East Nuek

On Sunday, we left St. Andrew's and drove into Tentsmuir Forest and along the coast through the fishing villages of East Nuek. It was a great day for a drive and we were pleasantly surprised by the sights of the region. It also gave me a chance to practice my picture-taking-in-a-moving-vehicle-skills (see below):

Sheep grazing in a meadow

Before we left St. Andrew's, we saw this rainbow

Tentsmuir Forest is one of those off-the-beaten path places. It was truly amazing.

After you drive into the forest you then walk through some sand dunes and wild grasses...

Interspersed through the dunes and wild grasses were large pockets of water. We aren't quite sure how they got there, as it seems too far back for the regular tide and too large to be filled only by rain. However they were formed, they added something to the ruggedness of the terrain, and provided some interesting obstacles to getting to the beach.




After you make the short journey through the dunes, you find yourself at this perfectly untouched beach. Evidently there is a place along the beach were seals are often found sunbathing. We, unfortunately, did not see that. A good reason to go back, I think!


Joe and I love stopping at old churches, and saw this beautiful old church along the way from Tentsmuir to East Nuek. The St. Athernase Church is still in use and parts were built in the 12th century. We stopped and a lovely woman from the congregation gave us a short tour. She was obviously very proud of the church's long history (though, she didn't think it was very beautiful!).


East Nuek is known for numerous small fishing villages that dot the coast. They is literally a village every few miles. The first one we stopped at was Crail. Unfortunately, their harbor was empty and there was not much to see. So, we made our way down to the next town, Anstruther. Here we saw more of what we imagined a fishing village to look like:



We also stopped for lunch at this famous fish and chips bar. Apparently it has won numerous awards as the best place for Fish and Chips in the entire UK. It was also a favorite place of Prince William's while he was in school at St. Andrew's. And, Joe saw some pictures of Robert DeNiro, Tom Hanks, and Robert Duvall enjoying a meal here as well.
Pittenweem was our favorite fishing village. It is the most active fishing village in the East Nuek today, and I would have loved to have visited on a day when the market was open. Pittenweem also has a few historical attractions, like St. Fillan's Cave, an old Priory, and an old church.

Our last stop before heading home was Elie. Here we were struck by the beautiful beaches where several families were out flying kites on a very windy day!



We got home Sunday evening having enjoyed a lovely weekend. It was a great trip and we took a lot more pictures. If you'd like to see the whole set, click here for our flickr album.