Elie & Earlsferry
June 17, 2021
So, our final beautiful harbour of The East Neuk in the ancient Kingdom of Fife.
Very different from the working harbours to the east, Elie and neighbouring Earlsferry are famous for their sunny sandy beaches. Since Victorian times tourists travelled here from Edinburgh by paddle steamer, but its history goes back much further.
AD 1150 was the first mention of Elie being a staging post for pilgrims visiting St Andrews. The first proper harbour was built on an island in 1589 but it was not until 1853 that a causeway was built to connect it to the mainland. The local laird owned the harbour for centuries and it is only recently that ownership has passed into the hands of a Trust.
HM Stewart Barclay continues the link with history, being the forester for the current laird at Elie House Estate, and like everyone we met, has huge pride in the area. Within minutes of us mooring up we had a shout out from @elie_earlsferry_sailing_club !
Now Stewart is a genius HM! Why? Because he has solved what is the bane of most HMs' lives - pier jumpers. Instead of signs saying "No Jumping" which everyone ignores, Stewart has tackled this problem in reverse. He placed a string of yellow buoys (photo 4) off the end of the wall, thus making it a safe place for pier jumpers (photo 5). I now quote this solution to every other HM I meet who has the same issue!
So much more to mention - cricket matches held on the beach, the team of orphans marched from Dundee each year to kill the granary rats, why sand blown onto the causeway (photo 6) cannot be put back on the beach, the orange roof tiles from Holland used for ballast in returning ships... and much more. Thank you Elie we loved our stay!
Very different from the working harbours to the east, Elie and neighbouring Earlsferry are famous for their sunny sandy beaches. Since Victorian times tourists travelled here from Edinburgh by paddle steamer, but its history goes back much further.
AD 1150 was the first mention of Elie being a staging post for pilgrims visiting St Andrews. The first proper harbour was built on an island in 1589 but it was not until 1853 that a causeway was built to connect it to the mainland. The local laird owned the harbour for centuries and it is only recently that ownership has passed into the hands of a Trust.
HM Stewart Barclay continues the link with history, being the forester for the current laird at Elie House Estate, and like everyone we met, has huge pride in the area. Within minutes of us mooring up we had a shout out from @elie_earlsferry_sailing_club !
Now Stewart is a genius HM! Why? Because he has solved what is the bane of most HMs' lives - pier jumpers. Instead of signs saying "No Jumping" which everyone ignores, Stewart has tackled this problem in reverse. He placed a string of yellow buoys (photo 4) off the end of the wall, thus making it a safe place for pier jumpers (photo 5). I now quote this solution to every other HM I meet who has the same issue!
So much more to mention - cricket matches held on the beach, the team of orphans marched from Dundee each year to kill the granary rats, why sand blown onto the causeway (photo 6) cannot be put back on the beach, the orange roof tiles from Holland used for ballast in returning ships... and much more. Thank you Elie we loved our stay!