Anstruther

East Neuk and Scotland's Best Fish and Chips Shop

Anstruther has some of the old and new. It's got the typical architecture of the East Neuk fishing villages but also the bustling activity of a popular tourist route. It's not surprising, given that the main road to St. Andrews goes right through the hear of the town.

The Royal Burgh of Anstruther is actually made up of three smaller burghs: Easter, Wester Anstruther and Cellardyke. It's the biggest of the fishing villages in East Neuk and the busiest. The main road to St Andrews and the one to Pittenweem go right through the town and as a result tourists and commercial vehicles alike are regular users.

A Fishing Village Endangered by Civilisation

One of the things that stands out best when I think of Anstruther is not the busy harbour or its lighthouse and not even the typical Fife church. What I remember best about that day in Anstruther is an episode which literally shocked me.

Having just come off the bus and walking along the A917 to and from Pittenweem I noticed some of the loveliest houses I've ever seen The care to detail was amazing. There is so much green and so many flowers. No matter what you do, you can't help wonder if the town is real at all.

" Take away the traffic and you're left with a lovely fishing village "

The Anstruther harbour

Green and flowers on Anstruther house

Hew Scott Hall the lorry nearly hit

Lovely shell decorations

I saw this huge lorry trying to take a turn in those narrow streets (on which the pavement was quite narrow anyway) and it almost didn't make it. I realised then just how much this place must have changed in the last decades. The lorry nearly hit the Hew Scott Hall, that's how tight a turn it was.

The main street is always busy with cars passing in both directions. I had problems crossing the street twice as there isn't a zebra crossing or a traffic island. This episode made me wonder how much damage civilisation is causing to the town.

Surely, all the traffic and trepidation doesn't help preserve the wonderful houses While its the biggest and most popular in East Neuk, I prefer any of the other fishing villages to Anstruther.

Houses Unlike Any You've Ever Seen

Anstruther buildings are very similar in architecture with the rest of the fishing villages. However, it does have its own charm. For example, there is this house I passed (on the right side of the road from Pittenweem, just after crossing the bridge over Dreel Burn) which is entirely decorated with shells Thousands of small shells and one large one make the house unique in all respects.

A Large Harbour With a Famous Fish and Chips Shop

The buildings in the harbour are now used for commercial purposes (coffee or fish and chips shops). The fish and chips shop right at the end of Shore Street ("Anstruther Fish Bar") must be Scotland's busiest of the kind. It was voted 2001's best fish and chips shop in Scotland As this was August, the queue of people waiting to have a taste couldn't be contained in the shop itself. You can't miss it, just follow the queue.

Once a busy fishing harbour, Anstruther harbour is now used by a large number of sailing boats One of them in particular, called the "May Princess" will take you on trips to the Isle of May, lying 6 miles offshore.

Anstruther harbour as seen from the pier

Anstruther pier on a misty day

The Scottish Fisheries Museum

Right at the very end of Shore Street there's the Scottish Fisheries Museum. It's a great place to learn the tale of Anstruther, the capital of the Scottish herring industry Next to the museum there's also the Tourist Information Centre.

Useful Tourist Information

Just outside Anstruther there's a Coop supermarket which is perfect to shop for food. Public transport is excellent The Glasgow and Edinburgh Express buses are very frequent and so are other local buses. The bus stop to Crail is just outside the Scottish Fisheries Museum while the bus stop to Glasgow and Edinburgh is further up Shore Street.