On the Saturday we both woke up feeling a lot better after a good night's sleep. We had an excellent cooked breakfast, courtesy of Mark.
Catherine and I took Mack out for a walk in the nearby park and I was delighted to see that there were lots of daffodils all around. There was also some lovely spring blossom.
Daffodils.
Blossom.
This park is positioned right under The Wallace Monument, next to a little church. There are some cute little models of sheep here.
The Wallace Monument.
Logie Kirk.
Catherine and Mack.
Mack and the sheep.
Is that three sheep? Haha!
After breakfast we all got in the car and headed to Arbroath. It's about an hour and a half's drive from Catherine and Mark's. In recent times they often come here and stay for a weekend.
Arbroath dates back to the twelfth century. It's a small fishing town located around a picturesque harbour and it is famous for Arbroath Smokies, which are haddock cured over smouldering oak wood.
We started off by driving to the Arbroath Cliff Trail. This is a five mile walk along a coastal path with spectacular views. We had no intention of doing the full walk. We didn't have time and it would be too hard for Peter. We just wanted to get a quick glimpse of some of the coastal scenery. There was a monument with poppies at the beginning of the trail. I'm not sure why. It was a lovely sunny day and there were clear views. The scenery was brightened up with patches of bright yellow gorse and pretty white flowers.
Poppies at the start of the walk.
Information board at the start of the walk.
Us at the start of the walk.
The beach at the start of the trail.
The beach at the start of the trail.
Mark and Peter.
Wild gorse and coastal scenery.
Me on the cliff walk.
Catherine on the coastal trail.
Looking down on the weathered rocks.
Looking back at the beach at the start of the walk.
Looking down from the cliff edge.
Coastal scenery.
Looking down from the coastal trail.
Coastal scenery.
White flowers.
Wild gorse and coastal scenery.
Apparently the coastal trail ends in the village of Auchmithie. According to a legend, Arbroath Smokies were born in this village by accident when a store in the village caught fire one night. There were oak wood barrels filled with salted haddock inside the store and the fire cooked them without destroying them. Once the fire was extinguished people tried the cooked fish and discovered it was delicious.
After exploring the cliffs, we got back in the car and drove towards the harbour. Arbroath Harbour is very picturesque. It's still very much a working harbour. There are lots of fishing creels piled up all around and a large number of boats. Mark befriended a group of locals who were sitting near a small monument. He always chats to everyone wherever he goes. 
Arbroath Harbour.
Arbroath Harbour.
Arbroath Harbour.
Arbroath Harbour.
Monument on the waterfront.
Fishing creels.
Fishing creels.
Fishing creels.
Catherine at the harbour.
Catherine at the harbour.
Catherine and Peter at the harbour.
After exploring the harbour, we had a wander around the town. It had some lovely old buildings and some colourful ones too.Peter found an old model of a penny farthing to pose with.
Peter exploring the town.
Exploring the town.
The fish hoose.
Peter's new bike.
There are lots of fish shops specialising in Arbroath Smokies all over the town. I rather liked the smokies shop signs, which were often shaped like fish hanging up to dry.
Smokies.
Smokies.
Smokies.
Eventually we made a visit to a fish shop. They had some wonderful products inside. I bought some smoked fish pies, which we had for breakfast the next day. They had a pastry case, a bit like the kind you get on Scotch pies, and inside they were filled with Arbroath Smokies, mashed potatoes and cheese. They were delicious.
In the fish shop.
In the fish shop.
We were getting a bit hungry so we visited a pub called 'The Old Brewhouse' on the waterfront. There was pleasant outdoor seating here, but it was getting a little bit windy, so we went inside. The pub was nicely decorated inside and very dog friendly. Mack was brought some cooked chicken as soon as he sat down. There were two other dogs inside the pub, too. We had coffees and a cider for Peter and we ordered desserts to share. Catherine and Mark shared a mint aero cheesecake and Peter and I shared a sticky toffee pudding. They were all very tasty.
The Old Brewhouse.
Inside the pub.
Peter and Mark.
Peter and I.
Catherine and Mark.
Peter
Yummy desserts.
When we were rested and full up, we walked back to the car and headed to Arbroath Abbey. Unfortunately Catherine tells me there's been scaffolding up here for a long time. I think it costs five pounds to go inside. We didn't go inside. Instead we just found good view points on the outside and took lots of photos. Arbroath Abbey was founded by King William the Lion in 1178. Nowadays most of it is in ruins.
Arbroath Abbey.
Catherine and Mack at Arbroath Abbey.
Arbroath Abbey.
Catherine and Mack at Arbroath Abbey.
Arbroath Abbey.
Me at Arbroath Abbey.
Arbroath Abbey.
Me at Arbroath Abbey.
Church near the abbey.
Finally, before leaving Arbroath, we headed to the Signal Tower. There's a free museum inside, but we just took a look from the outside. It's a beautiful building and there are good views over the harbour from here.
The signal tower was built in 1813 to house the families of the keepers of the Bell Rock Lighthouse,which is out at sea near here. Signals could be sent from this signal tower to communicate with the lighthouse.
The notorious Bell Rock was responsible for sinking many ships, as it lies just below the surface of the sea and is only visible at low tide. There's a legend that long before there was a lighthouse here, the Abbot of Arbroath had a bell placed on this rock to warn passing ships of the danger of running aground. However, one day an evil pirate removed the bell and it sank to the bottom of the sea. A short time later this pirate ended up drowning when his ship struck the Bell Rock in a storm. As the pirate is dying, he hears the bell rolling on the ocean floor. This legend was made into a poem, "The Inchcape Rock" by Robert Southey. We learned it in school, but I had long since forgotten all about it.
The Bell Rock Lighthouse was completed in 1810. It's the world 's oldest sea-washed lighthouse. It must have been a hard lonely life living here.
Signal Tower Museum.
Harbour view from the signal tower.
Harbour view from the signal tower.
The Signal Tower.
The signal tower.
The signal tower.
The signal tower.
Then we left Arbroath, passing a war memorial and a statue commemorating the signing of The Treaty of Arbroath on our way out. I couldn't really photograph the statue from the car, but I did manage a shot of the war memorial.
War memorial.
We drove back to Stirling via Dundee. We passed by the Tay Bridge.This carries the railway between Dundee and Fife. An earlier bridge across The Firth of Tay collapsed in 1879 in strong winds. As a train was crossing the bridge during the collapse, many people lost their lives in this catastrophe.
Tay Road Bridge.
Tay Road Bridge.
We also passed the ship The Discovery which was used by Shakleton and Scott for polar exploration. It was too difficult to photograph it from the car.
We soon got back to Stirling. At some point on the journey the weather had changed and it started to rain heavily. After a short rest at home, we headed out to Corrieri’s for dinner. Peter was delighted with the haddock and chips there. I had a mushroom pizza and we had several Italian beers. Catherine and Mark's son joined us for dinner.
Catherine and Mark.
Peter with his fish supper.
Of course he had to have an ice-cream too.
Peter and Mark.
Harry and I.
After dinner , I could certainly feel the effects of jet lag kick in. We relaxed for a while in front of Catherine and Mark's new log burning stove. It had been a very enjoyable and full day.
This featured blog entry was written by irenevt from the blog Trip To Europe 2024.
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