It was the first day of my Easter holidays and I headed up to Dundee with Nicole, where she had to attend university. After dropping her off, I drove further up the coast to Arbroath, where I had a railway walk planned, with a bit of ancient Scottish history thrown in. At least that was the intention. For the past few days I had been struggling with a heavy cough and my energy levels were low. No doubt I had picked up a virus.
I parked in an industrial area by the main East Coast railway line, near a point where a local route to Forfar once diverged. Inland traffic ceased completely in 1967 and three miles of the old line now function as a public footpath. This was an ideal distance for an out and back walk, passing through the historic settlement of St Vigeans. The first 700 yards followed the banks of the Brothock Water, which formerly powered several mills. The river then passed below the adjacent main railway and I followed suit a little further upstream, finding myself on the trackbed of the Forfar branch. A path ran back towards the site of the old junction and I walked a short distance along this to the place where the dismantled line crossed the Brothock Water on a low bridge. This would be a great place to spot trains at close quarters on the main line but I had no wish to dally and turned around to follow the walkway as it curved into the distance. The tiny village of St Vigeans was just a quarter of a mile away and I reached the red-sandstone church that sits atop a conical grassy mound. The building remains virtually unchanged since a major restoration project in 1872, when 38 Pictish carvings were uncovered, some of which were embedded within the medieval walls. The oldest parts of the church date back to the 12th century but the majority of the construction is from the 15th. A Pictish monastery was probably built in this location around AD700. The prominent position of the hilltop, standing between two burns, was ideal for a place of worship. A replica carved stone can be found on the village green and it was erected in 2020 to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath - a document sent to the pope that asserted Scotland's independence. King William I (William the Lion) had gifted St Vigeans Church to Arbroath Abbey in 1178. The ancient stones are cared for by Historic Scotland and displayed inside a sandstone cottage museum across the street from the church. Unfortunately it was closed today (March 29th) and I surmised the opening times were restricted to the warmer months. The most famous exhibit is the Drosten Stone - a tall cross slab (1.84m) featuring an ornate cross and fantastic beasts. I picked up the route of the old railway and after a hundred yards decided to turn around. I simply didn't have the stamina to walk two and a half miles each way, even though the footpath was level. Instead, I ambled back to the car, drove the short distance to Morrisons supermarket and grabbed some lunch. I whiled away a couple of hours listening to the radio until it was time to think about heading back down the road to Dundee.
Suddenly the sun came out and I took the car up to St Vigeans in search of a few nice photos. The snaps I had taken on my short walk were rather dull and uninspiring. I scanned an information board and learned there had been a flax mill in the village back in Victorian times. I vowed to return on a future date to visit the museum and complete the railway walk. For today, I was completely spent.
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