Thursday 6 December 2007

The Ship Inn, Elie
After the rather sterile but cheery environment of the Eastgate Theatre in Peebles on Tuesday, it was fun to be at St Peter's Church in Kirkcaldy last night.  Hilary Payne met us on our arrival with tea and biscuits, there was a nice acoustic, a great audience who sang well when prompted, and, incredibly, a little organ from 1967 by Grant Degens and Bradbeer, with a truly eccentric stoplist and a bizarre case in wood and red Formica like something by Mondrian. I learnt to play the organ in York University on one of their instruments from the same year, so it was strangely familiar: we used it for the Duncan Burnett Pavin and Balulalow in the second half, with members of the audience carefully scrutinizing the scores over my shoulder - a bit unnerving.

from the church notice board: figured bass tuition extra

We weren't staying in Kirkcaldy last night, as Alison's guidebook gave advice along the lines of 'good places to stay in Kirkcaldy: somewhere else', so we were in the spectacular Belvedere Hotel a few miles away in the strangely deserted ex-fishing village of West Wemyss. 

The town is beautiful, and the houses are apparently occupied, but there doesn't seem to be anyone about: the 1920s look makes it feel a bit like Portmeirion. There's no shop, just a pub whose business is not going well. 

Hilary told us that until recently the town was pretty much derelict, so let's hope the upward trend continues. The hotel is under new management too, probably just in time. Our rooms ranged in temperature from 'leave the windows wide open all night in a howling sea-gale in December' (Alison's) to 'cower under two duvets from the wind and cold' (mine), and I shared my bathroom with some other living things (see photo).

The cold taps gave out really hot water for a few seconds before changing their minds. But if this sounds like complaining, it isn't, as we were made very welcome and all really enjoyed it! 

On the way here we stopped at East Wemyss, as Hilary had told us about the caves. Within 10 seconds of getting out of the car, we met Kevin Earnshaw, who enthused about the high tides and the Scotland's Music radio series, and took us to look at Pictish carvings in the court cave - fantastic! I knew when I packed a torch that it would be useful for something, but exploring 1500 year old drawings wasn't what I'd had in mind. My camera battery packed up just as we got there so no photos, except of this on the way there ...

And now we're in the peaceful confines of the Ship Inn, with nice beer, wonderful food, a cheering fire and a copy of the Scots Musical Museum, hatching stupid ideas for January's dance band.