Preston Island Salt Pans

An unusual day today in that I met a couple of friends for a walk. We rendezvoused at Valleyfield Woodland Park and walked from there down to the Forth, did the circuit of Preston Island and back through the woods to our cars. The last time I did something like this was in March. We took sandwiches and water with us and sat in the shelter from the stiff breeze to have lunch. We were in the (very) fresh air for 3.5 hours and it was just great.

Preston Island isn't really an island at all but is joined to the shore of the Forth just east of Culross. It was reclaimed from the river in the early 1800s by Sir Robert Preston. The salt pans have long since fallen into disuse and disrepair. There was also coal mining on the 'island' as the coal produced the heat in the salt pans which then evaporated the water leaving behind the salt. There used to be quite a lot of salt production in Scotland but no more.

No rain! Very breezy and walking into the wind was quite hard work at times. It's been a great day though and makes me see how much I took this kind of day for granted in pre-covid19 times.