Friday in Fife

[atuk]

Last Friday took our first mega bus trip since lockdown and left Monifieth for Dundee then boarded the X58 to Edinburgh via Leven and Kirkcaldy. This service, introduced last year, was the first link between Dundee and Leven for at least two decades.

Crossing the Tay Road Bridge, opened in 1966 by HRH Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, we were provided a beautiful view of the Tay estuary towards Broughty Castle on the left and Tayport Lighthouse on the right. Now entering Fife we took at left turn at the Forgan roundabout and sped towards St Michaels, whose inn, a local haunt, remains closed at present.

Through the fertile farmlands travelling towards Balmullo then towards the ancient county town of Cupar. Leaving the main road towards Glenrothes we climb the hills giving a splendid view of East and West Lomond Hills ( the paps of Fife) and descended into Ceres, home of the Fife Folk Museum. If you’ve not been it’s well worth a visit; very interesting and a lovely wee coffee shop too. Next town en route is Kennoway, a former mining village along with Bonnybank which adjoins it. We pass the Diageo complex at Banbeath on the outskirts of Leven home to Gordon’s gin, Smirnoff vodka and , now, Johnnie Walker whisky.

Leaving the bus at Leven we stop off at Costa Coffee then have a brief walk around the desolate High Street; it can give Paisley a good run for its money, Forth Street, and back to the bus station but not before savouring the views of Largo Bay, North Berwick Law
and the Bass Rock all glistening in the morning sun.

We take service 7 an old established route between Leven and Dunfermline. Not the quickest journey at two hours twenty minutes but certainly the most scenic following the Fife Coast route. Leaving Leven we turn left into Lower Methil, once the coal port of Scotland, now home to a deserted and desolate BiFab yard. This is, however, compensated by the view across the Forth towards Dunbar and gentle slopes of the Lammermuir hills and their hidden villages, stamping ground of my late father. Now we are in the heart of the eastern side of the former Fife coalfields. “A beggars mantel fringed with gold” is how one of the Stuart kings described the ancient Kingdom of Fife. How true: fringed with fields of ripening barley, all for the malting mills then Diageo, this area was home to many coal mines. East Wemyss where Randolph Earl of Wemyss started mining, his name pops up regularly on Halls, streets and parks. Coaltown of Wemyss needs no explanation. Soon we pass Dysart with its Pan Ha’ old salt mines from centuries before and now into Kirkcaldy, The Lang Toun home to that “queer like smell” linoleum. Now only Forbo Nairn remains, testament to that once great industry, as jute was onetime to Dundee.

The view of the Forth is changing from estuary to river and scenery is becoming more industrial. The Frances Colliery on the east side of the town is mirrored by Seafield Colliery on the West. What was once one of the largest coal mines in Fife is now a housing estate.
Next stop is Kinghorn which retains some quaint buildings in the traditional rustic, honeycombed coloured harling. It’s caravan site at Pettycur Bay provides stunning views across the Forth to Silverknowes, Granton and Cramond. Further along the road, just before the Kingswood Hotel, now open again, is a statue to King Alexander Third who fell to his death from his horse.

Burntisland a popular playground, home to the former BACO plant now hosts another deserted BiFab yard. The views are much more industrial now; farm fields on the right: Dalgety Bay and its tanker terminal on the left. Aberdour graced by its silver sands literally gleaming the early afternoon sun and as we enter Dalgety Bay we are rewarded with the spectacular sight of the three bridges spanning the River Forth at North and South Queensferry.

The iconic, UNESCO World Heritage Status, Forth Bridge in all its cantilevered, terra cotta coloured glory with The Forth Road Bridge and Queensferry Crossing beyond. Inverkeithing with its former shipbreakers, a reminder of Cairnryan then Rosyth with its Royal Naval dockyard now home to Babcock Plc and three Fred Olsen cruise ships berthed there due to Covid19. We are now close to Dunfermline, one time ancient capital, home to Kings and Queen Margaret. The body of King Robert The Bruce lies in its Abbey, his heart is buried in Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders, close to my late mother’s hometown of Galashiels.

By now we near journey’s end. Arriving at the bus station we have enough time to pop into Marks and Spencer for shopping, buy lunch then catch the x24 service from Glasgow, hopefully returning soon to Glasgow Airport, to St Andrews then bus to Dundee and home to Monifieth.

Thank you Stagecoach East Scotland for a delightful day for free.

[bill]

Smashing day out atuk by the sounds of it and a free history lesson to boot. Cheers!