19/09/24
We set off inland from Aberdour. Unknowingly we were about to visit somewhere we had been before.
Loch Leven has a nice easy bike route all the way round. We parked up on the south side of the loch by a café
and some lodges and set off for a leg stretching gentle ride. A short distance from our start we branched off to follow signs to a farm shop where we picked up some lunch time provisions and then continued in an anti-clockwise direction towards Kinross.
As we stopped by a small beach to take in the views Paul said “I think we’ve been here before”. I looked back at the blog and we had! Back in September 2017 we’d stopped here on our way south. It’s unlike me to forget something, but in my defence the bike ride around the loch is a bit on the bland side and so probably hadn’t lodged in my memory.
Memory jogging view across Loch Leven
The best bit of the loch circuit was saved until last as we went through the RSPB reserve where we climbed up to the timber and stone viewpoint and then dropped down again to the wetland walk. The loch is very shallow which makes it a great place for waterfowl. It also made it a great place for curling back in the day. Being shallow, it was easily frozen. Sadly that hasn’t happened since the 50s. We think we disturbed Pink Footed Geese in the fields, they’ve arrived recently on their migration from the harsh weather of Iceland and made a noisy protest as we rousted them from their foraging to circle around in formation and eventually settle again.
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- Loch Leven Wetlands
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- RSPB viewing area
Geese above the fields
After some lunch back at the van we decided it would be good to use our Historic Scotland memberships to visit Lochleven Castle. We hadn’t planned this very well as we had to return to Kinross to get a boat to the island where the ruins of the castle can be visited. We ended up doing over 40k of cycling, at least it was flat.
Mary Queen of Scots was a ‘guest’ at the castle for some time after her forced abdication. She reportedly found her confinement very dull. I can imagine a few years being restricted to a small island (it was even smaller back then as the lake was deeper) with only embroidery, religion, and the company of your captors for entertainment must have been incredibly tedious. She did eventually escape. It’s surely a testament to her charisma that she managed to turn a foster child of her captors to her side and persuade him to aid her across the water to her allies.
Nowadays the castle is a ruin. But still interesting to walk around as the walls are intact, the main tower can be ascended and some of the cellars can also be visited.
After finishing our visit and cycling, yet again, back to the van, we moved onto Lochore Meadows Country Park. There is a motorhome parking area here with electric and services. At £20 a night it’s reasonable value given the way in which UK camping costs have increased. They also offer cheaper non electric pitches and you can pay to use the services if you turn up in office hours. Booking a pitch was a bit of a faff. You have to ring or email and make a payment, including a deposit. Then you get a code for a key safe, to get the fob which opens the barrier to let you in. When you leave you have to return the fob to reception to get your deposit back. I can see why there are some complaints or just plan confusion in the Park4Night comments.
The park itself has been landscaped from old mining works and you can see the old St Mary’s pit head as a reminder of it’s past. I don’t know if the name is related to the mining history, but if not it’s very apt These days it offers watersports, play areas, walks and mountain biking. We definitely didn’t make the best use of it as we were mostly there so that I could work, but it was very popular and I can see why.
The St Mary Pit Head