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It’s a pleasure to be asked by Dougie Baird to make a contribution to his page about Crail in Fife. You’ll have seen photographs of Crail’s iconic harbour – it’s been used to advertise the Royal Bank of Scotland, Morrison’s Supermarkets and as inspiration for artists, photographers, film-makers as well as musicians (http://youtu.be/vex-5ozOnYg)
Our long association with the village of Crail started back in 1992 when we decided to buy our cottage here. We named it Sandcastle Cottage (http://www.2crail.com ) to evoke the idea of a family friendly place to spend the type of holidays we loved when we were children. Our association with the area goes back further than that though, as Sandy (one half of Sandcastle Holidays) was born and brought up in St Andrews. Susan (the other half of Sandcastle Holidays) used to visit the area as a child on family holidays from Glasgow, where her family rented a caravan at Kinkell Braes.
We love to visit Crail at any time of year. Of course we try to make sure that our self-catering cottage is fully booked during the main season of Easter to October, but we offer short breaks here in the winter months and if the cottage isn’t booked we take every opportunity to come here ourselves. Part of the reason for choosing Crail was that it is around 75 – 90 minutes drive from Edinburgh, making it possible to travel here from home easily. It’s really popular with visitors from the West of Scotland as well as from further afield, and the close proximity to St Andrews also makes it a good base for parents visiting their offspring based at the University of St Andrews.
Whilst based in Crail, we really appreciate getting out to make the most of the day – the sunrise in the spring and autumn/winter months is often so glorious that Susan dashes out to Roome Bay to take photographs. With access to the long distance Fife Coastal Path just opposite the cottage, it’s easy to set off on short strolls along to harbour and round the village, or to make it a starting point for a wander up to Kingsbarns, or in the other direction to Cellardyke, Anstruther, Pittenweem, St Monans or Elie.
As the 95 First Bus runs an hourly service along the coast in either direction, it’s also possible to walk as far as the mood takes us then get the bus back. The Crail to St Andrews walk is more of a day’s expedition, but we have undertaken it several times. Even if you just go as far as the harbour at low tide, there’s the chance to see pre-history searching for fossils and carboniferous tree trunks which can be found there.
Once in Crail, we often don’t go much further – especially if we’ve just come here for a weekend. There are several small shops in the village where a good range of fresh, local produce is on offer – Penman’s the butcher and First Fruits being of particular note, with a couple of mini-markets, a pharmacy and a Post Office providing most things required for a weekend.
The is a strong tradition of artistic endeavour here means that a pleasant hour or two can be spent browsing and shopping at Crail Pottery (http://www.crailpottery.com) , the Jerdan Gallery (http://www.thejerdangallery.com/) , the Crail Gallery (http://www.crailgallery.com/).
The Crail Harbour Gallery (http://www.crailharbourgallery.co.uk/gallery/index.cfm) and Julia’s of Crail (http://www.juliaseateryartgifts.com/) offer the possibility of coffees as well as purchases. The Honeypot Guest House and Tearoom (http://www.honeypotcrail.co.uk/) provides coffee, cakes and more. Old House Interiors (http://www.aboutcrail.co.uk/oldhouse.html) in Crail has delightful gifts too, as well as a glimpse of life in one of the oldest houses in the village.
There are three hotels in Crail providing all day refreshments, lunches and evening meals:
The Golf Hotel, Crail, (http://www.thegolfhotelcrail.com),
Balcomie Links Hotel (http://www.balcomie.co.uk/)
and the East Neuk Hotel (http://eastneukhotel.org.uk/).
And no post about Crail would be complete without mentioning the two superb Golf Courses – Balcomie and Craighead where links golf of the highest standard can be found (http://www.crailgolfingsociety.co.uk/).
The summer months find Crail a base for three festivals – the Crail Food Festival (http://www.crailfoodfest.co.uk) which started in June 2011, the East Neuk Festival (http://www.eastneukfestival.com/) which brings classical musical enthusiasts from all over the world to the area in late June/early July, and the Crail Festival (http://www.crailfestival.co.uk/), our arts festival which has been running for over 25 years now and which takes place during the last two weeks of July.
SANDCASTLE COTTAGE
We hope this will give you reasons to visit Crail soon – you can find out more about our cottage by liking our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/Sandcastle.Cottage.Crail) or following us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/2Crail ).
Much more about Crail can also be found at AboutCrail (http://aboutcrail.co.uk/) .
