19th February – Gullane beach and old kirk

Continuing on from my post of 16th February, here are some photos taken at Gullane on the Firth of Forth, just to the east of Edinburgh.

The Firth widens out considerably at this point, and there are long stretches of sand dunes, mud flats and salt marsh.  Just down from Gullane is Aberlady Bay, a National Nature Reserve and a haven for masses of wildfowl and waders as well as some uncommon plant species.

The beach at Gullane is gently sloping and very clean, with only a few shells to pick over.  We had a good hour’s walk, getting some nice photos of the reflections on the wet sand as the tide receded.  The wind was quite brisk, despite the warm sunshine.  In the distance we could just make out some of the fishing villages on the coast of Fife.

We ordered fish and chips in Gullane, and while we were waiting I had a little wander around a ruined church that I’d spied earlier.  The yellowish sandstone ruins looked pretty ancient, and I was interested to see that they dated from 1170, making it one of the few Norman churches to survive in Scotland.

Inside, there’s a very fine archway with ornate Norman-style carving;   most of the walls are crumbling and overgrown. The windows appear very low down in the walls, and this is because over the centuries the church was gradually engulfed by blown sand;  the original floors were probably several feet lower than the present ground level.  The church was finally abandoned in 1612 in favour of a newer building in nearby Dirleton.

There were several information boards dotted around the church, with illustrations suggesting how it may have looked in its heyday.  But I found the transept strewn with shards of glass from broken beer bottles, and the general feeling was one of gloom and total abandonment.  If the church had any spiritual feel about it in former times, this is long gone.

One of the notice boards described an ‘early Christian grave marker’ in the churchyard, which I found and photographed.

It’s strange how some ruins retain an atmosphere of something, with much less to show for it than St Andrew’s Kirk.  And part of the building is still in use – the eastern chancel is reserved as the burial site for two local families.

Photos copyright © 1-5 & 9 Chris Sansom, 6-8 Verity Woolf, 10-13 Colin Woolf, 14 onwards Jo Woolf 

View of Gullane bay

View of the bay (2)

Balancing act

What am I doing? I don’t know either

Through the sand dunes

Sea and sky

Reflections

Reflections (2)

Sand patterns between the rocks

Spray and reflections

Razor shell

Waterline

Shell

Gullane Kirk (1)

Gullane Kirk (2)

History of Gullane Kirk

History info (2)

Gullane Kirk (3)

Shadowy arch into transept

Early cross-engraved stone