Mains of Kerse (1)
The white 2 storey (formerly) fortified house in the foreground is called Kersie Mains.  A 'Mains' in Scotland is a farmhouse, but the name Kersie has applied here a lot longer than the word Mains has applied to farm houses.  And then of course, it is no longer a farmhouse anyway, in fact it doesn't appear to be anything very much now, other than in danger of falling down.

Kersie is beside the muddy tidal banks of the River Forth, beside a minor road that leads to a small scattering of houses called South Alloa, and nowhere else!  As the next photo will show, the town of Alloa is on the opposite side of the river.

Before I write about Kersie, it's worth looking at the view.  The stumps sticking up out of the river are the remains of the 19th century Alloa Forth Rail Bridge - the 'other' Forth rail bridge!  Closed and dismantled in 1968, its centre section was a swing bridge, rotating on a central tower in order to let vessels pass through.  

Beyond the railway bridge, the city of Stirling and its castle can be seen on their shared hill, with Ben Lomond and the even further away Beinn Ime visible to their left; Ben Venue visible directly over the castle, and Ben Ledi, Stuc a' Chroin and Ben Vorlich filling the arc round to the Ochil Hills.

Just across the river there is a large island, called Inch, which means island!  There is a derelict farmhouse on the island, and it used to be good farmland in the past, however due to subsidence caused by nearby coal mining, its flood defences were breached and the land now consists of reed beds and salt marshes.
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