Guide to Fife, Scotland

Introduction

Fife, often referred to as the "Kingdom of Fife" lies on the east coast of Scotland, north of Edinburgh. The county is immediately recognisable as it's shaped like a dog's head. The southern part of the country was industrialised in the past with many coal mines and factories. Much of the heavy industry has now disappeared. St Andrews and the fishing villages of the East Neuk lie in the north east corner of the county. A great way to see the coast is to walk the Fife Coastal Path.

Getting there

The railway line north from Edinburgh goes along the Fife coast to Kirkcaldy and then the line goes inland towards Cupar and north to Dundee. So the south coast of Fife is ideal for a scenic day trip by rail from Edinburgh. If you want to explore Fife I would advise that you hire a car if you want to fully explore the area. It takes less than half an hour to drive to Fife from Edinburgh Airport.

Culross

Culross is one of those villages where you almost feel like you have stepped back in time. As you walk into the village from the car park you come to the Town House, originally constructed in 1626, although the clock tower was added in 1783. The Town House was the former centre of local government with the ground floor was used as a prison and suspected witches were kept separately in the attic. Outside the Town House is the Tron, the official burgh weighing beam. Many of the streets in the village are still cobbled. It's a short walk uphill to the Study, built in 1610 used by visiting clergy. Opposite the Study is the Mercat Cross, dating from 1588, the site of trading and public announcements.

Culross Palace is close by, resplendent in ochre. It was built in the late 16th century as as home to Sir George Bruce, a wealthy local merchant. The palace and garden have been carefully restored. The garden contains plants which would have been grown in the 17th century, root vegetables such as skirret (a water parsnip), and scorzonera (black salisfy) and fruit trees such as medlar (a small brown apple like fruit, only edible when partly decayed) and quince (a cross between an apple and a pear usually make into jams and jelly). There are lovely views over the garden and palace and out over the Forth Estuary from the top terrace. Sir Bruce stood up on this terrace to observe activity in the harbour, seeing his fortune ever increasing from the export of coal and salt to the Low Countries and the Baltic.

Much of Sir Bruce's wealth derived from the Moat Pit dug to extract coal from under the estuary, the first time that coal was mined from under the sea. A mine shaft was dug from an artificial island created in the water, where ships could dock to immediately transport the coal. The seawater was extracted by a horse driven chain of buckets. Some of the coal was used locally to evaporate water from large salt pans, measuring more than 5.5 metres across, to produce salt. It took 16 tons of coal to produce one ton of salt. Sir Bruce was not the first to mine coal in Culross. The Cistercian monks of Culross Abbey, founded in 1217 started the industry. The monks also produced illuminated manuscripts.

Kirkcaldy area

Kirkcaldy is the birthplace of Adam Smith, founding father of modern economics. I like Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery, it's small but interesting. It is a collection of paintings by the Scottish Colourists and a local history exhibition. Beveridge Park has lovely gardens and boating pond.

Dysart lies to the north of Kirkcaldy. "Sea Beams" by Donald Urquhart, is a new installation at the sea front, with 9 vertical oak beams painted to reflect the varying colours of the sea, part of the Dysart Artworks Initiative. The white houses of Pan Ha' date back to the 16th century but were restored by the National Trust in the 1960s. The Tolbooth at Dysart Crosss was built in 1576 but unfortunately is now surrounded by rather dismal blocks of flats.

Just south of Kirkcaldy are the smaller coastal towns of Kinghorn and Burntisland. Just outside Kinghorn is the statue is memory of King Alexander 111 of Scotland, who fell to his death when his horse slipped on the rocks. Alexander was rushing to his bride, Yolande at Kinghorn Castle. It's said the ghost of Yolande scours the area searching for her lost love. Burntisland was granted status as a royal burgh since 1541 due to the importance of its harbour. You can climb up the Bin Hill just behind the town for some great views.

Falkland

Falkland is a charming village which lies at the foot of East Lomond, one of the three Lomond hills. The village is packed with history and it was named a Royal Burgh by James 11 in 1458. Falkland Palace was built on the site of Falkland Castle in the 15th century. I love the setting of the palace with the contrast of the formal gardens against the back drop of the hill. The Royal Tennis Court built in 1539 for James V, is the oldest tennis court in the UK. It's real tennis that played here with a more complex scoring system than the current game. The score lines are adorned with paintings of crowns. Mary, Queen of Scots, is said to have created a great stir when she abandoned her stiff skirt to don breeches to play here. The court is still used by a local club. The whole village is pretty with restored "Little Houses" used as residences or business premises. There are a couple of good tearooms, Kynd Kittocks and the Hayloft.

I would recommend that you go up East Lomond. Hill It only takes about an hour to ascend and descent as there is a car park with picnic benches and toilets half way up. There' s a good path to the summit and the panoramic views over the Forth Estuary are great. You'll see a brown sign for the car park at the roadside on the A912 just east of Falkland.

Ceres

Ceres is a village in central Fife, a few miles south east of Cupar. It's a lovely village with a stream running through it. The village is very well cared for with flower tubs beside "The Provost", a 19th century carved stone depiction of the last church provost, Thomas Buchanan. Ceres is home to the Fife Folk Museum, which portrays the history of everyday rural life in the area. The museum website appears to be down at present but you can contact them by phone on 01334 828180 to check opening hours.

I was intrigued by the Bannockburn Memorial in Ceres as the Battle of Bannockburn was fought near Stirling, some 50 miles from Ceres. However several men from Ceres did march to take part in the Battle in 1314. The Memorial was erected in 1914 to mark the 600th anniversary of the Battle. The Ceres Highland Games, the oldest free to attend Games in Scotland were established in 1314, to mark victory against the English at Bannockburn, are held on the last Saturday in June. I wonder how those involved in the creation of the Memorial would have felt if they had known of the bloodbath that was to follow in the First World War, starting in the same year?

The Griselda Hill Pottery in the village produces the famous Wemyss Ware, hand painted giftware, best known for its cats. There's a visitor centre where you can watch a DVD about the pottery and observe the potters and painters at work through a glass door. It's a very interesting story as Wemyss ware was originally made in Wemyss on Fife coast between the 1880s and 1930s. One of the painters, Karel Nekola, came from Eastern Europe and his son, Joseph, followed in his Father's footsteps. When the Wemyss pottery closed and the trademark was sold to the Bovey Pottery in Devon, Joseph moved to Devon. where he trained Esther Weeks, who became the Head Decorator when Joseph died in 1952. The production of Wemyss Ware returned to Fife in the 1980s when the trade mark was purchased by Griselda Hill. However Esther Weeks has visited the Ceres pottery and passed on the secret painting techniques. Display cabinet at the Griselda Hill Pottery

St Andrews and the East Neuk of Fife

St Andrews as an interesting history. Evidently the Greek monk St Rule was visited by an angel, wo advised him to remove the bones of St Andrew from Istanbul to the ends of the earth. St Rule followed this advice but was shipwrecked on his journey to the ends of the earth with the remains of St Andrew, on the east coast of Fife, near the present day St Andrews. St Andews Castle was the main residence of the Bishops of St Andrews since the 12th century. It was the administrative centre of the church in Scotland. You can see the notorious "Bottle Dungeon", a pit dug 6 metres into the rock. accessible only by a trap door.

The university was founded in 1411 and is the oldest in Scotland. The heir to the British throne, Prince William, was a student there. He has sometimes been spotted in the local supermarket or playing a round of golf. The 15th century was certainly a very busy time, as it is said that golf was first played in the town. The town now hosts the British golf museum, which is just behind the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse. However there is a lot more to the town than golf. There are two lovely golden sandy beaches, great for an invigorating walk

The area just south of St. Andrews is known as the east neuk of Fife. There are numerous small fishing villages, such as Crail, Anstruther and Elie, popular with artists during the Summer. All the villages are picturesque and as they're close together you can drive from one to the next in a few minutes.

Kellie Castle lies two miles inland from Pitenweem. I haven't managed to see the interior of the castle yet but I love the peaceful walled garden there. The garden was described as " a little pleasance of the soul by whose wicket the World can be shut out" by one of the former owners, Sir Robin Lorimer.

You can read the full guide with photos and accommodation options at http://www.europealacarte.co.uk/Scotland/fife.html Karen Bryan is a UK based independent travel consultant and writer who also blogs about travel in Europe http://www.europealacarte.co.uk/blog

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