On Culross

After thanking Mary profusely, I set off into the cool morning. Wielding my Sustrans map, I cunningly managed to get on NCN route 1 which got me over the Forth Road Bridge. This was curiously empty apart from buses and taxis. Most traffic was on the new bridge whose name escapes me. It was just to the West, while the East was the iconic and proverbial Forth Railway Bridge which pleasantly had trains go across it while I watched. They were only three car locals, so they looked disproportionately small vis-à-vis the overbuilt tubes of the rail bridge. (The Forth Rail Bridge was designed shortly after the Tay Bridge disaster. Consequently, the engineers were over cautious.)

I then hung a left towards Rosyth where I caught sight of The HMS Prince of Wales, a new aircraft carrier being fitted out. Its twin islands are a distinctive feature of the class.

I stopped at the Ship Inn in Limekilns for a coffee. After the barmaid’s first attempt at a latte was far too weak, she became very apologetic. I dismissed it saying that far worse had happened on my trip than a weak latte. She asked what?, to which a replied the rain yesterday. We had a nice chat. The Ship Inn is a small place with probably a hundred or so labels of guest craft beers hanging from the beams. This is particularly impressive as the place only has three pumps for guest beers!

My goal was the National Trust for Scotland town of Culross. It has been restored to something vaguely approximately its glory days in the late 16th century when a George Bruce bought the coal mining rights from the Cistercian Priory, using the latest in high tech mining technology (a horse powered bucket chain) he made a lot of money and convinced James VI to make Culross a royal burgh. This gave George the opportunity to make more money. The good times came to an end when a storm flooded the mine (which extended under the Forth) and Sir George (as he had become) died in the same year. Culross declined after that until being preserved and restored by the National Trust starting in the 1930s.

There occurred to me afterwards, that there was a problem or at least curious things with the above narrative as provided by the NTS. George Bruce bought the concession from the Cistercians in 1575, which was after the installation of Protestantism in Scotland. I need to investigate who actually sold him the mining rights.

Anyway, thanks to the National Trust Cultoss is now a preserved town with some streets cobbled in such a manner as make the Paris-Roubaix seem like seamless tarmac to cyclists. The town and some of the buildings, especially Sir George Bruce’s “palace”, have been used in many film and TV productions including (sigh) Outlander.

Leaving Culross by the road past the ruined priory, I climbed away from the annoyingly variable coastal NCN route I had taken to Culross. My goal was another NCN route further inland. This proved to be an old railway bed (thank you Dr. Beeching) which brought me to Dunfermline in short order. There, I rejoined the NCN 1 North. This took me by country roads up a series hills arranged in steps up to a vista of Loch Leven and a whee! down to Kinloss, my goal for the night.