Hill of Tarvit

A couple of posts ago, I introduced you to Craigtoun Park, a regular haunt of mine when I don't want to travel far but need to exercise my trigger finger. This time round, it's Hill of Tarvit, another old estate of 40 acres that is just such a lovely place for a stroll.

Like Craigtoun, it always seems to offer up a subject or two regardless of the time of year or the weather. It, too, has a bit of history behind it having been owned by a wealthy family from my home town of Dundee 30 minutes to the north. The estate sits just outside the Fife market town of Cupar and is now looked after by the National Trust for Scotland.

Again like Craigtoun entrance to the grounds is free (can you see a pattern emerging here?) and it's a place that's seldom thronged with tourists so it's perfect if you just want to escape for an hour or two and wander around a pleasant location with nary a care.

One of its more unusual features is a nine-hole golf course dedicated to the old hickory-shafted clubs from the first half of the 20th century and beyond. It's specifically set up a good bit shorter than a modern course to account for the fact that hickory clubs can't hit the ball as far.

Another feature is an Edwardian laundry housed in a separate building which has a display of old irons (the kind for removing creases from clothing, not for hitting golf balls!) and a drying cabinet where garments could be hung to dry in an accelerated fashion courtesy of a coal-fired heating system. It's nicely understated and manages to avoid that "museumy" feeling and so still retains a bit of the original atmosphere instead of looking like it's been carefully curated and almost stage-managed.

There's a lovely croquet lawn in front of the mansion, a sunken flower garden, an old orchard, an extensive glasshouse and a wonderful collection of aged trees. At the rear of the house, a hill rises quite steeply and is topped off by a monument that was once the mercat cross of the nearby town of Cupar. The story goes that it was won by the owner of the house in a game of cards. Many a time I've stood at the bottom of the hill wondering what the view from the top would be like but I've yet to summon the enthusiasm to tackle the climb. I could probably drag my overweight body up the slope but for the OM2 hanging around my neck. The camera's 500g is a killer and there's only so much you can reasonably ask of a man.

If you're interested in these things, Undiscovered Scotland has a selection of colour pics showing what the house looks like when photographed by someone who isn't quite as pretentious as I am.