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| Tanhouse Brae, Culross (click / tap image to enlarge) |
Part 2 of 2.Finally posting part 2 of our Culross walk. As mentioned in my
update to part 1, Jasper's been on medication and full rest recovering from a foot infection but happily, he's all better now. We've therefore managed to get back to Culross to capture some additional photos that we needed. While we were there we noticed signs dotted around regarding street and palace closures for filming. It seems that the popular TV series Outlander is back in Culross again and filming until the 14th October. Unless you wanted to go there specifically because of the filming, it's probably best avoided until they've finished as it looks like access and parking will be problematic.
Maps of the complete walk, links to Google Maps and GPX navigation file can all be found at the end of the article. All images can be clicked / tapped to enlarge.
We pick up where we left off in Part 1, continuing on down Tanhouse Brae. Take care on the narrow roads as there are seldom pavements and there are occasional vehicles. This part of the walk is all on lead for Jasper and Tommy.
Tanhouse Brae is a main highlight of Culross and contains many beautifully preserved 17th and 18th century dwellings.
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| Looking back up Tanhouse Brae (click / tap image to enlarge) |
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| Looking back up Tanhouse Brae |
We come out at the square with the Mercat Cross. The large building with the tower that dominates the corner of the square is "The Study", a merchant's house that dates from 1610.
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| The Mercat Cross and The Study |
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| Tommy outside The Study |
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One of the striking houses at the Mercat Cross square
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| Leaving the Mercat Cross square for now, walk along the front of The Study and on to Back Causeway |
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| View of the Study tower from Back Causeway |
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| Turn immediately right round the side of The Study to follow Haggs Wynd up the cobbled hill |
At the top of Haggs Wynd take a quick detour right, up to the viewpoint.
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| Hanging Gardens Viewpoint |
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| The obligatory Tommy on a bench photo! |
Return to Haggs Wynd, turning right to continue along to the Hanging Gardens. The Hanging Gardens belong to Culross Palace and as the name implies they stretch uphill above the palace. Produce is grown in the gardens and apparently used in some of the dishes served at Bessie's Café, next to the palace. The palace is 16th/17th century and was home to the merchant Sir George Bruce whose memorial can be found at Culross Abbey as mentioned earlier. The palace, gardens and café are managed by the National Trust for Scotland.
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| Culross Palace and gardens with Culross Pier jutting out into the Forth in the distance |
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| Culross Palace and gardens with the tower of the Town House behind |
Continue to the end, down the short flight of steps and along to the steep Bessie Bar Steps that head down to the palace.
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| Bessie Bar Steps |
Turn left at the bottom of the steps. You'll pass Bessie's Café on the left which is worth stopping off at for a bite and a drink if the mood takes you. It's also dog friendly and has an outside seating area. Same can be said for The Biscuit Café which is a little further along. Both cafés are very welcoming to Jasper and Tommy and they get plenty of attention! Bessie Bar by the way is a lady who operated a malt house and had a cottage here. She was also the niece of Sir George Bruce of Culross Palace.
Just past the café, we come to Culross Palace itself. As you'd expect it's not dog friendly. I've not been inside myself but I hear it is worth a visit.
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| Culross main square ("Sandhaven") with a couple of Harley Davidson's parked up |
The dog friendly Biscuit Café is the other café that I'd recommend and you can find it just around the corner from the palace. There's also a pottery and gallery on the ground floor. You can avoid the steps up to the café by walking around the right hand side to the outside seating area at the rear.
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| The Biscuit Café |
The Town House (or tolbooth) on the square is 17th century. The ground floor houses the National Trust gift shop, where you can also buy tickets to visit the palace. On the first floor is a contemporary clothing store inspired by 18th century highland fashion and a photography gallery that sells prints of the talented Culross photographer Graham Harris Graham. He sadly passed away in 2021 but his wife still runs the gallery shop.
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| The 17th century Town House |
Opposite the square lies the Village Green, where you'll find a nice little crafts and food market on most Sundays between April and September, weather permitting.
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| Culross Community Market, Village Green |
Continue past the Town House and turn left up Back Causeway. You'll find more properties renovated by the National Trust for Scotland here and further still on Mid Causeway and Low Causewayside.
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| Back Causeway |
Follow Back Causeway up to the Mercat Cross and take the parallel right turn down Mid Causeway.
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| Mid Causeway |
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| At the bottom of Mid Causeway, the 17th century townhouse on the right has been converted into an electricity substation |
Turn left on to Low Causewayside. Take particular care here as this is the road through Culross and traffic along it is fairly frequent.
On the right hand side we pass The Red Lion Inn which has been an inn since the 18th century, though the building was originally a 16th/17th century merchants house. The pub has a dog friendly covered area at the back which can also be accessed from the promenade.
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| The Red Lion Inn, Low Causewayside |
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| Dog friendly seating area at the rear of the Red Lion |
Continue along Low Causewayside. After approximately 200 metres, you will see the blue painted railings of the charming Culross Old School Yard Community Garden. It's a lovely little haven that most visitors to Culross are unaware of and it's a great place to stop for a rest.
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| Culross Old School Yard Community Garden |
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| Tommy: "It looks threatening Jasper, we'd best deal with it!" |
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| Tommy: "We vanquished the beast of Culross, Jasper!" Jasper: "Uh oh, I think it just moved!" |
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| Tommy: "Oh what a surprise, plonked on yet another bench for a photo! Make a stupid face like me Jasper!" |
The rear of the gardens are a bit wilder; you'll also find an orchard and a rope swing there (can't vouch for the safety of the swing however!).
Exit the gardens and turn left to continue following Low Causewayside. After 100 metres or so, take the right hand turn in to the east car park. This car park is an alternative start point for the walk as mentioned before. You might prefer to park here if the other car park is busy or if you prefer a quieter car park with larger spaces. Since the walk is circular, you can just follow Part 2 from here to the end, then continue on from the start of part 1 and then follow Part 2 until you are back to where you started.
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| Looking behind you from the east car park, you'll get a good view of the Abbey Mansion House that we visited earlier |
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| Cross the car park exiting on to the promenade through the gate at the bottom. Turn right and follow the promenade. |
We once again get some great views across the Forth from the promenade. The promenade follows the old Kincardine railway line. Mostly, it's just the occasional freight train that passes along it these days. On the extremely rare occasion, there are special passenger service excursions that pass along the line.
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| The 46100 Royal Scot steam train running along the old railway in June 2022 |
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| View across the Forth towards Bo'ness |
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| Culross Pier |
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| Since the 1970s, the Longannet coal power station's chimney stack provided a distinct landmark in the distance. It was demolished in December of last year. This photo was taken in 2019. |
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| Jasper and Tommy - best buds! |
When you get to the old pier you'll see an information board about the Moat Pit and the coal mining that used to take place under the river here. It's an interesting read.
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| "The Moat Pit" information board |
Cross the railway line over to the pier. Watch out for the odd freight train though. The wooden pier has been restored, though walking across it won't suit everyone as you certainly would not want to slip from it! It's not somewhere to walk the dogs over either.
The pier affords some particularly dramatic views over the Forth. Looking back to the east, we can see Preston Island jutting out, where salt production used to take place using the locally mined coal. The remains of the salt workings can be visited there. The "island" is artificial and due to ash being deposited there from Longannet power station in the past, it's no longer surrounded by water. You can follow the promenade out to the island and walk around it.
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| View east towards Preston Island from Culross Pier |
To the west, we can see the distinct but somewhat discrete tower of Dunimarle Castle, that we passed in the first part of the walk.
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| View back towards Culross pier (taken in August 2022). Flag of Vanuatu is flying. There are historic links between Scotland and the island nation but I'm not not sure why the flag was been flown in Culross at this time. |
Continue along the promenade passing the Village Green.
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| Village Green |
At the bottom of Village Green, just past the play area, take the path right past the ship's anchor and follow the path back around to the left towards the west car park. You'll pass the war memorial on the right and public toilet facilities on the left.
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| Admiralty Pattern ship's anchor, Village Green |
As we come full circle and head back to the car park at the end of our walk, we pass another anchor and the distinctive 19th century boathouse built by the provost of Balgownie House. Balgownie House is opposite at West Green, over the other side of the road.
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| Balgownie House Boathouse |
That brings us to the end of our sprawling walk around one of our favourite places to visit. Hope you enjoyed it.
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| Route overview and surrounding area (click/tap image to enlarge) |
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| Route detail - part 1 of 4 |
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| Route detail - part 2 of 4 |
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| Route detail - part 3 of 4 |
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| Route detail - part 4 of 4 |
If you're following sat nav, don't let it take you down into Culross off the A985 via Kirk Street, as the roads are narrow, tight, some are heavily cobbled and they are not sensible to drive down, especially for larger vehicles. Instead approach Culross from the Longannet side in the west or the High Valleyfield side in the east (B9037).
PLEASE BE SURE TO READ OUR DISCLAIMER WHICH ALSO INCLUDES IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION.
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