Smokies

In honour of the school holidays and the visit of the Grandparental Support Unit (London Branch), we took Boris, Norris and Doris for a day out to Arbroath today.

The train ride from Perth to Dundee is always a delight in sunny weather - and we enjoyed skimming through the fields of the Carse of Gowrie with fine views of the Braes of the carse to our left and the sunshine sparking on the Tay to our right. The boys were excited to see the Kinnoull Hill tower, which we climbed to on Sunday - from the train at its base. I'd never been on the train beyond Dundee station and enjoyed the ride along the coast to Arbroath. The children seemed delighted with all they could see, while my Dad eyed up challenging golf links' as we progressed up the coast.

Once at Arbroath we had a look around the old station. It is today a rather sad and forlorn place - a simple platform surrounded by the decaying remains of a goods network and engine shed. Then we walked down, through the town to the harbour area. If the station had seen better days, so sadly had the area of the town around the station. Many of the shops were boarded up and it seemed that the decay apparent in other Angus towns such as Montrose had hit Arbroath hard as well. The harbour was in much better shape though. Despite the difficulties the fishing industry faces through over-exploitation of the seas and quotas imposed, the harbour was fairly busy. We saw plenty of commercial and leisure boats in and around the harbour, as well as a busy boat yard repairing everything from tiny lobster pot fishing vessels to canal boats. We managed a quick peek at the lifeboat in it's shed too.

The best thing about the harbour through was the smell! In many of the lanes around the harbour, tiny traditional smokeries still operate, producing genuine Arbroath smokies as they always have. I had expected smokie production to be in the usual vast shed, but was charmed instead by some small shacks with smoke and fish-smells pouring out from under their roofs. We found a small pub by the harbour, backing onto a smokerie - selling freshly smoked fresh fish. we had to try some - and it was absolutely stunning! The enjoyment was enhanced by the fact that they had a good fresh kids menu - which Boris, Norris and Doris tucked into with equal relish. Walking out of the pub and through the harbour area, it was lovely to breathe in deeply and smell not just the sea - but to realise that with all the little smokeries now working flat out, the whole of this part of the town reeked with its wonderful odours! Strange to think that once whole cities smelled of their principal trades.

From the harbour we walked up to Arbroath Abbey, a wonderful ruin and national symbol of Scotland. Historic Scotland have built an excellent and child friendly museum there which details the turbulent history of the Abbey. After a little history lesson for them all (they do like the gory bits a little too much!) the Abbey grounds proved to be a fantastic playground.

All that was left was then the scenic train ride home for some tea. A brilliant day!