Skulferatu #82 - Braefoot Battery, Braefoot Point, Aberdour, Fife

On a sunny, but very windy day, I took the train out to Aberdour and then walked along the Fife Coastal Path towards Dalgety Bay.  The path wound its way through woods where birds chirped, insects buzzed, and everything swayed slightly in the stiff breeze.  The path then led me through a field, where I ended up by Braefoot Terminal.  A rather charming looking area of high fences and security where liquefied petroleum gas is stored and pumped out into the large tankers that dock there.  Following a path by one of the security fences I made my way into Braefoot Plantation, where the remains of Braefoot Battery lie.

 

The North Blockhouse

 

View inside the North Blockhouse

 

View through the woods to the North East Blockhouse

 

The North East Blockhouse

 

Braefoot Battery was a First World War coastal defence site that overlooked the Firth of Forth.  In early 1914, just shortly before the start of the war, the government bought the land the battery now sits on from the Earl of Moray.  It would seem however, that there had been plans for quite some time to build a battery there in preparation for any attack by enemy forces on the UK.  Construction then began with the battery being completed in 1915.  When finished it had two 9.2 inch guns, which could fire a shell weighing 55kg a distance of up to 26KM.  These large calibre guns were intended for use on enemy ships that may come into the Forth to attack either ships anchored there or the naval base at Rosyth.

 

Remains of one of the gun emplacements

 

Remains of one of the gun emplacements

 

Big bolts at the gun emplacement

Detail of the gun emplacement

 

Big metal ring at the gun emplacement

 

In 1917 the defence of the Forth was restructured and the guns at the Braefoot Battery were no longer needed there.  They were dismounted and put into storage, with one gun later being sent to Portsmouth.  The site was again used in WWII and several new buildings were added.

 

View down through the woods to one of the battery buildings

 

View down through the woods to battery buildings

 

View through the woods to the Royal Engineer store and workshop

 

View along by the barrack blocks

 

One of the battery buildings next to the barrack block

 

The toilet block

 

Urinal

 

A post war woodland plantation now grows all around the battery buildings and though this gave my walk a lovely woodland feel, the trees did obscure what once must have been quite spectacular views from the hill the battery is on.

 

Battery buildings

 

Hut in the woods

 

Drainpipe

 

After walking around the woods, I made my way down to the nearby shore.  Like almost everywhere along the coast of the Forth, probably the whole coast of Britain, there is a rather tragic story connected to this place.  A tale so horribly tragic that I just have to tell it...

 

...in 1887, on a sunny afternoon in mid-May, James Turnbull, a solicitor who lived in Aberdour, decided it would the perfect sort of day to sail out in his boat.  The perfect sort of day to get a good view of the construction work going on in the building of the Forth Bridge.  So, he invited his chief clerk, a Mr Ramsay, to comer along with him on this little jaunt.  The two men set sail and the weather was quite lovely, just until they got to Braefoot Point where a sudden squall caught them.  The small boat they were in was not built for these sorts of choppy waters and high waves, and it soon filled with water and began to sink.  The two men, both of whom were unable to swim, stood on the deck of the boat as the water first reached up around their ankles, and then up around their waists.  But behold, a passing steamer.  The two men on seeing the ship waved and shouted at it, hoping to be rescued.  On the deck of the steamer, the passengers thought they were seeing two bathers in the water waving as they went past.  So, they waved back, and the ship steamed on.  As the water reached up to their necks, both Turnbull and Ramsay realised they were doomed.  They said a little prayer, then their goodbyes to each other before the sea swallowed them up.  Now, on the steamer it so happened that three of the passengers who had been waving to the doomed men were none other than Turnbull’s daughters.  On their arrival home they excitedly chattered to their mother about their trip on the ship and having seen some bathers at Braefoot Point.  A friend of Turnbull’s was waiting in the house to see him and realising that he was not the most accomplished of sailors, had become concerned about how long it was taking for him to return.  On hearing the girls talk he had a sudden horrible realisation of what they might have in fact seen.  He quickly summoned some men, and they made their way to Braefoot Point.  There they found Turnbull’s boat washed up on the shore.  Shortly afterwards, as the tide went out, they found the bodies of both Turnbull and Ramsay.   Two men who quite literally had been not waving but drowning.

 

On the shore at Braefoot Point there stands an old pier.  I made my way out onto it and the wind, which had been getting up all day, battered me this way and that, making it difficult to even keep my balance.  The sea was rough, being whipped up by the wind and I understood how it could easily overwhelm a small boat like that which Turnbull and Ramsay had been sailing.  Feeling decidedly unsafe, despite being on dry land, I quickly made my way back and walked over to one of the battery pill boxes, which stood out on the rocks overlooking the Forth.

 

The pier at Braefoot Point

 

View to the pill box at Braefoot Point

 

Pill box at Braefoot Point

 

Pill box at Braefoot Point

 

There, in a howling gale, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk in a hole in the wall.

 

Skulferatu #82

 

Spot the Skulferatu

 

Skulferatu #82 in a hole in the wall at the pill box

 

Skulferatu #82 in a hole in the wall at the pill box

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #82

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 56.034242

Longitude -3.321253

 

what3words: throat.points.loved

 

I used the following sources for information on Braefoot Battery and Braefoot Point –

 

Dundee Courier - Saturday 14 May 1887

 

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Monday 20 April 1914

 

Canmore

Canmore - Forth Defences, Middle, Braefoot Point Battery

 

Skulferatu #39 - The Monk's Cave, Charles Hill, Aberdour, Fife

 

To reach Charles Hill in Aberdour one has to go a bit off the beaten track and also endure the horror of having to walk through part of a golf course.  However, apart from that the walk is quite enjoyable with some spectacular views over the Forth to Inchcolm Island.  So, on a busy summer’s day I set off from Aberdour Railway Station and off along the High Street on a pavement so narrow that it became a bit of a game of dodging other pedestrians and the cars that were whizzing by.  Luckily, I made it without any misfortune befalling me, and turned down onto Beech Avenue.  I followed this down to a narrow path that led through a field of cows who were being guarded by a very large black bull.  Thankfully, there were a couple of fences between us, as I wouldn’t have fancied my chances if he’d taken a dislike to me.   I then followed a path that ran around the fence of Braefoot Terminal and led to the staff car park there.  At the back of that was another path that led into the far end of Aberdour Golf Course and down to a gate with a large sign on it stating – Lambs and Ewes, Keep Out.  I assume the sign was for any passing sheep and a warning for them to keep out, as the land behind is quite obviously not used or suitable for pasture or farming.  So, I climbed the gate and wandered on in. 

 

Following an overgrown path, I walked round to the concrete shells of various WWII buildings.  These were all long abandoned and appeared to have gained a new use as drinking dens, given the amount of beer bottles and spirit bottles lying around.  Inside some of the buildings the concrete floors were carpeted in broken glass that crunched underfoot.  Beer cans lay scattered around along with empty cigarette packets and sandwich containers, that were crushed and mouldering in the damp.  There was very little left in the buildings from their time of use other than a few rusting iron bars on the walls.  Outside, on the rocky beach below lay various metal objects, their identity and use hidden under decades of rust. 

 

Abandoned WWII buildings on Charles Hill

 

Abandoned WWII Pillboxes

 

Abandoned WWII Pillbox with graffiti on wall

 

Defensive concrete blocks on beach with abandoned WWII building in background

 

After wandering around these buildings, I got back onto the path and made my way round to the Monk’s Cave.  The path takes you so that you come out on top of what appears to be the cliff edge, with a view over to Inchcolm Island in front of you and Braefoot Terminal to the side.  However, you are actually standing on top of the Monk’s Cave in an area where there was once a building that would have housed the travellers waiting to go over to the abbey on Inchcolm Island.  There is a steep path at the side that then takes you down and to the entrance of the Monk’s Cave. 

 

The Monk’s Cave is not actually a cave at all, but rather it is the lower storey of a building which was probably a shelter for those crossing to Inchcolm and also a warehouse for goods being transported to the monastery on the island.  The building was built into the side of the cliff on which it stands, with part of the cliff being excavated for its construction.  The walls and entrance to the remains of this building are believed to date from the late 15^th Century. 

 

The Monk’s Cave

 

Rocks leading up to the Monk’s Cave

 

View of the Monk’s Cave

 

The Monk’s Cave entrance with Braefoot Terminal in the background

 

Inside the cave it was damp, and the earthen floor was pitted with regular circles from what I assume must be the dripping of water from above when it rains.  So, its not much of a shelter anymore.  The old stone walls are damp to the touch and ferns grow out from the cracks and pits.  As I wandered around, clouds of midges rose from the damp ground, these were not however the vicious Highland midges that can drive a man to madness from the pain and itch of their gnawing and biting at his flesh, but rather little Lowland midges that annoy and irritate, that get up your nose and into your mouth as you breathe.  So, given the damp and the clouds of annoying insects, I can’t really imagine that any weary traveller would want to spend the night here now.

 

Inchcolm Abbey

 

Looking out from the Monk’s Cave

 

Inside the Monk’s Cave, Aberdour

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on today’s walk in a gap in the walls of the Monk’s Cave.

 

Skulferatu #39

 

Skulferatu #39 in gap in wall inside the Monk’s Cave

 

Skulferatu #39 in gap in wall inside the Monk’s Cave

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #39

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 56.038981

Longitude -3.307354

 

I used the following sources for information on the Monk’s Cave –

 

The Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments & Constructions of Scotland, Eleventh Report with Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan (p99-100)

EDINBURGH

1933 (Reprinted 1935)

 

Canmore

Canmore - Charles Hill, Monks' Cave

 

 

Article and photographs are copyright of © Kevin Nosferatu, unless otherwise specified.

Skulferatu #35 - Ha Lighthouse (Hawkcraig Point Range Front Light), Aberdour

 

On a lovely, sunny bank holiday Monday I went for a walk along the Fife Coastal Path from Burntisland to Aberdour.  My walk took me past Silver Sands Beach, which was packed with people making the best of the sun and the easing of the Covid restrictions.  I carried on round to the rocky outcrop of Hawkcraig Point and made my way round to Ha Lighthouse.  This lighthouse stands on the rocks overlooking the sea and, on a clear day, has some great views out over the Forth to Inchcolm Island and Edinburgh.   Most of Edinburgh was however obscured by the remnants of the morning haar.

 

View over Silver Sands Beach to Hawkcraig Point and Ha Lighthouse

 

Rocks up to Ha Lighthouse

 

Ha Lighthouse (Hawkcraig Point Range Front Light)

 

I can find very little information about this lighthouse other than it is one of two lights on Hawkcraig Point, this being the Front Light and…wait for it…the other being the Rear Light.  Original names or what!  These two automated lights mark the deep water channel from the east end of Mortimer’s Deep to the Forth Deepwater Channel.  This deep water channel being used by the oil tankers making their way up the Forth from Braefoot Terminal where they have been pumped full of a cargo of liquefied petroleum gas.  Not really the type of ship you want hitting anything and leaking its cargo into the sea.

 

Other than that, the only exciting details I can find are that Ha Lighthouse is 13 feet high and when the light is on it flashes on for 2.5 seconds and off for 2.5 seconds.  And for those of you who haven’t fallen asleep yet, I can let you know that the rear lighthouse is 26 feet high, and its light also flashes on and off for 2.5 seconds.

 

Ha Lighthouse (Hawkcraig Point Range Front Light)

 

Ha Lighthouse with Hawkcraig Point Range Rear Light in background

 

Hawkcraig Point Range Rear Light

 

Near to where the lighthouses stand is where, from 1915 to 1919, HMS Tarlair was based.  This was not a ship, but rather an experimental research base.  Here the Royal Navy had their main hydrophone research and training facility.  The hydrophones were underwater microphones used to listen out for U-boats and were the forerunner to today’s sonar systems.  The work carried out here led to major technological advances in the detection of submarines and was one of the first collaborations between military and civilian scientists and researchers.

 

There is not much left of this facility now other than a few concrete bases for the huts and part of a pier.

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on today’s walk in the cliff face down from the lighthouse.

 

Skulferatu #35

 

Skulferatu #35 in cliff face below Ha Lighthouse

 

View from cliff face where Skulferatu #35 was left

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #35

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 56.050336

Longitude -3.284126

 

I used the following sources for information on the lighthouse –

 

Lighthouses of Southeastern Scotland

Lighthouses of Southeastern Scotland

 

Lighthouse Digest Magazine

Lighthouse Explorer Database - Hawkcraig Point Range Front Light

 

Information board at Hawkcraig Point