St Andrews for fresh air ... and fudge doughnuts
First-time author Coo Clayton recently had her children’s book, Maggie’s Mittens, released by Black & White Publishing.
The mum-of-three from Edinburgh, who is also a primary school teacher, wrote the Scottish-set story about a young girl who really doesn’t want to wear her mittens, after a similar real-life incident with her young daughter.
IGREW up in St. Andrews, so it’s no wonder I hold this beautiful seaside town close to my heart.
But when I moved to Edinburgh aged 18 to begin university and later get married and have children, I didn’t appreciate how nice a place it was to have been brought up in and how wonderful it now is to return to for a weekend break.
For me, holidays are all about fresh air, beautiful buildings and tasty food. St. Andrews ticks these three boxes.
For fresh air there’s no better place than the West Sands beach, famous for its opening scenes from Chariots Of Fire.
It holds childhood memories of my dad stealing sand in bin bags to bring back to our garden sandpit. My children are always horrified to hear of Grandad doing this but enjoy listening to the story time and time again as we walk along this stunning beach.
It’s the best place I know to blow away the cobwebs and enjoy two miles of uninterrupted sand dunes.
St. Andrews is bursting with history and architectural delights.
The size of St. Andrews Cathedral is quite unbelievable and still takes my breath away.
Built in 1158 as Scotland’s largest church, the ruins can now be enjoyed to climb upon and explore. My children love to dart about the ancient grounds and peer over the cliff edges to try to spot seals and puffins.
After all that walking and fresh air there’s only one place to refuel and that is Fisher & Donaldson’s Bakery for their famous fudge doughnut.
This doughnut is not to be joked about. It has a Wikipedia link, Facebook page and has become a bit of a worldwide taste sensation!
So I try not to scowl too much when my husband and I go there to treat the kids and he orders himself a strawberry tart. Imagine.
In the time since I grew up there, St. Andrews has transformed into a super-trendy town bursting with cafes, boutiques and flash restaurants.
It’s a perfect place to spend the summer holidays or enjoy a fun family day trip.