A Day in Arbroath

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28/09/24

We left Tayport on the Saturday morning. Before we set off we called the one garage in Dundee that sells LPG. Unfortunately their LPG pump was out of action and they didn’t know when it would be fixed. The other option in Dundee was not open at the weekend. We weren’t desperate yet, but we knew it would only be a matter of days before we needed a refill. Arbroath was our next destination, the LPG provider here was also closed, and reviews indicated we would be too big to fit in their yard. It looked like we would have to hold out until Aberdeen. Thankfully the weather was still mild so we didn’t need heating on.

Arbroath has designated motorhome overnight parking, but we hadn’t reckoned with the popularity of the seaside town. The parking area on the esplanade was overflowing with vans, all parked cheek to jowl on the grass verges and completely ignoring the ‘no motorhomes beyond this point’ signs.

For a few minutes we considered joining them, but even finding a spot was difficult and we just didn’t feel comfortable ascending the kerb onto the grass like so many others. So we drove slightly further away from the town centre to Queens Drive, behind the football pitch, and parked up on the side of the road. We would go for a look around and then decide what to do about overnight.

Arbroath Smokies and Bob’s Pies

We had a couple of things in mind in Arbroath. Procuring a famed ‘Arbroath Smokie’ was on our list of course. And we eventually found an open fishmonger where we could buy one of these ugly old smoked haddock. I can report back that, despite looking like something found on Digging for Britain, the smokie was very delicious, unexpectedly moist and not as strongly smoked as I was expecting. Something I would be very happy to eat again.

But that was closer to the end of the day. First of all we walked up through the town to an establishment that Paul had identified (he’s getting good at finding interesting food, even if most of it is not the healthiest). ‘Bob’s Pies’ is a pie shop that produces pies of all sorts of flavours, both traditional and unexpected. We bought a selection of pies to take away. Including ‘chilli nacho’ and ‘lasagne’ flavour.

A futile mission to St Vigeans

Then we had a bit of a trek further up through town to St Vigeans where I wanted to see the Pictish Stones Museum. I had been quite excited (I know, it takes a certain type of person to be excited by a bunch of old stones) to realise we were actually here on the last day before the museum closed for the winter. When we turned up the lady at the desk told us she was about to shut for lunch, “just for an hour” she said. She wouldn’t even let us in for five minutes to take a quick look. I asked if there was somewhere locally, a cafe or pub, where we could while away that hour. Nothing. I was seething (inwardly of course, in true British fashion), I even went so far as to double check the opening times to prove to myself that there was no mention of lunchtime closing. The people who arrived just after us were also not impressed but, like us, chose to mutter about it well away from the museum.

We walked back to Bob’s Pies for a bit of lunch at their cafe. Paul’s way or trying to cheer me up. He really wasn’t all that bothered by seeing a bunch of stones but was very happy to eat pies. We arrived to find them putting up a notice to say they were closing early. Was this to be one of those days? Luckily they let us in, and although service was slow (we had the trainee waitress) food was eaten and I started to cheer up.

Arbroath Abbey

After lunch we headed to Arbroath Abbey. The Abbey is in ruins and was slightly cluttered with Heras fencing, just like St Andrews Cathedral, although this was a short term measure while the structural integrity of the buildings was being investigated. It was another attraction we could visit using our Historic Scotland passes, happy days.

There is a small visitor centre which has some very engaging displays, mostly covering the instrumental role that the Abbey played in the creation and signing of the original 1320 Declaration of Scottish Independence. This document was a missive to the pope to bring Robert the Bruce back into favour with the catholic church and to cement the idea of Scotland as it’s own country, independent from England. The facsimile document in the visitor centre, created using similar techniques and materials, showed how the seals were affixed, not just stamped onto the document but attached with ribbons. The original document, sent to the pope, has been lost. But a copy created at the same time is still in existence. It’s always amazing to think of such ephemeral artifacts surviving for so long.

The abbey’s famous ‘Round O’ (the circular window) was used as a beacon for sailors. And was rebuilt in 1809 by one of the famous Stevenson family. This led to the people of Arbroath being known as ‘Reid Lichties’.

A wander through the town and along the seafront concluded our day. We were too tired by this point to visit the Signal Tower Museum, which had been our list. If we hadn’t had the futile trip to St Vigeans we would have been able to fit this in.

Arbroath Harbour

We decided to stay in our parking spot overnight, which was peaceful enough without too much evidence of boy racers. That might have been a positive side effect of some considerable roadworks that were taking place.

A beautiful sunset at our roadside parking

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