A set of photos from a mini tour of Scotland in August: driving up Glasgow for a PhD viva, across to Edinburgh for the weekend with friends, before spending a few days with another friend in Fife. This was the closest I got to a proper holiday this summer!

Edinburgh SwordSale

Sign on a shop on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Is a “sword sale” really a good idea?

Edinburgh Parasol

An immature shaggy parasol growing in the Edinburgh botanical gardens.

Fife Church

The parish church of St Monans, Fife.

Fife BunkerEntrance

The entrance to the Troy Wood bunker, disguised as an unremarkable Scottish farmhouse.

Fife Bunker Fife EngineeringWorkshop

The bunker served a number of roles, the final being the emergency seat of government for Scotland in the event of a nuclear conflict (it’s easy to forget the very real threat of nuclear armageddon in the Cold War). With the ebbing of the nuclear threat, the bunker was decommissioned in 1992 and opened as a privately-run tourist attraction in 1994.

Fife Pittenweemharbour

Boats in Pittenweem harbour. Today’s fishing fleet is a tiny remnant of what used to be a major industry along the whole of the Fife coast, fishing for herring.

Scotland 2008