Abden Rocks

Pettycur Harbour on the Fife coast

An old pier seen in full at low tide.

Beach at Pettycur Bay

With the large hillside caravan holiday park in the background.

The island of Inchkeith in the Firth of Forth

From Pettycur Harbour area.

Petticur Bay

With the island of Inchkeith on the horizon.

Petticur housing

Above Petticur harbour.

Rocky coastline

Beside the Fife Coastal Path.

Kinghorn parish church

In St James Place, Kinghorn, this Church of Scotland 'Kirk by the Sea' has stood for over 750 years. It has an unobstructed view across the beach to the Firth of Forth and Edinburgh. It also has a 'Sailors Aisle' dating from 1609 which marks its naval connections and contains a model of the first 'Unicorn' ship.

Kinghorn from the coastal path to the NE

The modern caravan park overlooks the slip of a long gone shipyard, a local industry in Victorian times. Behind the caravans lie Kinghorn harbour, Kinghorn itself on its clifftop and, in the background, Edinburgh across the Firth of Forth.

John Blackwood

Kinghorn Harbour

Some hardy souls brave the cold waters of the Forth on what passes for a warm summer's day at these latitudes! On the left, and above the roofs of the buildings on the shore, is the railway station and viaduct carrying the trains which used to bring many visitors to this Fife village. In the background you can see Largo Law and along the coast as far as Earlsferry.

John Blackwood

Pillow Lavas

These lumpy rocks are pillow lavas. They were formed in the Carboniferous when this was an active volcanic area. Pillow lavas are formed when lava, usually basaltic, is erupted in shallow water.

Foreshore near Kinghorn

The rounded rocks on the right are mostly volcanic, and the seaweed-covered spit is made up of sedimentary rocks lying on top of the lava and tilted by later tectonic movements. It points towards Arthur's Seat, the largest extinct volcano in Edinburgh on the far coast of the Firth of Forth.

Mixed Rocks

The smooth grey layers are limestones, and the lumpy reddish rocks are lava. The dark rock in the centre is a loose block of lava which has fallen from higher up as the rocks have been eroded over time.

Limestone Layers and Lava Lumps

Most of the boulders are loose lumps, probably from the layer of pillow lavas which outcrops nearby. They are resting on the Abden Limestone, one of several limestones laid down in a shallow sea while Scotland lay close to the Equator. The island is Inchkeith in NT2982 and in the distance is Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, both of which are remnants of ancient volcanoes.

Sedimentary and Volcanic Rocks

The smooth grey layers are limestones, and the lumpy reddish rocks are lava. The dark boulders are loose blocks of lava which have fallen from higher up as the rocks have been eroded over time.

Eroded Surface

This is part of the outcrop of NT2787 : Pillow Lavas which has been eroded down to intertidal level. The white lines are calcite which has precipitated in the cracks between the pillows.

Double Lava Flow

On the right are two lava flows. The lower one is barely visible at the foot of the cliff, which forms the upper one. Under the overhang is a layer of laterite. Laterite forms by weathering of soil in tropical climates, and is an important source of bauxite, the ore from which aluminium is extracted. This layer was formed in the Carboniferous when Scotland lay close to the Equator. It shows that there was a long interval of time between the two lava flows.