Tuesday June 12th

After breakfast we went to Dollar Glen first thing.  We parked in Dollar and I got my trusty walking sticks out as we set out towards Castle Campbell through the gorges of Dollar Glen.  It was very wild and an enjoyable hike - I wouldn't say it was a walk as there were plenty of steep parts and even steps in places!  I'm glad I had my sticks on me, otherwise I would probably have been grumbling about it all!  My sticks really help me when I'm on a walk which is either long distance, has a steep incline or both.  Anyway, this walk turned out to be wilder and a little muddier than we had expected it to be, but we came prepared.  We heard the waterfalls and we stood on many viewing platforms to see the gorge and the waterfalls but I think it was the wrong time of year - so many leaves and trees were obstructing our view!  Nevermind, it was a great walk, if a little wild and strenuous!

 

After burning off some serious calories (or well I thought so anyway), we finally reached Castle Campbell which dates from the 15th century, and was originally known as Castle Gloom, and it was quite fun exploring the castle and its tower.  We left Castle Campbell following the circular hiking path around it, going back into the gorge.  This side wasn't quite as hardcore as the way we had come, but it was still wild and muddy.  Eventually we returned to the car and we moved onward to Culross.

We took the Fife Coastal Tourist Route to Culross although it wasn't particularly scenic unless you like you industrial activity...!  Culross itself was very picturesque thought, little cobbled streets winding around each other with many small cottages with rendered walls and painted with fresh bright colours of yellow, orange, pink, blue and white.  It was a very pretty little place and when we arrived there we didn't see many people at all.  Before we headed to Culross Palace, we found "Bessie's Tearooms" where we had some lunch before exploring the Palace itself.

Culross Palace was built for Sir George Bruce, and is a unique example of a merchant's house of the early 17th century.  It was never a royal residence although King James VI was a guest here a number of times.  The earliest part of the house dates back to 1597.  When inside, we watched a 10 minute video about the place before exploring it for ourselves.  Each room was wooden from floor to ceiling, some of which were painted!  We had seen some painted wood yesterday at Argyll's House, but this painting was quite spectacular.  I don't think there are any buildings featuring original painted wooden panels anywhere else in the UK, certainly not in England.  There was a lot of embroidery here too, all modern of course by a local embroidery group, but the style of everything was done to fit the building.  It was great fun exploring the Palace, I often forgot where we had already been, it was a bit like a warren!  The gardens were also quite fun to explore as they were one very steep slope indeed, and we're almost terraced, and we also saw quite a few chickens who had their own area to run around in, as well as an orchard.

We then walked around the village of Culross, sort of following the trail which was in the guidebook, but not totally.  We had a look at the Town House and the Study, both of which we were unable to take a look inside as we could only do this with a guided tour.  Unfortunately, they weren't doing one for the time we wanted as they didn't have enough tour guides and they were expecting a large tour group later on that afternoon.  We went up as far as the Abbey and the Church, the latter of which has a graveyard bearing stones depicting occupations with images, and also Sir George Bruce, his wife and children have a tomb there.

After Culross, we made out way to Kinross which was where we would be staying in Roxburghe Guest House.  On a main road in the middle of town, we weren't sure what to expect.  Our host was absolutely fine, but I have to say the accommodation left a little to be desired.  Our room was quite small, but it really felt like we were staying in someone room while they were away, and also there was quite a damp, musty smell hanging around the entire place, as if the whole building had not been lived in for quite some time.  As the afternoon went on we discovered another quirk of the place - it shook each time a large lorry drove past, I'm guessing, on the main road out at the front....!  This could be interesting.....!  Well, we were only here for one night so we hoped that this would be the only odd one on our places we were staying!

In the meantime, we took a quick walk outside and into town before taking our suitcases in, to have a look for somewhere to eat.  We discovered 2 very different pubs, and settled on one in particular - apparently theyweren't too busy to book a table, and we had a very nice meal indeed!