Culross- an historical village

 2 December 2025

A different type of walk today visiting a village that I had previously only driven through. Culross is in Fife on the north side of the river Forth and is a good example of a 16th century Scottish burgh.......

I started my walk in the main square on the north side of which is the Palace and the Town House. The Palace was built by Sir George Bruce in 1597. It was eventually partitioned into flats for 16 different families and by the 1900's had fallen into disrepair. It was then bought and restored by the NTS; today it was closed so I could only view it from the outside. I will have to come back in the main season......

The Town House was the centre of local authority where the councillors met and courts were held. It also served as the local prison for those convicted either of criminality or of being a witch......

I then made my way up several of the cobbled streets, the houses which are still lived in today look fabulous......

About half way up is the Mercat Cross. Only Royal Burghs in Scotland can have such a  thing. This one has a unicorn on top!

I continued up the hill with the Abbey now in sight. This has been a religious site since St Serf founded the town in the 6th century and the first monastery (Cistercian monks) appeared in the 1200's. Today only ruins of part of this building remain and the area is now occupied by the Parish church. This can be visited but today the door was locked; another reason to come back......

I then made my way back downhill to the car via an excellent coffee shop, The Biscuit Cafe. It had been a day full of interest and best visited in the off season, it gets rammed with tourists in the summer months.

Mugdock Country Park

 29 November 2025

It was a few years since I had visited Mugdock Country Park but it seemed an ideal place for me to add to the list of places that I am visiting to create photograph records. Mugdock is, in my view, the best of the Country Parks which are situated around Glasgow. It comprises 270 hectares of moorland, heathland and woodland gifted to what are now Stirling and East Dunbartonshire Councils in 1981 by Sir Hugh Fraser (House of Fraser family). The Park includes a couple of former castles in differing states of disrepair, WW2 gun emplacements, a loch, and a plethora of paths so lots of different walks are to be had. The weather was quite atmospheric, mostly cloudy but with the sun breaking out from time to time.....

There is courtyard building which serves as a visitor centre and includes toilets and cafes so I was able to purchase my usual latte at the end of my walk.....

There is not much remaining of Craigend Castle, indeed, it has been fenced off for a number of years as it is now in a dangerous state. I suppose that it's main claim to fame is that the final occupants used the ground round about as a zoo!

My route then took me to the high ground to the south of the Park to visit the remains of the WW2 defensive bunkers.....

They certainly commanded a good view south over Milngavie towards Glasgow and north to the Campsie Fells......

Mugdock Castle was the next point of interest, It was originally built by the Graham family in the mid- 14th century and was abandoned in the 17th century. There are connections to the Marquess of Montrose. The remaining tower has been renovated and apparently now contains a museum. It is open to the public at times during the summer so I will have to go back on one of these days.....

Mugdock Loch lies below the castle. A sign says that it is reckoned to be a "kettle hole"......

After walking around the east and north side of the loch, I made my way back to the visitor centre and the car park passing a pretty little waterfall and a pond......

An excellent walk!

Broadwood Loch, Cumbernauld

21 November 2025

Broadwood Loch, Cumbernauld

I usually go to Colzium or the Forth and Clyde canal for my daily walk but today I decided on a change. There is a round loch trail on a very good track which gives me about 5k steps, my limit at the moment as I continue with recovery from my medical problems. It was a perfect day for walking, clear blue sky, little wind and a temperature of 5C. This is the best strip of water in the area for wintering birds; today there was a large group of Mute Swans plus Mallard, Wigeon, Coot, Moorhen Tufted Duck, Canada Goose plus a few Cormorant. The loch is accessed by the road to the football stadium. Some photos:

Aberfoyle and Rev Robert Kirk grave

 28 October 2025

It is a long time since I last posted, much has happened in the interim. I had a major cancer operation at the start of May followed by a diagnosis of heart failure so in all many weeks in hospital followed by a lengthy convalescence. I am still nothing like fit but I am getting there. I expect however that my hillwalking will be severely curtailed in future; just as well that there are lots of countryside walks and places of interest for me to do and visit. It will be important that I keep walking as part of my heart failure treatment.

Anyway, my first trip away yesterday, to Aberfoyle. The objective was to follow up on the story (fable!) of the Rev Robert Kirk and the faeries. The story in summary:

Robert Kirk was the Minister in Aberfoyle in the 17th century. He was also very interested in the habits of faeries and in 1691 he published a book titled "The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies". One evening he failed to return from a walk. His body was found at the top of Doon Hill and it was concluded that the faeries had stolen his spirit for revealing their secrets. It was also believed that the Ministers spirit had been imprisoned in a tree which still stands at the summit of the hill. This tree has gathered a lot of trinkets and messages over the years ( as has Rev Kirks' grave in the old graveyard in the village) although on the last occasion that I was up Doon Hill most had been removed on environmental grounds.

The old graveyard was really interesting. All of the stones are numbered and there is an information book containing details of the person buried there. Everything was being tidied up when I was there and it looks as though the intention is to use the Rev Kirk story to attract more visitors to the village.

I also had a wander round the village. There are views to Ben Lomond in the west and the village is overlooked by Craigmore which is a fabulous viewpoint. I have included a photo of the tree on the top of Doon Hill, taken on a previous visit.

Main street Aberfoyle......

Craigmore......

Distant Ben Lomond......

The old church with Doon Hill background.....

Inside the old church.....

Rev Kirk grave.....

The tree on top of Doon Hill......

More information.....