Auchtertool

Twelve members of the walking group left the church on Sunday 12th November to walk the Auchtertool loop .
 We got a lovely autumn afternoon bright and dry with no wind ,but there was some ice and frost in shaded parts, the first sighs of winter.
 We returned to Kirkcaldy to have tea and scones at Balwearie golf club, a lovely walk and great company. 

Lochore Meadows

Sunday 22nd October saw our group of 15 walking the circuit of Lochore Meadows in sunshine and showers. We welcome walkers who for various reasons haven't been able to join us for a while and it was great to get caught up with all the news. Well clad dog walkers were out with their pets and a couple of dogs even had their onesies on The Centre is being renovated so the very tiny cafe at the outdoor centre couldn't accommodate us. Ian kindly booked us into Cluny Clays where we enjoyed our refreshments.

Blairadam Kelty

Blairadam Forest

On Sunday.1st October 10 walkers braved the inclement weather and headed for Blairadam Forest.   Reaching the Forestry Commission car park a decision was made to forego the planned route and stick to the waymarked paths.  Heading off we passed the totem pole and wall mural advising us to “touch not the cat” and made our way through Woodend Wood to join  the Glen Trail where we followed the Burn with trees on either side giving us partial relief from the rain; or not!   Past the waterfall, we came to the remains of the 100 foot bridge which carried the railway over the Glen to the Blairenbathie Pit many years ago.  We stopped to admire the sculpture depicting  the tools used in the mines.

Continuing up the Glen we joined the Blairenbathie Mine Trail along a pleasant wooded path and crossed the Lochornie Burn and  Pieries Burn Bridges with leaves falling gently from the trees.   Continuing on we joined the Forestry Commission Road which took us back to the Car Park although a small detour was made into the woods to the lower reaches of the Kelty Burn and back.

                                                                                                                                      




Baxters was our next port of call where generously proportioned pancakes , scones and tea cakes were consumed along with our usual tea and coffee which was greatly appreciated by all.   Finishing with our walker’s prayer we headed off for home having enjoyed our walk.

Ladybank

Ladybank

Our walk started from Ladybank railway station.  Only eight in the group but all raring to go.  The first turning off the main road was the level crossing. Checking the light was green, we crossed over safely.  A train was approaching in the distance and we waited to see when the light would turn red.  It turned off on another line so the light stayed green.

We walked parallel to the railway line and the weather was fine at that point.  A family passed us by carrying a basket filled with mushrooms they had picked.  Continuing on this path we turned off to the left but alas it was a bit premature, making the first deviation from the planned route.  After some fumbling with the map, we took a turning through the woods and managed to get back on track.

On approach to the 3rd tee of the golf course, four golfers kindly delayed their shots to allow the group to pass by.  Hilda volunteered to tee off for one of the golfers but be assured that did not happen! When we reached the club house the rain was fairly heavy as we stood under tree for a breather.  We walked on towards the next railway crossing and noticed the light was showing red.  An inverness train passed by at great speed.

We had intended to cross the A92 for the remainder of the walk but time was against us.  We made another change to schedule and headed through Monkstown Wood passing a lovely chestnut horse in the field.  We exited on the approach road to the railway station and headed back to the cars where we said the walkers prayer.  Rona said the walk was 5.17 miles which was fine.

We headed off to the Lomond Hills Hotel where Stephen, Kerry, Grace and Isabel met us.  As always we enjoyed coffee and scones and most important, a good blether.

Burntisland to Aberdour

On Sunday 13th August 12 of the walking group members left the church to park at Broomhill Ave Burntisland to start our walk to Aberdour and back. The weather was good for a change and we all set off without raincoats etc. The path was really busy with lots of people walking , cycling ,and a large group from Canada enjoying our great scenery .
When we arrived at the silver sands we took the path up to the village and walked though the lovely castle gardens then down Shore Road to the harbour with the stunning views of Inchcolm Island and Edinburgh where we had a photo stop.
Making our way back towards the silver sands, also busy with families all enjoying the very welcome sunshine , we took the path back to Burntisland meeting another walking group from Glasgow.Just shows how popular the Fife coastal path is.

Back at our cars I had to admit that we had walked 6 miles and not 5 miles as I had first thought.Sorry about that !
Everybody was looking forward to our tea and scones at the Carousal in Kinghorn and discussing a very enjoyable walk .
We finished our afternoon with the walkers prayer and an Elvis tribute act singing in the background.
   Looking forward to whatever our next walk brings!! 

Dunkeld

Bennochy Walkers Summer Outing

Saturday 15 July 

As we travelled up the A9 heading for Birnam and Dunkeld for our summer trip there was certainly a sense of Deja Vu ( see blog of Sunday 10 July 2011 ). Car windscreen wipers swishing away with the sky a beautiful colour of battleship grey we kept our spirits up believing that just maybe the forecast was wrong. And it was

We welcomed back amongst us Isobel and Mary, it was lovely to have you with us again and a new wee walker, Anna, Janis's granddaughter

Parking at the Birnam Hotel, where we would be returning to eat at the Inn situated to the rear of the hotel, we headed south along Perth Road before taking a small road to the left used by fishermen to get to the banks of the beautiful river Tay. The river was fast moving, some small areas of white water and other running still and deep

This lovely track brought us to the ancient Birnam Oak and mighty 

Sycamores. 

It was hard to think about the length of time they had been growing here and the history they had witnessed. 

Continuing along the riverbank we approached Telford's Bridge with its majestic 7 spans, reaching the road by climbing the steep steps up to the Toll House. 

Once over the bridge in Dunkeld we took another steep set of steps down towards the riverbank where we stopped to enjoy our picnic

Refreshed we headed to Dunkeld Square which was a hive of activity with the Dunkeld Art Exhibition underway and also a wee craft fair. Taking some time here and before going to look for Flora's Cake Shop Anna commented that the Atholl Memorial Fountain was similar to the Bruce Fountain in Falkland - well spotted 

Skirting freshly cut fields and the Cathedral we made or way back to the riverside  walking until we almost reached the Dunkeld Hilton returning via the Bishops Path, which skirted through woodland and was high above the river so giving different views. This led us back to the Cathedral where we spent some time before having a saunter via the shops back to the Birnam Inn where we enjoyed food and fellowship

Completing the day with our walkers prayer we enjoyed a lovely run back to Fife. 

Different Walks (Rachel Fox)

There is walking,

And then there's this:

Giant steps stretched out around a tiny town,

Bright lights that hang just too low down,

Dry mouth, long night, somewhere to be,

Feet moving, moving, constantly.

And then again there is walking,

And then there is this:

The pansy by the path with its soft, soft face,

The daffodils singing uninvited as ever,

The blackbirds busy, everything just so,

So vibrant, so violent, so full, this life.

Balgonie Loop

 We left the church wrapped up in hoodies and scarves against the snell wind despite this being officially summer. There were blue skies but some dubious clouds hung over our heads like an impending dental appointment. 

http://www.walkfife.com/maps-routes/balgonie-loop/

We started our walk  in Coaltown of Balgonie leaving the Main Street via Lady Nina Cottages.
The question arose who Lady Nina might be but the leader hadn't a scooby. She has since discovered that Lady Nina Balfour was the wife of Charles Balfour, owner of Balfour collieries and estate. He provided the bowling green in the village for his employees 100 years ago.
This was very much a flat, country walk through fields of crops though most of us were not confident about naming them. The views were pleasant and very familiar to us being so near home, but we were all too caught up in our customary in depth conversations on politics and religion to mention the landscape today.

The sun won through and, working up a heat, you can see by our first photo that some had to discard the hoodies. Lovely sunny faces don't you think?

There was a wee incline near the end of the walk but we all coped and even managed a smile for another snapshot.

The last stage took us in a straight line between the muckle boulder above, past disused farm buildings into Coaltown itself and we wandered through the main street towards the Cooperative where we had left our cars.
From there we headed for nearby Thornton where we enjoyed coffee and scones at the Golf Club. Full marks given for quality coffee, delicious scones, good service and an amazingly cheap bill!

Before taking leave of our friends once more, we snapped this pic at the 18th hole. We also planned the next meeting which will be our summer trip to Dunkeld and we sincerely hope that the weather this visit will be a whole lot drier than last time. Our usual prayer brought another lovely afternoon with close friends to a contented close. 

    Kerry, Stephen, Sybil, Ian, Audrey, Rona, Dianne, Janis and Ronnie. Hilda took this pic.

Kinghorn

Lovely sunshine was what was on order and we weren't disappointed. 13 walkers left the church heading along the coast to todays destination, Kinghorn. The walk started with a slight uphill climb with Kinghorn Golf course on our right and the spectacular sea views across the Forth on our left. It was such a clear day, you could see for miles. Our first memorable encounter was a mounted policeman on his horse.

We continued along the path where we soon encountered our first views of the Craigencault Ecology centre and stopped for our obligatory photo.

Time to move on, we continued along the trail until we reached what was reputed to be the home of the last of the Kinghorn witches where we stopped to have a look at the coins pressed into the walls of the ruin.

On we travelled, crossing the road which would take us on to the ecology centre itself, stopping for a moment to have a look at the plaque in the wall commemorating the opening of the Roddanbraes path in 2014. On reaching the Ecology Centre we paused again, basking in the sunshine at the loch watching the ducks and the beautiful swan with her cygnets, wishing we had brought a picnic. We spent a short while wandering the ecology centre until it was time to head for our coffee stop, The Carousel, where our tea, coffee and lovely cakes were awaiting us. A fitting end to a great day with a great bunch, some of us vowing to go back, suitably summed up in the wall of the ecology centre.

Remembering Joe with love

Father God,

Thank you for Joe Stark. A lovely, gentle and kind man whom we shall all miss.

We remember him as a wonderful father and grandfather and the most devoted husband Mary could ever have imagined. They were indeed the perfect partnership and had a strong, loving marriage that might have been the envy of many.

You blessed Joe with skilful hands and a creative talent that led him through his worklife then into retirement when you'd find Joe in his workshed making props for church, beautiful birdtables and really anything that Mary needed to make her church activities more realistic!

Joe is holding his camera in this photo. So many of the walkers' photos on the blogsite were taken by Joe. How we shall miss his friendship. Chatting to him as we walked revealed how well travelled Joe was and was always interested in others' travels. And he had an amazing general knowledge!

Father, you have called our friend home to his eternal home and we know you will hold his soul in  the palm of your hand for all time.

We offer our prayer, as alway, in Jesus' name. Amen

Milnathort

Milnathort – 7th May 2017

Once more we were blessed with a dry day as we set of for our walk in Milnathort.   We parked at the Stirling Road car park where our walk commenced.   Up Westerloan and into Manse Lane  we then turned into Ba Hill along to Orwell Church built in I729.   Up a steep road and on through to Linden Park Road.   Turning down Old Perth Road and entering Back Loan, we came across cottages with very old lintels.   However, one knowledgeable local advised that they were not original but had been moved to the cottages.   Turning back into Westerloan, we passed the Town Hall with it’s clock steeple which was completed in 1885.   Turning left we walked along the main road, crossing to walk down Burleigh Road, passing lovely house gardens until we came to Burleigh Castle dating from the 15th Century.   This required a little “investigation” and another helpful local kindly took a group photograph so all 14 walkers were included!   Crossing the road carefully we took the path to the dismantled railway turning right to follow the path through to Old Mart Road and back into Milnathort.    Heaven Scent was our destination for the obligatory tea, coffee and goodies and sitting in the courtyard in the sunshine we weren’t disappointed.   Finishing with our walker’s prayer ended yet another enjoyable afternoon.    

Lochgelly, Lumphinnans

We were a reduced group of 8 walkers today as for a variety of reasons many of our friends were unable to be with us.

Parking our cars at Lochgelly High School we set off for a 6 mile walk. This has been adapted from a Ramblers walk and involved a lovely bit of countryside walking around Lochgelly, Lumphinnans and Cowdenbeath.Thankfully since the trial walk the nice weather had dried up the boggy parts. 

Following a track which was next to the goods entrance of the school  we reached Lumphinnans Farm. 

How appropriate on Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, an animal of peace, we should come across these two lovely donkeys enjoying the peace in a small field in front of the farmhouse

Walking along a path which was originally a pug line serving the local pits the small birds were bursting into song and appeared to follow us as we walked along. Spring has definitely arrived as the bushes were starting to show new growth. 

Coming out at Pit Road we then crossed Main Street, Lumphinnans and headed over a fairway of the Dora Golf Course (named after a local pit) towards a gravelled path which we followed to Brucefield. Walking along Paul Street we then headed North onto Cartmore Road, Lochgelly and we followed this until we reached countryside tracks which we followed until we retraced our steps to our cars

There was a wide range of topics of conversation as usual and the six miles passed very quickly. After saying our walkers prayer we headed to Sainsbury in Kirkcaldy where after arranging their furniture we settled down to cream scones and cakes

Dalgety Bay

What a lovely day, sun shining brightly but windy enough to blow us off our feet and certainly blow the cobwebs away. Today's walk combined some town and coast walking at Dalgety Bay. Parking at Dobbies Garden Centre nine walkers headed down Harbour Drive into Harbour Place which took us onto the Fife Coastal Path. The winds were whipping up the Forth turning the water into white topped waves. We looked out onto the Forth Rail Bridge with the tops of the Road Bridge and the new Queensferry Crossing behind. Unfortunately we couldn't get a picture of the bridges as the sun was in the wrong place!!

Walking east along the coastal path, daffodils, snowdrops and crocuses bloomed and gardens were coming to life. We passed some huge houses on The Bridges and Lumsdaine Drive all architecturally different and very modern. We commented on the magnificent views they had but we didn't fancy cleaning the very large windows. Passing the lovely converted Donibristle House we walked around Dalgety Bay Sailing Club where some of the young people had been out for a sail. The walk was relatively easy going with some short inclines but not too many. Turning we walked along Moray Way South and headed back to our starting point.

Joe was there to meet us and we all we enjoyed our refreshments. The fresh cream scones just finished the afternoon perfectly. As usual there was lots of chat and laughter and after saying our walkers prayer we bade each other goodbye and headed to the cars and home

                            

Kirkcaldy

Bennochy Walkers Sunday 26 February

Today was our Christmas craft day 🎄🎅🏻 No we're not confused. We were unable to do our Christmas craft as December caught us out and we ran out of time to plan this in so we carried it forward until today

We started off with a walk around Beveridge Park, lovely but raining cats and dogs. Only others in the park were dog walkers. There was a wee bit colour in the tree blossom and we thought that Janis must have colour coordinated her brolly to match the blossom. Back to the St Andrews Hall we got the kettle on and Pat and Margaret who both graciously agreed to lead our craft event met us there

The plan was to do book folding, hedgehogs and coffee cups and you can see by the photographs of the finished results that we were good students! Of course there was lots of chatting and drinking of tea and coffee

Poor Phil's hedgehog needed the aid of specs as he was a wee bit short sighted. What a  lovely array of hogs all turned out in their Sunday best. 

Anyone for Cappuccino? Well six lovely coffees to chose from

We had a delivery from Rinaldi's Fish Bar at 4.45 and that would be the only time we were quiet as we enjoyed our suppers all washed down with tea and coffee 

Many, many thanks go to Pat and Margaret for graciously giving up their time today and helping us to complete our craft. We thoroughly enjoyed our day

As always thinking of our friends who couldn't be with us today. 

"Knowing a person is like music, what attracts us to them is their melody, and as we get to know who they are, we learn their lyrics".

Springfield,Cupar

Our latest outing saw us stepping out in a cold but sunny afternoon from Springfield. This is part of a larger 10 mile walk but this part around 4.5 miles was suitable for our group with minimal incline. It's been a while since our last walk in December so there was a lot of catching up with each other's news and lovely to meet up again with folks who for various reasons this has been their first walk for some time. Lovely to have you back with us again

This walk took us along some lovely paths, tracks and quiet roads from Springfield towards Stratheden Hospital, through a woodland track towards Elwood Golf Course. We then crossed the main road, which we followed for about half a mile before we took off through more woodland. This path took us via Crawford Priory, a quite magnificent ruin, which was well photographed by the group. History of the Priory, which never was used as a Priory, can be found on the internet. We then walked a path which meandered via Cults Mill back to Springfield with a great coffee and tea break, including cakes, scones, biscuits and sweets at the Springfield Tavern

Saying our walkers prayer we then headed for home with daylight just beginning to fade on what was a lovely walk with great company