The Peat Inn
Any trip to Crail with my father would not be the same without a stop at The Peat Inn; but it was not for lunch but, rather, a glass of liquid sustenance. You can read betweent the lines on that one; but these are the facts. Of course, the rest of us were waiting impatiently outside. In the referenced site, the picture at the top shows the original inn; the white building on the right, and the map in the lower part brings back memories of other places close by.
When we finally arrived in Crail we occupied a house on Castle Street; owned by a local farmer. We had stayed in other houses in prior years; but Castle Street is the one with which I am familiar; and the nice thing about its location was that it was close to Airds fish and chip shop where, each evening, we were allowed to have a poke of chips (a small bag of French fries or a slider ( ice cream sandwich of sorts - but made on the spot).
The daily ritual was breakfast at home and then we’d troop down to the beach (Roome Bay) where the blankets were laid out in one specific location; almost territorial. If anyone else was there; they’d get the look - LOL. Around noon, my mother would head back up to the house to prepare lunch which was scarfed down by the hungry horde; appetites enhanced by the sea air. After the evening meal, the family seemed to separate; with the brother next oldest to me and me wandering off on our own. Sometimes to the puttig green or it would be down to the pond at the beach to search for shells etc. The local greeting would be “gone doon thi pon thi nicht”. Because Scotland is so far north, the evenings were very long and we’d be going to bed while the sun was setting.
