Seasonal Rituals: Cambo Snowdrops

A day trip to the East Neuk of Fife to visit the snowdrop festival 🌱

For me, seasonal rituals are a marker in the sand that celebrate the moment we’re in - and I think we need them more than ever in the colder months! It’s something I write about extensively in Slow Seasons - the ritual can be big or small, and there’s a place for both in giving our lives rhythm, meaning and joy. Whether lighting the candles, a favourite local walk or a day trip near where you live to see some natural beauty, all of these are ways to mark the passing of the seasons. I mentioned some ideas for celebrating early Spring in my Imbolc newsletter last month, including our annual pilgrimage to Cambo in the East Neuk of Fife. This is one such seasonal ritual for me, an annual tradition that I always look forward to: signalling the loosening of Winter’s grip and noticing those first signs that Spring beginning to appear, slowly but surely. Let me take you with me on a day trip to Fife to see the snowdrops.

The East Neuk is my favourite place in the world - the location of many fond memories of Summer holiday days out as a child in the villages in around North-East Fife (I’m Fife born and bred and this was how we spent our Summers - I write more about it in Slow Seasons). It’s also the place I was lucky enough to call home during my formative years at the University of St Andrews, studying a subject I loved and growing up with my now husband. This part of the world will always, always have my heart, especially Cambo Gardens - and especially in late Summer and late Winter on the cusp of each seasonal transition.

Maybe the grey of many a St Andrews day got under my skin when studying there, but I think the coast is somewhere that beckons me all year round. This corner of Fife seems to have a microclimate all of its own, but one that makes it all the more special to visit, even in Winter in the wind and the wet. The Cambo Estate is just outside Kingsbarns near St Andrews, and is well worth a visit at any time of year - not least for the spectacular walled garden - but their Snowdrop Festival every February really is a must visit. If you’re local, check out their website for events celebrating snowdrops, but it’s well worth a trip just for the woodland walk, to take at your own pace and marvel at the thousands upon thousands of snowdrops that line the spectacular pathway through the woods to the beach at Kingsbarns.

Row upon row of snowdrops flank the banks of the burn and, on a good day, the Winter sunlight filters beautifully through the bare trees and highlights their nodding white heads. Even on a relatively grey day the sight is magical, the flowers’ abundance offering such a cheery green and white sight through the brown and grey of the undergrowth. There are two paths, and we usually do a loop: starting to the right of the fork at the top takes you past a hut worthy of Mellors and takes you at great height down towards the sea via a spectacular set of stairs. It offers a great vantage point down towards the burn and onwards to the Firth of Forth. We usually sit on a bench at the golf course and watch the waves for a while. The pebbly beach is all shades of dusky pink and slate grey, and watching the seabirds swooping in and out of the bay is mesmerising. We usually then take the lower path back up the hill past the beautiful Cambo country house where the snowdrops are most abundant, with a soundtrack of birdsong to accompany us. It’s hard to capture the scale in the photos, but trust me when I say there are sweet flowers as far as the eye can see.

Back at the Walled Garden and there are even more snowdrops to enjoy, lining the paths along the apple tree walkway in the orchard and blooming outside the glasshouse. In the centre of the garden in Summer, the grasses sway in the breeze, all sandy shades punctuated with pinks, purples and yellows of wildflowers and herbs. But the gardeners leave the seed heads and grasses to dry and they provide a wonderful texture, and it’s amazing how much the pared-back palette makes you notice so much more without all the colours competing for attention. It’s especially beautiful in its bareness.

When in the area, we always make a point to stop off at Bowhouse, especially keen to visit Baern - a gorgeous cafe and bakery that do delicious things with local, seasonal produce. Today we stopped off en route for a picnic and I treated myself to a celeriac dauphinoise pie (as good as it sounds) and blood orange friand (pictured below). I absolutely love their inventive seasonal flavours, the way that certain menu highlights are always present (like the friand) but always evolve with what’s available on the farm and its surrounds. It’s such an inspiring space, too, the exposed beams of the barn, rustic tables and sage green and white colour scheme. The café at Cambo is also well worth a visit, especially once you’ve done the loop down to the beach - Parlour People from Dundee do their catering, and it’s all veggie and vegan, bright and vibrant deliciousness made with produce from the gardens. My top tip for both Cambo and the café would be to get there early - it seemed like half the population of the Central Belt was there today, so I was glad we got our takeout treats from Baern.

Cambo is home of the Scottish Snowdrop Festival but there are many other locations across Scotland as part of Scotland’s Garden Scheme that are celebrating snowdrops at this time of year. Be sure to look out for early Spring displays near where you live if you’re in the UK or Europe where they grow. And if you don’t have snowdrops growing where you live, do tell me what’s in season where you are - Southern Hemisphere please start sending us some more sunshine soon!

You can read more about snowdrops and other seasonal markers in my book, Slow Seasons, which you can order here.