Dunfermline to Townhill (4.5 miles)
Begin at the large (and free) public car park on Leys Park Road. The imposing building opposite is Leys Park Care Home which was once the parish poorhouse. Follow the tarred walkway between the football stadium and the cemetery. This is the course of the old railway from Dunfermline to Stirling, closed to passengers in 1968 and dismantled completely at the end of the 1980s. Pass under a stone bridge (pictured) and note the lineside artefacts. A little wooden locomotive sits in the undergrowth and wooden markers for the (now demolished) Upper Station and the renamed Lower Station (now Dunfermline Town) have been nailed to a tree.
The railway path peters out near Dunfermline Queen Margaret Station (where the Upper Line once diverged). Turn left uphill past the hospital and pick up another footpath 150 yards beyond Robertson Road. This is the trackbed of a long-gone mineral railway network and it climbs to overlook Townhill Loch. As the path curves to join another old spur, angle back on yourself by taking the signed Bridle Path. A pleasant rural stretch is invaded by the hum of an electricity substation and glimpses of the loch can be caught between the vegetation. Continue into the village of Wellwood and walk past Queen Anne High School back towards Dunfermline town centre. Pass through the retail park to return to the starting point.
