Logie Road Walk

 Logie Road lies off the A994 between Crossford and Dunfermline and is an easy stroll from our house. It is a pleasant walk which takes you past Logie House (unsurprisingly) and round to Urqhuart Farm. 

After walking though the estate gates and past the obligatory gate-house you find yourself on a surprisingly quiet country lane considering the busy A994 is just a few yards behind you. This lane is lined with trees and hedges with plenty of small birds flitting about.

Entering Logie Road

The Road to Logie House

There are a few gaps in the hedges which allow you views towards Crossford to the West and Dunfermline to the East:

Gap in the hedge with a view towards Dunfermline

Gap in the other hedge across the road

View towards Crossford

At this point we had our first notable wildlife encounter; a Pheasant Bachelor Party in the field:

A pair of Male Pheasant (or is it a brace?)

Seems to be a popular bird around these parts. A little further along the road we had a look through another gap in the hedge to see if we could see our house, or at least the part of Crossford we live in:

Looking across the fields to Crossford

The Abbey View area (near our house)

Whilst we could see the area we stayed in we couldn't quite see our house, which is behind the houses in the picture above.

I was then distracted by two Song Thrushes having a singing duel (what the youth of today like to call a "sing-off"). So I snapped a couple of photos and a video of this incident:

Song Thrush in a tree

Second Song Thrush in a bush

Let the Sing-off commence!

Let's hear what you've got!

Turn the volume up please:

Who do you think won?

As we headed further along the road a small flock of Pink-footed Geese flew overhead and then started 'whiffling' as they descended to land in a field beyond the hedge:

When I looked over the hedge I couldn't see the field where the Pinkies had put down, but I did see the houses in Abbey View near to where we live:

Abbey View over the hedge

We moved a little further along until we could see over the hedge; here we could at least see the roof of our house:

Our Neighbours at Abbey View

Roof of Our House (in the middle of the photo)

That's the best view we could get I'm afraid.

As we carried on down the lane heading towards Logie House a handful of Long-tailed Tits flew past, most caried on to perch on nearby trees, however one dropped down into the hedge just beside us:

Long-tailed Tit in a tree

Long-tailed Tit in the hedge

I just popped in to say Hello!

Unlike most Long-tailed Tits this one did not flit from perch to perch for a few seconds then fly off, instead it remained in the same place for a few minutes, this allowed me to get a few photos and even a little video:

A very obliging little bird.

When we reached the entrance to Logie House we turned left onto a track heading East. I would have taken a few photos of the house but someone had just got out a car in the driveway and I didn't want to appear like the paparazzi.  So here are some photos of the track we headed along:

Heading East from Logie House

Hedge-lined track with fields beyond

When we reached a gap in the hedges I took a few photos of the fields and countryside beyond:

Looking South to Gallowridge

Muddy Waters

Looking Southeast

Looking North towards Urquhart Farm

Urqhart Farm on the hill

Looking East towards Dunfermline

By this time we had turned the corner and were heading North towards Urquhart Farm:

Road to Urquhart Farm

Walking along this road provided us with good views of Dunfermline across the fields

Dunfermline Skyline across the fields

If you look closely you can see the tower and spire of Dunfermline Abbey, hence the local name of Abbey View.

As we continued along the road it got a little steeper, in fact the hill leading up to the farm had been paved with a 'cobble cart track', which gave the horses some grip when they were pulling heavy carts up the hill to the farm:

Cobbled Cart Track leading to Urquhart Farm

From the top of the hill you were able to see the extent of the hill the carts had to climb and the drop down to the valley on the Eastern side:

Looking back down the Cobbled Cart Track

Over the wall, down to the Crossford Burn

As you pass through Urquhart Farm you can appreciate how big it used to be and how much activity there must have was in it's prime harvesting crops, caring for livestock and satisfying the equestrian needs of the estate. Not to say that there isn't still some equestrian work, goats and chickens for livestock and whatever else they are still involved in.

Once through the farm you join back onto the A994 and head West towards Crossford. You are at a slightly higher elevation now and get views across the Forth towards the Pentland Hills, but it can be a busy road and not really conducive to landscape photography. Instead here are a couple of photos of a bush across the road which contained lots of Sparrows (honest!)

Bushes across the A994

Bush full of House Sparrows

Well that's it I'm afraid! 

A short but pleasant walk (apart from the last mile along the A994 to Crossford) so I hope you enjoyed sharing in what we seen.

Take Care

TeddyEdward