Tag Archives: Diana Jackson

July 25, 2018 · 3:38 pm

A visit to Wemyss Caves

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Court Cave

Continuing my tour of the Fife Coast I was pleased to see on Twitter last Friday that Wemyss Caves were having an open day. Rounding up two good friends we headed towards East Wemyss and a happy group of enthusiastic volunteers greeted us, handing us a leaflet of activities laid on to both inform and entertain.

The Court Cave was our first stopping point where we joined a guide who led us into the cavern, pointing out various intriguing carved pictures and shapes on the cave walls. She explained that we can only guess the meaning of the creatures and symbols, which were almost certainly Pictish in origin.

Click HERE for the Wemyss Caves website with more detailed information.

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Doo Cave

In our next cave, the Doo Cave, we were entertained by a storyteller; quite an atmospheric setting for such scary tales. At the back of the cave rectangular cut out shelves lined the walls. Were they for the doos ~ pigeons as the name of the cave suggests, or for skeletons of their departed? Intriguing!

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MacDuff’s Castle

Climbing the steps to MacDuff’s castle we encountered archery, apothecary, chain mail production and wool spinning. The volunteers were enthusiastic to demonstrate and it was a great pull for the children, but interesting for us too. I remembering being in awe of this castle on our first visit as suddenly the ‘fictional’ character of Shakespeare’s Macbeth became all so very real.

We didn’t continue down to Jonathan’s Cave. The climb was too steep for one of my friends, although we were helped by seats both on the climb up and down. We will leave that pleasure for another day, but were impressed by the organisation of the day and the hard work put into it by the group of volunteers.

Which cave did I visit on my walk along the coastal path in The Healing Paths of Fife? Almost certainly The Court Cave.

Which stranger from the past did I encounter?

I first met the gypsies I believe, although I did not call them by their title in my book, but I was certainly rescued by  King James V, disguised as the ‘Guidman of Ballengeich’ !

 

 

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Filed under Fife, Fife Fantasy, Scotland, The Healing Paths of Fife, Virtual tour of Fife

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November 23, 2015 · 5:55 pm

CELEBRATING ON LINE BOOK LAUNCH ~ From Redundancy to Rejuvenation, A Writer’s Fantasy Walk Along The Fife Coastal Path

DSCN2797[1]I’m excited to announce the online launch of

‘From Redundancy to Rejuvenation ~ A Writer’s Fantasy Walk Along The Fife Coastal Path’

The book will go live in the next few days ~ link to follow!

BACKGROUND ~ I was living in Fife, writing a diary, walking along the Coastal Path in my spare time and reading about the county’s rich history when the idea of writing this fantasy pilgrimage evolved. My situation was a strange one, having been made redundant from my teaching post down south followed by a serendipitous relocation to quite a different world.

ABOUT THE BOOK ~ It is a diary of my walk, but it is much more than that. I meet characters in history along the way with whom I share insightful time and conversation. The ‘meetings’ are my way of understanding myself and where my life might be heading but they are also enriching, endowing me with a deeper sense of who I am and how special my new surroundings and its people became to me.

A friend said when she read it, ‘Did you really meet St Margaret, Diana?’

The diary flows seamlessly from reality to fantasy through prose and poetry and I hope it shows my empathy and growing love for Fife and its people. It is my way of saying thank you for their boundless welcome and hospitality.

I would particularly like to thank Heather More for her wonderful book cover, a watercolour of Pettycur and evocative of all that lies therein!

It is only available in paperback, initially at Amazon but can be ordered from any bookshop

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Filed under Book reading, Events, Fife Fantasy, Memoirs

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November 1, 2015 · 12:35 pm

New paperback cover available for bookshops

Celebrating new book cover which will be familiar to many of you as the kindle book cover used since publication of

Murder, Now and Then:

3Dcover MNAT

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