East Neuk – Wikipedia

Edinburgh to Elie and Earlsferry – Google Maps

East Neuk Festival – East Neuk FestivalEast Neuk Festival | Annual international music & arts festival

10 fascinating facts about… St Andrews and the East Neuk – Scottish Field

Multi Activity Days – East Neuk Outdoors

East Neuk Outdoors – East Neuk Outdoors

The East Neuk of Fife Visitor Guide | Out About Scotland

The East Neuk of Fife – sea views in one of the prettiest parts of Scotland

Elie Earlsferry Beach, Elie – Beaches | VisitScotland

Things to do in Elie – East Neuk of Fife, Scotland

East Neuk of Fife Travel Guide & Things To Do – The Chaotic Scot

Elie and Earlsferry – Wikipedia

Elie & Earlsferry Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland

Home – Elie & Earlsferry History Society

beauly – Search

Elie Holiday Park at Shell Bay, Fife| Abbeyford Leisure

Home – The Shellfish Shack Fife

(20+) Facebook

Home – Crail Pottery

St Andrews 4 miles-Quiet hamlet-Walk to the Sea! – Cottages for Rent in St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom – Airbnb

Elie chain walk – scrambling Scotland’s via ferratta on the Fife coast

Daneger and Stacey – YouTube

Pittenweem Chocolate Company – Pittenweem Chocolate Co.

St. Fillan’s Cave – Pittenweem, Scotland – Atlas Obscura

Ardross Farm

Bowhouse – Replacing the missing link in the local food chain

St Andrews 4 miles-Quiet hamlet-Walk to the Sea! – Cottages for Rent in St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom – Airbnb

Fife business – Lady’s Tower

Wikimedia Commons

Market Weekends – Bowhouse

Scottish Digest Podcast is a production of cluarantonn.com

Hosted by Dawn

Written and Produced by Dawn Young

Edited by Erin – Erin Ferguson (@erinfergus0n) • Instagram photos and videos

Map courtesy of openstreetmap

Images courtesty of commons.wikimedia.org/

Music:

Epidemic by ES_The Celtic Flavour – Alysha Sheldon & ES_A Sound Foundation – Airae

 

Production Company Name by Granny Robertson

Dawn [0:00 – 1:12]: Welcome to episode one of season two of Scottish Digest. This season we will be hearing from a variety of people about what their favourite places and areas in Scotland are, what they love about it, and what things they love to do when visiting, as well as hear their food, drink and accommodation recommendations. And of course, I’ll be telling you all about the events and or festivals that take place there each year. We hope you enjoy hearing more about the beautiful places and areas around Bonnie Scotland. In this episode we will be speaking to Marti from the podcast Mums Mysteries and Murder, which is hosted by Marti and Effie. Marti is from Australia, but moved to Edinburgh and Scotland in 2006. A native, Scott, Effie grew up in Aberdeen but now also lives in Edinburgh. Before we hear from Marti and about her favourite places and areas in Scotland, here’s a wee flavour of what you can expect from the Mums Mysteries and Murder podcast.

Marti [1:14 – 1:58]: Hi, I’m Marti. And I’m Effie. And we are mum’s mysteries and murder. We’re mums obsessed with true crime and mysterious happenings in our respective countries. Australia and Scotland. We talked about it all the time, so we thought, screw it, let’s record that shit. And we started a podcast. Each month we bring you an episode from either Scotland or Australia, both well known and less well known. And we might talk about some other stuff in between too. So if you love a bit of true crime, weird accents, you love a mystery and you don’t mind a bit of random chat in between, then this is the podcast for you. You can come and follow us on Instagram, umsmysteries and murder and listen and subscribe where you get your podcasts. Bye.

Dawn [2:03 – 2:05]: So, hi Marti, welcome to the podcast.

Marti [2:06 – 2:07]: Thanks for having me.

Dawn [2:07 – 2:14]: I’m excited. So can you tell us a little bit about you and what brought you to Scotland?

Marti [2:16 – 3:50]: So I moved to Scotland back in 2006. I had been here before, so a very long time ago. It was actually the year 2000. I lived here, but I lived in Cheltenham, further down south, and I’d been to Glasgow for one day, I think I’d been to Edinburgh for half a day when I lived here. So I’d come up, stayed here. The guy that I was going out with at the time, he was working in Glasgow. So I caught the train up and I met him in Glasgow and I stayed here for a couple of days. I stay here, I’m in Edinburgh, but I love the shopping so much. I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying to me. I could not understand. I just kept saying yes to people and that was sort of my experience with Scotland. Like two days. It was literally two or three days that I’d spent here. But I remember the shopping and how amazing the shopping was. So when I went back to Australia and decided that I wanted to come back, Scotland was the first place, not just for the shopping. I’m not that shallow. But I remembered, like, how green everything was. Everything to me. Because Australia is so brown, because it’s quite hot in Australia all the time, most parts of Australia. So, yeah, I actually remember taking pictures of Scotland and being shocked at how green the grass was and how beautiful it was. So when I decided to come back, I thought, I’m just going to try Scotland, see how it is. If I don’t like it, I can move somewhere else. But, yeah, that was sort of like the decision, I think the shopping, the green, the cow parade was on. Do you remember the cow parade?

Dawn [3:50 – 3:52]: No. Nope.

Marti [3:52 – 3:52]: I don’t know.

Dawn [3:52 – 3:54]: The co parade in glass.

Marti [3:54 – 4:07]: You said that like you knew exactly what that was then. No. So it was like a. You will remember it when I explained this. You’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. So they were fibreglass cows and they were painted by different people and then they were auctioned off for charity.

Dawn [4:08 – 4:11]: Do you remember, was it in Glasgow?

Marti [4:12 – 4:24]: It was all over Edinburgh and Glasgow. I think it was Glasgow as well. So they auctioned them off. So I remember saying to my friend that was moving over with me at the time, let’s go to Scotland, because they have good shopping and there’s a cow parade.

Dawn [4:24 – 4:31]: Hose. Oh, my God. I’ve never heard of that. I’m gonna have to ask my gran.

Marti [4:33 – 4:50]: I mean, yeah, it was really. It was a very not well educated decision, to be fair. But I didn’t regret it and I loved it and I’m never leaving, so, I mean, it’s all worked out well in the end, hasn’t it? Cows or no cows, clothes and shopping.

Dawn [4:50 – 4:55]: Okay, and green. Whereabouts in Australia? Whereabouts in Australia? Where you from?

Marti [4:55 – 4:56]: Melbourne.

Dawn [4:57 – 4:58]: All right, okay.

Marti [4:58 – 4:59]: Which one is that?

Dawn [4:59 – 5:00]: Neighbours.

Marti [5:00 – 5:17]: That’s. Yes, that is neighbours. Right down the bottom. I’m actually born in a smaller town that’s just near Melbourne. That guy pearce is from. That’s all we’ve got. That’s the only claim to fame. We’ve got guy. Peace and quicksilver. Quicksilver comes from there as well. Yeah.

Dawn [5:17 – 5:20]: Yeah. Oh, no, guy. Peter is a good one. He’s done well for himself.

Marti [5:21 – 5:28]: Yeah, he’s. He’s a good one to have if you’ve only got one small person. That’s a good person. It’s a good looking person to have, isn’t it?

Dawn [5:31 – 5:36]: And tell us a little bit about the podcast as well. How did that come about? Mum’s mysteries and murder.

Marti [5:36 – 6:12]: So that kind of come about in Covid, pretty much like everyone else’s business did and everyone else’s podcast did. Effie and I would talk about true crime and, you know, we’d send each other links to things all the time. Effie. Effie’s really annoying the way she does it, though. She’s not going to kill me for this because she knows. She knows what she does. She sends me a message that just says OMG and nothing else. And you’re sitting there like, what? What is OMG? What do you tell me what you’re talking about. You’re just sitting there waiting. She’s not even typing. You know, you can see them typing. She’s not even typing.

Dawn [6:12 – 6:16]: Getting your attention first. Are you really paying attention? I’ll tell you the punchline.

Marti [6:16 – 7:42]: That’s what it is. You have to wait and be interested. But, yeah, we would often send each other random little facts about true crime stories that she would send me the most random things about people in Russia and, you know, all this sort of stuff, and I would send her lots of serial killer information because that’s not really her thing. So we sort of started talking about it a little bit and she was quite hesitant at the beginning. I had been a guest on other people’s podcasts to talk about social media, which is my day job. So I was sort of a little bit. Let’s just give it a go. No one will listen. It’s fine. And so I really had to talk her into doing it. But, yeah, it’s worked out really well. We have a really good rapport. We’re sort of at the stage where, because we’ve known each other for so long, we feel quite comfortable speaking to, like, interrupting each other and asking random questions and, you know, she’s very good at asking random questions that I feel like I’m never going to have the answer to and vice versa. And she has lots of very strange stories. She has. We’re similar, but I’m sort of from the city, so I grew up near the city and I’ve always lived near the city and she’s from Aberdeen, but a little bit further away. So sort of like the real country. So the stories that she comes up with are just so bizarre and, yes, so bizarre and so different. But we have this same sort of sense of humour. So I think it sort of works out really well.

Dawn [7:42 – 7:59]: Oh, it does work out, really. And you’ve got some great following amount of, you know, checked out your reviews and you get some lovely reviews and, you know, people, even on social media, you’ve got, you know, people saying how great you are and how much they love your conversations and it’s lovely to see you’ve done really well.

Marti [7:59 – 8:15]: Yeah, it’s a really. Thank you. It’s a really lovely follower base that we have. We have, like, a few certain people that will message us all the time after episodes and I’m thinking, why do you love it so much? It’s really not that good, but I’m not going to tell them that, so it’s fine.

Dawn [8:16 – 8:19]: No, you’ve got something, you know, you’ve obviously got something.

Marti [8:19 – 8:22]: Yeah. All right, then.

Dawn [8:22 – 8:29]: So back to Scotland. We’re here to talk about your favourite place, which is reveal.

Marti [8:29 – 8:37]: Wow. I did say early, but I’m going to be a bit sneaky and say the ace nuke of fife.

Dawn [8:37 – 8:45]: That’s okay. I was like, oh, what are you going to say? Because I’ve not done research. You can do that to me because.

Marti [8:45 – 8:59]: Technically Ely is part of that area, but there’s so many little villages in that whole section and I’m just in love with it. But Ely is the main focus for us, really.

Dawn [8:59 – 9:07]: So, um, we’ve got east Nook and specifically Ely and Earlsbury, because they are joined villages, aren’t they?

Marti [9:07 – 9:50]: Yes. Do you know Earlsbury is. I didn’t really know much about Earlsbury and I don’t really know a lot about it, but the beach at Earlsbury is one of the most beautiful beaches, I don’t want to say in Scotland, because I know there’s Shetland and all those amazing beaches and, like, Harris and all of that, but in this little part of the world, elsewhere, beach is so beautiful and, like, ely’s got such a huge main beach. It’s huge. And, you know, they play cricket. There’s always, like, cricket. It’s really well known for cricket games on there and, like, lots of sporting activities. But the beach at Earls Ferry is just stunning. It’s always deserted as well.

Dawn [9:50 – 10:12]: I saw, I was looking on YouTube and there was a video from a couple called Dan. He’s called Dean. Dean and Stacey, and it’s danger and Stacey. And they showed and I haven’t. Is it like a little cove? Yeah. Oh, that was the video they showed and it was beautiful. So I know which one you’re talking about.

Marti [10:12 – 10:34]: It’s just when you compare it to Ili because Ily is so busy and so full of families. It’s a nice beach, but it’s nothing special. This is going to sound bad. Earls Ferry is just like. I’m almost torn about whether I wanted to mention it because I want it to stay really quiet. When we were there, we could hear seals on the rock out at sea. It was amazing.

Dawn [10:34 – 11:02]: It looks beautiful. I’m going to have to show a picture of that. It’s situated on the northerly part of the firth of force in Fife. It’s about 46 miles, or 74 kilometres northeast of Edinburgh, or about an hour and a half journey. It’s quite small, it’s 40 sq mi and it’s known for its scenic coastline and pretty fishing villages with Petoween and Strother and Creole. Is it Creole?

Marti [11:02 – 13:03]: Yes. I’ve got Crail on the list. I’m so glad you mentioned Crayole. Crail is one of those places. Right, because. So we’ve been going to ily for the last few years, maybe about. For the last four or five years, and we usually stay in the caravan park. I think it’s called Shao Bay Caravan park. Yeah. Which is amazing. It is such a pretty caravan park. I never grew up doing caravan holidays. Right. We were not rich by any means at all, but we never did caravan park holidays when I was little. So this was the first caravan park I’d been to. And it’s just. Yeah, it’s so pretty. I mean, they have the disco, they have the kids disco and all that that you can go to, you know. And I know people aren’t a big fan of that. I mean, we went once and it was brilliant. Yeah. Oh, I mean, it was brilliant. So we usually drive around, we’ll do the St Andrews thing and we’ll go to anstruther and all that sort of thing. But we discovered krail only two years ago and I was like, how have we not found this amazing place? So it’s quite small. It’s really small. You wouldn’t spend the day there. You’d spend maybe half the day there. Right. But it’s one of those places when you walk around the corner and every corner is instagram worthy. I’m not just saying that because I work in social media. It is so beautiful. It’s winding. Like, it’s all really winding and it sort of goes up to like a big cliff top that overlooks the harbour. And there is someone that sells lobster rolls. I think it’s called the lobster shack. I’ve written it down. Lobster shack on the harbour. And you can just go and get a lobster roll in the summer. Oh, my God. It is amazing. And they have the Crail Harbour gallery, where you can get a coffee. And that is sort of right at the top of the harbour. And it just overlooks. If you can get a seat in there, I mean, get in there at 10:00 in the morning because the tourists will be there and there’s no way you’ll get a seat. We’ve never managed to get a seat in there.

Dawn [13:03 – 13:05]: But is it just little or just a little?

Marti [13:05 – 13:42]: Yeah, it’s tiny. And then there’s, like, a little bit that goes outside and sort of. It is just stunning. It is just one of the most beautiful villages I’ve ever seen. There’s like a little krail pottery place. I think it’s just called krail pottery, but it is really small. Like, it’s super small, but it’s just sort of up on a. It’s almost like a. What’s the word? Like a turret. There’s almost like a big sort of turret at the top. It’s really hard to explain, but it is just the most beautiful place. It is gorgeous, yeah.

Dawn [13:42 – 13:48]: And it said it has an attractive harbour as well. Is that right? You mentioned the harbour.

Marti [13:48 – 14:08]: Yeah. It’s quite small. There’s not really much there. But I mean, the lobster shack, you can sit there on the harbour and have your lobster roll. And it’s quite famous, I think, the lobster shack, I think it’s quite well known. There’s not. I mean, there’s not much there at all, but it’s just such a beautiful place to spend the morning. It’s just lovely.

Dawn [14:09 – 14:15]: Just to unwind. It sounds like it’s just a slow down kind of place. Just let it roll over you.

Marti [14:15 – 14:27]: Yeah, it’s one of those places where you go around the corner and there’s more people on their phones taking photos, and then you go around the corner, more people take. You know, it’s one of those really little cute places, but it’s just beautiful.

Dawn [14:27 – 14:44]: Now, you did send me a couple of photos of you and your family there as well in Ely, was it Ely you were at? Yes, apparently. Again, it’s the green. You mentioned the green, and the photos were beautiful, and there was green everywhere. Can you just tell us a little bit about the photos and what you were doing that day and.

Marti [14:44 – 15:29]: Yes. So that green, actually is just near St. Andrews. So that’s another little town that we stay in called Boar Hills. So we went there for the first time this year. We were looking for Ealy. Ealy was sold out, so it often sells out really quick. But this is a little Airbnb and I think I’ve sent you the link so you could put it in the show notes even. But it’s a really little. It’s not. I don’t even know if you’d call it a village. There’s a few houses and it’s about ten minutes drive from St. Andrews and it’s a little area called Moor Hills. And we send this Airbnb. Absolutely stunning. They had a hammock in the back garden and they had, like, a little fire pit for roasting marshmallows. So lovely. The owners were so lovely.

Dawn [15:29 – 15:32]: Miranda, it says it was horsted by Miranda.

Marti [15:32 – 15:57]: Yeah. Yes. And so child friendly. One of the rooms, you opened the cupboard and it’s packed full of toys, like a full doll house, a full kitchen. So, yeah, it’s a really great place to stay if you have kids because it’s quite peaceful and it’s not too far from anyway. But that little, that image that I sent you with the grass, that’s actually a walk that goes down to a beach.

Dawn [15:58 – 16:10]: Yes. It was an easy walking distance to the sea. So that’s. I can see that you got the grass. Beautiful picture. Chocolate, it’s green. And then you’ve got the blue, and then the blue sky and it’s beautiful.

Marti [16:10 – 17:30]: It is so beautiful. I’m. I’m a little bit of an old lady when it comes to Scotland, really. I’ve turned into my dad, you know, when we were little, my dad would take us to go and see boats and go, oh, look at that boat. That boat’s amazing. It’s got a really loud voice, which is what been transferred to me, clearly. But look at that boat. That boat’s so nice. Look at it. Oh, wouldn’t you love to go and say, no, I don’t want to sit in that boat. And now my little boy, because he’s grown up here, so he know, like, he’s used to Scotland, but to me, I still find everything just so beautiful and, like, walking in the woods, I just am constantly taking pictures. That green just. I took so many pictures of that day. I’ve got so many pictures of the same beaches in Italy, the same villages, you know, in Krail, the same walk that we do when we go to Grail. It’s just so stunning. It’s just such a different view to what you get in Australia. And I’m so pleased that, you know, I’ve been living here for so long, and I still find just everything so beautiful in Scotland. It’s just such a beautiful place to live. Even Edinburgh, you know, when you see the castle all the time, you sort of get used to it. But I’m so grateful that I still, you know, will come down in autumn and see Princess street gardens. And I’m like, oh, I’m so lucky to live here. Just so striking.

Dawn [17:31 – 17:41]: It is. It is a beautiful place. Yeah, I’m biassed, I suppose, but, yeah, no, the photos were. And even the other one you sent me as well, of you and. Is that your husband and you, wee boy?

Marti [17:41 – 17:48]: Yes. So that’s actually on the beach. You get like, a private beach at the caravan park in Ely.

Dawn [17:48 – 17:50]: Oh, right. So it’s like one of the.

Marti [17:50 – 18:36]: Yeah, that. Well, that was actually at nighttime. So we tend to go down in our pyjamas at nighttime to this beach. Yeah, it’s literally. So a lot of the time when we book, we try and book the front pitches. So you’re literally about 20 steps from the beach when you stay there. And it’s your own, like, little private alcove beach, which is just beautiful. I mean, it’s not really amazing for swimming. There’s no waves or anything, but it’s just lovely to go down at nighttime. You can watch the sunset and it’s just such a beautiful, peaceful place. The whole area is just such a beautiful, peaceful place. I mean, there’s the chain walk. That’s not peaceful. And I’m never going to do that because I’m not good with stuff like that, so.

Dawn [18:36 – 18:39]: What’s that? Sorry? The chain walk.

Marti [18:39 – 18:57]: Yeah. So it’s like the coastal. I think it’s called the. Is it the fife? I don’t think it’s called the fife. It’s the coastal chain walk. I think that’s what. Eight, five. Coastal chain walk. That could be what it’s called. Or maybe it’s East Newark, however you pronounce it.

Dawn [18:57 – 19:01]: Oh, the faith coastal walk. Is that to St. Mornans?

Marti [19:01 – 19:07]: Yes. And you. And you follow chains and you go around the rocks. Oh, yeah.

Dawn [19:07 – 19:08]: So you’ve never done that?

Marti [19:09 – 19:13]: Oh, it’s just not for me, Dawn. I can’t deal with things like that.

Dawn [19:15 – 19:21]: Well, there’s a story there, but it takes you to the Ely lighthouse. You pass the Ely lighthouse as well, I think. That one.

Marti [19:21 – 19:27]: Yes, yes. And St. Mounan’s windmill and everything is that way as well.

Dawn [19:28 – 19:43]: And there’s also a ruby bay. It was named after the garnets that were once mined there, and a ladies tower, which was a changing room that was built for the Lady Anne Strother in the 1770 so she could bathe in the floor.

Marti [19:43 – 19:45]: I’ve actually been to that tower.

Dawn [19:45 – 19:46]: Have you?

Marti [19:46 – 20:05]: Yeah, I met. It is beautiful. It is actually really, really beautiful. It’s like an old ruin. But we met some really nice Americans there and they were, like, telling us the whole story of the tower. They like me the whole story. They were driving around in a campervan. They were amazing. See, this is what happens in Scotland.

Dawn [20:05 – 20:17]: You meet everyone on the campervan community is amazing. The way that everybody. We did campervan in once and everybody passed the wave at you and it’s just. Oh, it’s so friendly.

Marti [20:17 – 20:20]: I’d love to do that. I’d love a campervan.

Dawn [20:20 – 20:27]: It was amazing. You just never feel alone because you just feel that somebody would stop if you needed them. They’re just so friendly.

Marti [20:27 – 20:29]: It’s so lovely, isn’t it?

Dawn [20:29 – 20:36]: Isn’t it? Because that was the first time we did. It was a couple of years ago and we didn’t know what was happening. And we’re like, oh, what the hell’s going on?

Marti [20:37 – 20:41]: Why are people waving at me? This is crazy.

Dawn [20:42 – 20:44]: Yeah. It took us a minute.

Marti [20:44 – 20:46]: Oh, I love it.

Dawn [20:46 – 21:01]: But that lady, Anne Strother, apparently she would have. She had a bell toll. She would go down and swim in the fourth and she had the bell toller told the bell, so everybody knew not to go near when she was swimming. She was a right madam by the time.

Marti [21:02 – 21:12]: I love that. There’s so many weird things in Scotland, aren’t there? There’s like so many little. Oh, well, have you heard about Danino Den?

Dawn [21:12 – 21:13]: No.

Marti [21:13 – 21:26]: So this really freaked us out. So my husband, he’s not really into true crime, but he’s into weird stuff, right? Not. That sounds weird now. He’s into, like, mysteries and, you know, that sounded so bad.

Dawn [21:27 – 21:28]: I’m leaving that in.

Marti [21:30 – 21:54]: That’s fine. I’m happy with that. We’ve all got our things. Yeah. Danino den. So it’s nice. St. Andrews. And he found it and he was really interested in it and he was like, we have to go to this place, right? It’s this little den. It’s. It’s an ancient site of druid pagan worship. You’ve heard of it, haven’t you?

Dawn [21:54 – 21:59]: I think there was something that was. Yeah, carry on. It’s. Yeah.

Marti [22:00 – 24:32]: So it’s in a wooded area and it’s just behind the abbey. Right? So it’s quite. It’s in the middle of nowhere, right? So you just go up this big long road, and me and my little boy, so he’s twelve. He was eleven when we went. We were like, I don’t know about this because, you know, I’m true crime background. I just. I’m suspicious of everything. I like peaceful places, but if they’re too peaceful. Nah, I’m not having this. Right, yeah. So you get it. So it’s been around since 4000 BC, which my brain doesn’t compute that that is actually a thing I don’t understand. Yeah, we talk about this all the time on the podcast. Anything BC? No, no. My brain starts. I know they were like cavemen and dinosaurs and all that, right? And then I know that there was like Henry VIII, and that’s the two bits, right? And I don’t know what happened in between. There were things and there were other things, but my brain doesn’t compute those, right? So that really freaks me out. Anyway, so there’s steps to go down to the den, right? So you go into this wooded area, and there’s like little steps. When I say steps, they’re sort of like built into the rock, so they’re sort of hard to get down, but you could get down, right? And there’s like celtic crosses and faces etched into the rocks. So, like, when you google it, they’re real. Like it’s a proper face. It’s not just like, you know when people say it’s etched in and it’s sort of a face, you’re not like, oh, it’s sort of a face. You know, people have like a potato and it looks like Jesus. And you’re like, that doesn’t look like Jesus. So these are like, who knew I’d start talking about potatoes and Jesus? They’re real faces etched into the rock, right? And people leave things there. So when you look down, there’s all ribbons tied to the tree. People leave money, there’s beads. I think there’s other weird stuff left there as well. But when we got there, this is going to sound really weird, but I’m not making this up. So my husband went, and me and my little boy sort of waited, and we were like, I’m not going down there. It’s a bit. Bit freaky. I don’t like it. And he doesn’t really like things like that. So I said, we’ll stay here. We could hear singing. We could actually hear singing. There was no one in the abbey because there was two cars in the car park and one was ours. The abbey was completely quiet and there was like a little. I mean, it’s a little chapel. It’s not really like a big abbey and there’s like a cemetery. It’s really pretty. There was no one around and we could hear singing. And he was like, what’s that singing? I’m like, it’s nothing. But I was freaking out as well. I was like, I’m not sure about this. I don’t like this at all.

Dawn [24:32 – 24:35]: And did your husband hear it from down there?

Marti [24:35 – 25:21]: No, he said he didn’t hear it. But then people started coming back. So there were other people there, but this was different singing to what normal people would have been doing. So we didn’t like it. And we sort of headed back to the car and he kept going. I know it was really creepy because it was so secluded and the woods were so secluded. And there was bells and bells. Woods and bells and singing. Oh, my God. Yeah. It’s the start of a film when everything goes bad and everyone dies. Leave the woods. Leave the woods. Anyway, I mean, it was the middle of the day and it’s just, you know, he went down there and said it was fine, but he did say it was slightly creepy. But he’s, you know, he likes all that sort of weird stuff again. Weird stuff.

Dawn [25:22 – 25:24]: Have you got a photo? Can I see the photo?

Marti [25:25 – 25:30]: I don’t think we took any photos. We should have. I mean, we were so freaked out.

Dawn [25:30 – 25:31]: Yeah.

Marti [25:31 – 27:02]: That we just left. But there is photos of the faces and things on Google, if you go on Google. But it’s just fascinating, like the weed stuff. There’s also pit and weem. So pit and weem’s another, like, little fishing village. Lovely. The chocolate cafe. They’re amazing. Handmade chocolates in, like, mice. Everything you can imagine. Lavender, chocolate. Unbelievable, right. But they have a cave there called St Finian’s Cave. Again, my husband found this. Of course he did. And it’s basically. It’s so weird. So it’s a little. So pit and we. Magen is a little village, fishing village. They have, like a main harbour and they have an old fashioned sweet shop and ice creams and all that sort of stuff. Lovely. And then you sort of go up these windy little paths where people’s houses are really pretty. But in the side of the wall, it’s sort of like rock. Some of the houses sort of built into rock, almost. Right. And in the side of the wall is a little cave which is actually just a padlocked gate. Right in the wall. And you look through the wall and you’re like, what’s that? It’s a cave, right? And apparently it’s said to have been a refuge for Saint Finnian, who lived there for a while. And he wrote sermons by the light of his glowing arm. What the actual hell is that? Okay.

Dawn [27:02 – 27:05]: I didn’t know that was where you were going. He’s arm.

Marti [27:05 – 27:27]: He’s arm. And you can go in there. Right? But this is what’s so weird, and this is what’s amazing about Scotland. You have to go into one of the shops to go and get the key to go into this cave. Yeah, it’s padlocked, but you can go in there. There’s a sign to say. And there’s actually a little altar still in there. That’s like a little shrine to St Finnian. It is amazing.

Dawn [27:28 – 27:34]: You know, I’ve heard of St Finian’s Cave, but I’ve never. I didn’t know anything about it. I had no idea that. That it was.

Marti [27:35 – 27:47]: It’s crazy. Why are there all these weed things in Scotland? I absolutely love them. But, yeah, amazing. And that’s in Pittenweam. Pittenweem is so beautiful. I love Pittenweam. It’s really pretty.

Dawn [27:47 – 27:53]: So all along the east coast, it sounds like there’s loads of little wee villages and. Beautiful.

Marti [27:53 – 28:09]: They’re literally like ten minutes away from each other. St Monan’s is really pretty as well. There’s not loads in St Monan’s. I mean, there’s no glowy arm cave or weird pagan rituals. But they do have the best farm shop in Scotland.

Dawn [28:10 – 28:12]: In Scotland, that is. Yeah.

Marti [28:12 – 28:31]: In Scotland. I know that. Oh, actually, I think I might take that back. It’s pretty good. I haven’t been to all of Scotland, but it’s an amazing farm shop and we always spend. We get to the front and we like. That’s 80 pounds. And we’re like, 80 pounds. What have we bought? But it is amazing.

Dawn [28:31 – 28:33]: The best and most expensive.

Marti [28:33 – 28:59]: The best and most expensive. It’s called Ardross adros farm shop. And it’s just. I mean, it’s really good quality stuff. It’s one of those places where you go in and there’s everything you’ve never seen before. Do you know what I mean? Like giant marshmallows. Oh, we need to make s’mores. Let’s get that. And then there’s like, special jams and, like, fancy bread and they have all the different meats and. But do you know, I mean, it’s expensive. But all farm shops are expensive.

Dawn [28:59 – 29:06]: Well, they also do a festival up there as well, called East Nook Festival. Have you ever heard of that or been to that?

Marti [29:06 – 29:07]: No.

Dawn [29:08 – 29:17]: It’s a registered charity and they raise money each year. They do it every year. Next year it’s on the 26th or 30 June. And it’s just a lot of musicians coming together and just.

Marti [29:18 – 30:43]: I love that. They do a good market there as well, actually. The bowhouse market? Yeah, it’s just near St. Monan’s and it’s the. Now, I’m going to get this wrong, but people can look it up. It’s the first Saturday of the month, or it’s the last Saturday of. And every year when we went there, we just missed it. Like, it’d be. Oh, it’s next weekend. Oh, it was last weekend. We went this year. Absolutely amazing. Do you know what? There was a massive line for a guy just selling sausage rolls. Who knew? Really? Yeah. Amazing. I was talking to a lady selling candles and I was like, what are those people lined up for? Is that like a special thing? I thought it was like bespoke something, you know? No, she’s like, yeah, he’s the sausage roll guy. Oh, God, that sounds such a good market. You’ve got to get there really early because it gets quite parked and they have a whole section in the back for street food. Really? Yeah. So it’s like the whole maker’s market. It’s really big. It’s huge. And a sausage roll guy in the middle and someone selling coffee at the front. Always handy. And then you go to the side and it’s street food. And weirdly, a middle aged guy. I shouldn’t say that. A guy. Do you know what he knows? He’s middle aged. Middle aged guy djing. When I say djing, he’s just like, got a big speaker and he’s playing some music, having a fun time.

Dawn [30:44 – 30:45]: Is it good music?

Marti [30:45 – 30:48]: I mean, it was a bit quiet, so you couldn’t really hear it.

Dawn [30:48 – 30:49]: Okay.

Marti [30:49 – 31:05]: But, you know, people want to talk, so, you know, well done to him. But, yeah, that is an amazing market. Yeah, he’s doing his best. That’s what we’ll say about him. But, yeah, that. That’s a really fantastic market. You could be there for ages.

Dawn [31:05 – 31:16]: I need to tell my sister about that. She loves these kind of things. Yes, we quaint things. So are you planning on visiting again? Any holidays planned? East nuke or ely?

Marti [31:16 – 32:01]: Do you know what? Yeah, I think we’ll probably do it again next summer. It’s one of those places that just has such lovely memories for us because my little boy was so little when we first started going there and I just think it’s just such a peaceful place and we have. We know each little town that we’re going to go to on what day. I mean, we do St Andrews and we do lots of stuff around there as well, but just the little fishing villages. It’s not too far from Edinburgh, it’s not too much of a drive. It’s like an easy three or four days. You could just get away. It’s not too expensive, it’s a lovely thing to do with families and it’s just such a lovely atmosphere there. So, yeah, I think we’ll probably definitely go there next summer as well. Yeah, 100%, definitely.

Dawn [32:01 – 32:08]: It sounds really nice. You’ve painted an amazing picture, honestly, you have. And I’ve never been so. Yeah, I’ve got lots of nice.

Marti [32:08 – 32:19]: You have to go. I mean, you have to go to that weed just for the. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And get some chocolate after you’ve been to see the arm because that cafe. Amazing.

Dawn [32:20 – 32:24]: But you said mice. I was like, I remember the little mice when we were young. Do you remember the little.

Marti [32:25 – 32:33]: Yes. These are more detailed, though, and they have like, cardamom and like, they have amazing flavours. Oh, you’ll spend a fortune there as well.

Dawn [32:33 – 32:33]: See?

Marti [32:33 – 32:38]: Yeah. It’s all around food for me, isn’t it? Food and weed things and money.

Dawn [32:38 – 32:39]: We need to take money with us.

Marti [32:40 – 33:01]: Yes, yes. I mean, it’s not a massively expensive holiday really, either. You could do it fairly cheaply. You could get fish and chips, get an ice cream, you know, sit on the beach. Yeah. Maybe don’t go to the farm shop until the end and see how much money you’ve got left. I have a lot of nice gin, I’ll say that. They have a lot of nice gin.

Dawn [33:02 – 33:05]: You need it by the end because you’ve got to go back home again, haven’t you?

Marti [33:05 – 33:12]: Yeah, exactly. And you need to calm yourself after the pagan. Oh, yeah, the pagan ritual stuff. Yeah.

Dawn [33:12 – 33:17]: I don’t think I would go there, but I’m curious if. I’m going to have a look at the faces, though. I want to see what that looks like.

Marti [33:17 – 33:32]: It’s so interesting. I mean, I understand why people go there. It’s really, really fascinating and it’s a very peaceful area, so I sort of understand it. It’s not meant to be creepy. I think it’s just me. I read a lot of books. I watch a lot of true crime. So.

Dawn [33:32 – 33:38]: Got a podcast. So my murder podcast. So, yeah, yeah. Your imagination must be going wild.

Marti [33:38 – 33:42]: I mean, you’re the same, so. Yeah, I understand.

Dawn [33:42 – 33:47]: Alyssa Marie, it’s been an absolute pleasure speaking to you. Thanks for sharing, Easton.

Marti [33:48 – 33:55]: Thanks for having me. I get very passionate and very excited when I talk about these places.

Dawn [33:55 – 34:11]: I’m trying not. I’m trying to stay calm because when I get passionate and excited, I talk like 100 miles an hour and nobody can understand what I say. I just try and keep it calm. I know. It’s been a pleasure. So can you tell everybody how they can find you on socials and your pod?

Marti [34:11 – 34:31]: Yes. Thank you. So we are at mumsmysteries and murder on Instagram and you can find us everywhere. You get your podcast for mums mysteries and murder, whether you’re apple, your Google, all the places, Spotify everywhere. And we have a very exciting episode coming up very soon.

Dawn [34:32 – 34:34]: Ooh. Can you give us any clues?

Marti [34:35 – 34:54]: Well, it’s actually someone in Australia who has been all over the news. Do you know, we had another episode set up and we’ve recorded this episode today, actually, this woman was arrested on Friday. So it’s very, very new. We’ve never covered a case that recent happening.

Dawn [34:54 – 35:00]: So is it somebody that’s been murdered in the past and, like, somebody’s just been arrested now or is it just all happening now?

Marti [35:00 – 35:10]: No, it happened in July, July of this year. It’s actually Erin Patterson and she’s known as the mushroom murderer.

Dawn [35:10 – 35:12]: Oh. Oh, yeah.

Marti [35:13 – 35:31]: Very interesting. It’s an australian case, though. This one’s australian. So we take turns. For people that haven’t listened to the podcast, we take turns. So I’ll do the australian episode and then Effie will do a scottish story the month after. So we sort of take turns. So it’s a bit of a mixture, but yeah, very, very interesting case.

Dawn [35:36 – 38:51]: So that was my conversation with Marti. But let me tell you a few more things about the Ely and Errols ferry area. According to outaboutscotland.com, comma, East Nuke is an area of 40 sq mi and is known for its scenic coastline and pretty fishing villages, with Pittenweem, Anstruther and Crail having particularly attractive harbours. And according to Lovefromscotland, Co dot UK, Ely and errolsferry is a quintessential scottish seaside village and popular holiday destination. If you like water sports, then there’s the east nuke outdoors, which is a family run outdoor activity centre on Fife’s east coast in cellar Dyke by Anstruther and it offers a range of outdoor activities including kayaking, canoeing, archery, paddle boarding and axe throwing, with activities for individuals or all the family, and is located a 15 minutes drive north east of Ely and Errolsferry. If this sounds like something you’d like to try, you can find out more from east nukeoutdoors dot co dot UK now Marti mentioned so many food recommendations, but according to scottish spill dot co dot UK comma, an early seafood product from east nuke was the Creo Caprin, which is sun dried haddock and a couple of fun facts are that a small pictish dwelling near Elsferry was discovered in 1923 when a tractor fell through its roof and the 1997 film the Winter Guest, which starred Emma Thompson and was directed by Alan Rickman, was filmed in Ely and Errolsferry. Now I did mention the East Nuke festival when I was talking to Marti, but here’s a wee bit more about it. It has been taking place since 2004, when Donald and Louise Macdonald had the seed of an idea and believed that live music could not only bring joy, but could transform lives and connect people from those in the community to professional and new musicians. With the inspiration behind the festival being taken from the landscape, heritage and history of the area and attendance over the years has grown to an estimated 25,000, with some of the comments on the website from people who have attended saying that there superb music and a friendly atmosphere, while another said that there was wonderful music in a magical setting and that they received a warm welcome in 2024. The East Nuke festival will take place from the 26th to the 30 June and you can find out more information about the East Nuke festival as well as see the full programme for 2024 by visiting east nukefestival.com. Marti also mentioned in our conversation about a case that mums mysteries in murder would be covering. It was a murder that took place in July 2023 and the suspected murderer Erin Patterson, who is known as the mushroom murderer, was arrested late in 2023 at the time of the recording. So if you’re new to the Mums Mysteries and Murder podcast and want to listen, then I’d recommend starting with that episode. A link to the Mums mysteries and murder podcast, as well as to everything mentioned in this episode will be in the show notes as well as on our website cluarantonn.com/scottishdigest. So we hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and my chat with Marti and join us next time for another wee slice of bonnie Scotland.