This site was not to my taste, though some might love it for its nooks and grannies and unstructured nature. My time here was not helped by a lot of wet, dank, misty and very muggy weather which made what is a very gloomy site even gloomier. It is heavily wooded, the trees tall, and there is not much light. The damp, and the detritus created by myriad trees, meant for an untidy and grubby surface underfoot and this grime was easily trampled into the van. I pitched in a relatively open area at the north-east edge of the site, adjacent to housing. This area has a hard-core surface throughout and is set low down. Many pitches were defined by a dividing bed of shrubs, but others relied on customers being fair about how far they spread themselves. I saw one instance of encroachment that would have enraged me if I were the neighbour. The nearest service point to this part of the site was atop of a steep bank making hauling a full waste carrier up quite an effort and negotiating a full water carrier down a challenge. Perhaps there were technical reasons why the site engineers (presumably many years ago as the site feels very aged) could not put a service point in this low part which, after all, had 20 pitches. If not, this was negligent design.
There were a number of seasonal pitches in this part. My neighbours – either side and opposite – were unoccupied during my stay save for one van for one night only. It made for a lonely existence and, along with the darkness and dreariness of the site, made for a sense of cheerlessness.
For caravanners there is much to see in Fife and that makes the site a good base. For those who rely on public transport, the new station is a 15-minute walk with direct trains to Dundee, Perth, Edinburgh and elsewhere. For once, I did not explore the buses but there appears to be several options from outside the site.
The local village of Markinch is typically grey, but, if you explore it, you’ll find it to be surprisingly pretty with lots of lovely narrow, hilly streets with pretty cottages. The church is well worth a visit and also Markinch Hill which has some good views – restricted by trees – to the Forth estuary. The village has limited facilities including some dubious looking pubs, a hotel, suffering with bad reviews it seems, two mini supermarkets, a pharmacy, a pretty little gift shop and an over-supply of hairdressers. I enjoyed the 3-Beans Coffee shop daily and the Grace Chinese was excellent, if very expensive. I was disappointed with Balbirnie Park in which I could find nothing of much interest and most of which is taken up by a golf course. The standing stones were something of an anti-climax. Nearby Glenrothes is a new town that has seen happier times. The saving grace of this visit was that the local people, and the Scottish people on site, were wonderfully friendly and warm with almost every passer-by offering a greeting and those in the shops and other establishments always ready for a chat.
