Riding the Bus in Fife

Well.....today was the biggie.  Since I've exhausted tourism in the majority of towns along the train line, I decided that it was time to conquer my fear of getting on a bus and make a day trip to Ceres.

As you can see, it was a picture perfect day and how could I pass on this adventure?

I'd been to Ceres before....by foot...following the advice written in a Frommer's guide which took me over hill and dale, through someone's farm, and finally into the town.  That day, I was determined to take the bus back to Cupar, from whence I had traveled, but no one in the town could offer any assistance to direct me, so I ended up walking the 3 miles back to the train station.  

To be quite honest with you, I really didn't want to trudge along 3 miles each way in order to see this town.  I went online and found a bus line that would take me directly into the town and back, again, to Kirkcaldy.  

Or at least that was what I thought.

So, I headed to the Kirkcaldy Bus station to Stance 4 where the bus was scheduled to pick up.  I met a delightful elderly couple who enjoyed talking to me.  They were on their way to Cupar, which was the same bus that I needed to take:  41.

Now before I go any further, let me explain to you the importance of getting the town pronunciation correct.  If you don't say it correctly, the driver really has no idea where you are going.  Ceres is pronounced "SEAR-iss".  It took me some getting used to, since I wanted to use Latin pronunciation on those e's. 

I boarded the bus and told the Bus driver that I was going to Ceres.  The driver looked at me and said, "ARE you now!"  

Really?  Do you suppose that made me feel more confident?

So, I asked if I had pronounced the town correctly and if the bus did, indeed, stop there.  He chuckled, and said yes to both, and we decided that I would purchase a day ticket, since it was cheaper than a return ticket, and I could jump off and on busses all day.  (Don't think for one minute that I had such a crazy idea in mind.....I just went for it because it was less money.)

So, with ticket in hand, I made my way to Ceres, entertained along the way by the delightful couple whom I met at the station.  They pulled out the transport pamphlet and helped me verify my return trip home on the same bus: 41.

The ride was about 45 minutes long, and, luckily, the bus driver stopped the bus in Ceres for me.  (I learned later that I was supposed to push a button alerting the driver that I wanted to stop, but he obviously remembered my destination.)

I took note of the stop, because my intention was to cross the street for the return trip several hours later.

The town of Ceres is very tiny, so I wasn't worried about getting lost, but it certainly was easy to find the stop since it was located right next to the Bannockburn Memorial.

My destination was the Fife Folk Museum, and after walking a short distance past the Provost of Ceres 

I easily found the entrance. 

The museum is housed in a row of old weaver's cottages which are connected to a 17th century Tollbooth and Weigh House.

Above the door one can see the inscription, "God Bless the Just" as well as a carved scale in stone.

The interior was filled with items that had been collected from donated personal collections.

Some of the items that I found interesting were the replica of the interior of  a weaver's cottage

Happy Family Playing cards:

Where it appeared to me that several of the cards featured women who do not look very happy.

There was a large collection of Curling Stones.  Here are some older stones, one being just an irregular rock with a handle screwed into the top.

Curling is a big sport in the Kingdom of Fife.

And here you see the oldest carved bicycle in all of the United Kingdom.  

The wooden horse was carved around 1820.

While looking through the history of the town, I had spotted a pamphlet that featured a walking tour.  So, I headed to the gift shop and asked the volunteer if such a paper still existed.

She pulled out what appeared to be an identical copy of what I had seen, and handed it to me, informing me that it cost £1.5.  Although I generally pick up these tours for free at the local library, this town didn't have a library, and I still had hours until my return on the bus, so I decided to hand over the money and start the tour.

The town of Ceres was created a Burgh of Barony in 1620.  Early history links the town with the Hope family of Craighall Castle, which once stood on the outskirts of the town.   The castle was demolished in 1957, but some of the outbuildings still exist.

The Dairy is the oldest surviving building in Ceres.

This is believed to be the Norman French "Chef Maison.

The walking tour featured Meldrum's Hotel

And a lovely view of the village Kirk

As I walked along, it soon became quite obvious to me that much of the information on the pamphlet was outdated.  The antique shop across from the church was an empty building undergoing renovations for a tea shop.  I couldn't determine if the houses behind it were original or not.  So much for that.

But that certainly did not dampen my enthusiasm as I managed to find some very entertaining views along the trail.

There was the cute doggie in the window

and some interesting gardens.

I found the ornamentation in the middle of those flowers to be quite entertaining.

You can bet your life that wasn't mentioned in the tour.

By this time, I was intrigued by a sign pointing to Craighill den, and wondered if it led to some ruins of the castle.  I had spotted what looked like a path, but decided against taking it simply because I had told Marty that I wouldn't do anything crazy today, and the looks of the path fell into that category.

So, I headed to the gift shop for a wee bite to eat, and the woman there began to talk about the path to Craighill den and how it led to the ruins of Linekilns, a Limestone quarry that existed only for 17 years in the early 1800's, and a beautiful blue lake.

Intrigued, I asked her if what I had spotted was the trail that she was speaking of, and she assured me that it was.  She then instructed me to walk along the path under the trees,  until I came to a gate that I would need to go through, cross a field, pass through another gate, then climb a hill to my destination.

Well.....having that knowledge in hand, I suddenly became braver and decided to give it a try.  After all, I still had a couple of hours until my scheduled bus arrived.

So, I headed out to the spot, and began carefully picking my steps, attempting to avoid as much mud as possible.  Eventually, the trees thinned out and the ground was dryer.  Just as the woman had said, I spotted the small wooden gate which is designed in such a way that only a person can get through it.  I turned the style and started walking in the field.  

Now I don't know about you, but I would think that mentioning the possibility of dairy cows grazing in that field would have been an important piece of information.  Particularly when the path along the fence leads right past the feeding station.  So, let's just say that I was extremely happy to make my way out of the field at the opposite end without having any confrontations.  

I began my ascent up the hill, eager to see this lovely lake that I was promised.  When I got to the top, I did see a lot of abandoned buildings, which could have been the remnants of a former limestone quarry, but there was no lake that I could see. 

Suddenly, I spotted a young Scottish lass walking up what appeared to be a trail on the other side of the rubble.  I asked her about "the water", and she looked confused.  After a brief conversation, she told me that if I followed the trail that she was walking, I would come to the edge of town.

Believe me, that news was warmly welcomed.  As I began the descent down through the woods,  it was  obvious that I was following a planned trail along a beautiful bubbling creek.  You know you're on the right  path when there are benches to sit on along the way.  No cows.

At the bottom of the path, where it met the road, there was a sign with a map to Craighill Den.  It appears that I needed only to go to the left a few hundred feet and the spectacular view would have greeted me.  But there was no way that I was walking back up that trail.

So, I headed into town to the bus stop.  Upon further observation, I quickly noted that the letter A was printed next to the scheduled departure time of 14:57.   The footnote stated that this pickup time only occurred on school holidays, which today was not.  What to do?  The next bus didn't come until 15:55.

So, I crossed the street, and saw that a bus to Cupar would arrive any minute.  My plan was to go into Cupar on bus 41, then return to Kirkcaldy on the same bus, since that was the Kirkcaldy to Cupar bus line.

So, I hopped on the bus, and waited for an arrival at a bus station, as indicated on the paper and on my very detailed map.

Only, there was no bus station.  When the driver stopped for a light, I asked if the bus would be returning to Kirkcaldy. 

  

He said no.  

So.....there I was....

plan foiled.

A young woman exclaimed that if I jumped off of the bus, and made my way across the street to the next bus stop, I could jump on the X26 to Kirkcaldy.

So, I did just that.  It was obviously that I was very confused, and someone asked if they could help me.  When I stated that I wanted to go to Kirkcaldy, I was told to get on the X26, which was already late.  It would take an hour.

Do you think I cared about the time involved?  Nope.  As long as I arrived at my destination I wasn't complaining.

And how lucky was I that the first bus driver suggested the day ticket?

All's well that ends well, right?   

Hmmm.......can't say that I'll be eager to be traveling by bus anytime soon, that's for sure. 

Guess it's time to rethink tomorrow's plans.  I'll keep you posted.