse and the waves were crashing against the end of the pier.

The main harbour was full of boats. From here you can take a boat trip to the Isle of May which we have never visited but as high winds were forecast for the afternoon (I am not a good sailor in small boats) and we needed some downtime before driving home in the morning, we decided to defer that to another time. One thing we had to do was to have lunch at the award-winning Fish Restaurant, said to be the best in Scotland and the UK. The batter on their fried haddock is made to a secret recipe. It was certainly tasty and we got a table before the big rush.

We will be saying goodbye to Fife in the morning but returning to continue our journey in May. This leg was a total of 91 miles driven and quite a few walked.