Dunfermline | Townie Blog

I grew up in the town of Dunfermline and when I got married a long time ago moved out of the area… now every now and again we’ll pop back for a visit and yesterday I grabbed my camera and we took a walk around the town and into Pittencrieff Park.

Here are some of the pictures that I snapped yesterday 🙂

Dunfermline Town Clock.

A Saltire Flag blowing in the wind at the entrance to the “Glen” Pittencrieff Park Gates

I loved these old steps they were inside Pittencrieff Park

One of the many grey squirrels that reside at the park

This one looks like he’s rolling a joint 🙂

A cute little cobbled bridge surrounded by lush green vegitation

This is a view from the cobbled bridge once we had crossed it… reminds me of something out of Lord of the Rings 🙂

This is a view to the left once you are over that little bridge.. it looks up towards Dunfermline Abbey

There are several caves in the park and this is one of them.. it is said that William Wallace used one of the caves to hide in from English Soldiers.

This burn (stream) runs through the whole park..

The park is filled with huge trees of many different kinds that are hundreds of years old.. it’s good to see that many of them are still standing after the gale force winds that we had last week.

There is a lot of moss around the bottom end of the glen and I noticed these little flower/seed heads growing out of this patch of moss…

Beutiful yellow poppies growing in the dense undergrowth..

My son poking around the burn with a stick..they were twig racing in the burn and my son’s stick had become stuck and he was recovering it to rejoin the “Race” … your never too old to enjoy yourself 😉

A gorgeous lig leafy canopy overhead with blue skies up above

The sun shone of this clump of ferns and they just lit up

This tree was HUGE … but on closer inspection….

Can you see the old mans head in the bottom of the tree with his rather impressive chin and beard?

A rather large rhoddodendron, I loved all its branches

Beautiful Pink head of Rhododendrom Flowers

The path up to Dunfermline Abbey… it had started to rain notice my hubby and daughter under the brolly walking up towards Dunfermline Abbey….. See the silver barrier to the left of the photograph? That was there to keep you away from the hole in the wall where this poor casualty of the winds must have fallen last week…

A fallen Giant… i wonder how old it was?

These are the ruins of Dunfermline Palace… I used to play here when I was younger.. it’s all fenced off now and you have to pay to go in for a look around these days…

Another view of the Palace from the old cobbled street of Catherines Wynd..

Dunfermline Abbey … by the time we reached it, it had started to rain

The four sides of the tower at Dunfermline Abbey read “King Robert The Bruce”

A view of Dunfermline Abbey from the May Gate

Along the May Gate you can find Abbott House which I believe is haunted and is steeped in history..

Abbott House was recently painted a few years ago back to it’s original colour and they commissioned new gates and iron workings… which are pretty impressive

there are some really nice and unusual iron craftings on the tops of the gate posts

This one looks like a dragon carrying something in its mouth

A plaque above the front door of Abbot House… not sure what it translates to, but it is on my to do list to try and find out 🙂

A building showing off a lovely outline walking up Guildhall Street on out way back to the car park as we headed home 🙂 finishing off out wee walk around “the glen” (Pittencrieff Park).

I took the kids to Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline today, and it truely was a trip down memory lane for me, I used to live in Dunfermline for 24 years until I got married and moved away to the village where I now live..

Many a time my friends and I would spend time down the glen, long summer holidays spent there. Some of it still remains the same as I remember it, the only real big change is the animal enlosure, now boarded up and closed down, which is a great shame.

At the bottom of the glen, which lies at the foot of the Old Dunfermline Palace, there are lots of caves and hiding places, some with historical interest… like Wallace’s Well

Just along the path from Wallace’s Well is this lovely bridge….

Pittencrieff Park or “The Glen” as it is known affectionately by the local populace extends to 76 acres and was given in trust by Andrew Carnegie to the people of his birthplace, Dunfermline.

Before it was purchased in 1902, by Andrew Carnegie, Pittencrieff Park formed the estate and grounds of the house, owned by the lairds of Pittencrieff.

Pittencrieff House Museum

Pittencrieff House Museum is a historic house with a difference. The 17th century shell has a 20th century interior. Although there is no furniture, there are 3 display galleries with beautifully plastered ceilings. Here you can begin to discover, among other things, the history of “Dunfermline Toon”, who was Dunfermline’s giant and what clothes were worn in those days. The story of the house reveals a number of owners, the last of whom was Andrew Carnegie. He never lived in the house however, and eventually gave it to the citizens of Dunfermline.

Formal Gardens

Laid out, colourfully in front of the Glass Hall conservatory is a Formal Garden. In days gone by this area was used by Pittencrieff House as a kitchen garden and orchard. Now developed round the laird’s walk with its own breathtaking vistas of the Abbey and Palace ruins, the garden is a kaleidoscope of colour throughout the spring and summer. It is a peaceful, relaxing setting in which to idle away the afternoon in the warmth of a summer sun.

Greenhouses

Completing the formal gardens is the 200ft Glass Hall conservatory. Built in 1973 on the site of the old conservatories the present structure is divided into three sections. The main area with its wooden bridge over the running stream and its regal display of flowers creates for the visitor an entire new world, the exotic plant world. Distributed throughout the three areas the visitor can see on exhibit plants from many countries. Look out too for the exhibit which features the fossilised trees.

We took a wander around the formal gardens which were full of beautiful flowers….