Calton Hill, at the eastern end of Princes Street in Edinburgh, is surrounded on three sides by Regent Terrace, Calton Terrace and Royal Terrace, the last of these streets is pictured below. It was William Henry Playfair, the renowned Scottish architect, who was responsible for the building of these prestigious streets, with the Royal […]
View from Calton Hill in Edinburgh, with the Dugald Stewart Monument in the foreground, and Edinburgh Castle, the Balmoral Hotel (and clock tower), and the Scott monument in the background. The Dugald Stewart Monument is a memorial to the Scottish philosopher and mathematician, who is best known for popularising the Scottish Enlightenment. The Scottish […]
As early as 1896, Professor Kennedy (of Messrs Kennedy and Jenkins) proposed a joint venture for both power and tramways in Kirkcaldy. In 1898 he was appointed as consultant engineer, by the newly formed Tramways and Electric Light Committee. His proposal was to build a power staion on Victoria Road, in Kirkcaldy. The main […]
During this summer just gone, we went back down to my home town of Penzance, to stay with my parents for a few days. I got up early one morning, and took my camera out to photograph parts of the town that I had always just taken for granted. Over the next few months I […]
This wonderful Georgian house in Viewfield Terrace, Dunfermline was built in approx 1808, for James Blackwood, the then Provost of Dunfermline. From 1920-1965, it was used as an art and craft school, under the ownership of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, but in 1985 it was converted into flats.
The Galloway Library in Colinsburgh was built in 1903, at the bequest of Thomas Carstairs Galloway, a rich linen merchant, He was born in Kilconquhar, Fife, in 1846, and died at the beginning of the 20th century. He left a large Trust fund to the village. The money from the Trust was to be invested […]
Glenrothes is a ‘new’ town, none of the properties are much older than approx 70 years, with one or two exceptions. Therefore my closest ‘local‘ older houses, are the Greenside Cottages, which face onto Leslie Green. Leslie is a small village to the west of Glenrothes. The Greenside Cottages are also known as Douglas Croft […]
Following a conversation I had with someone on Facebook, I’ve discovered a wee bit of extra information about the top photo on the post “Flying Buttresses of Dunfermline Abbey“, which shows the flying buttresses of the South wall of the Abbey. The extra info is at the bottom of the page 🙂 BTW In […]
Continuing from my previous 2 posts (Black & White Photos From Pathhead, Kirkcaldy – Part 1 and Part 2), here are the final few photos taken in Kirkcaldy, from the old Nairn Linoleum Works, Kirkcaldy Harbour, and the return up to Pathhead. The first photo shows the large metal floor supports for part of what […]
Continuing from my previous post (Black & White Photos From Pathhead, Kirkcaldy – Part 1), here are a few more photos taken in Kirkcaldy, going along Victoria Rd, and then down Dunnikier Road towards the harbour. The first three photos show an old warehouse or factory (possibly the old Dunnikier Linoleum Works, built some time after […]
Here’s some photos I took a few weeks ago starting at Pathhead, then going along Nairn St and Victoria Rd, and on down to Kirkcaldy Harbour. The first photo shows Pathhead main street, Commercial St, which satisfies my love of old chimneys. The second and third photos are of a small church, built in 1869, tucked away from the main […]
As part of this weeks Daily Post Photographic Challenge – Circle – I’m posting two photos of the Tyndall-Bruce Monument on Blackhill, in the Lomond Hills. This interesting structure was built to commemorate the life of Onesiphorus Tyndall-Bruce, who married Margaret Stewart Hamilton Bruce (the then Hereditary Keeper of Falkland Palace), in 1828. Having accrued quite substantial […]
As a very late entry for Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge : Metal & Wood, I’m posting 3 photos taken from the now derelict and fire damaged Leslie House, near Glenrothes. This magnificent building used to be the home of the Dukes of Rothes from 1670, and in it’s prime was said to rival Holyrood Palace […]
After a number of days of heavy rain and general dreich weather, I couldn’t resist posting these three photos taken back in September, during the last days of our summer, as part of this weeks ‘Eye Spy‘ Weekly Photo Challenge. Eye Spy BLUE SKIES!!!!!! 🙂
As part of “Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge : Buildings & Trees“, I’m posting 8 photographs taken this summer from around southern Fife. Belvedere Hotel – West Wemyss This wonderful old building was built in 1927, and used by the Miners’ Welfare Institute until 1952. It then remained derelict until 1986, when it was converted to […]
Yesterday was St Andrew’s Day, St Andrew is being the patron saint of Scotland. It is celebrated on the 30th November each year and has been made a Bank Holiday by the Scottish Government, since 2006. Unfortunately banks, businesses and schools have not been forced to shut for the day – which means that many […]
My final post for the theme ‘Trios’ (as part of the Weekly Photographic Challenge – Trio), consists of a series of photographs of inanimate objects from in, and around, Fife. The first photo is of three boats on the Firth of Forth.
Following the Scottish ‘Victory‘ over the English in the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, William Wallace was a Scottish hero, and very much sort after by the King of England, Edward I. In 1303, Wallace was meant to have visited St Margaret’s Shrine in Dunfermline, (see Jo’s blog, The Hazel Tree, for an excellent […]
In response to this weeks photographic challenge, the builders of Dunfermline Abbey were being ‘careful‘ when they built the flying buttresses around both sides of the building.
This is a photo of one the cobbled streets in Culross, Fife. It’s not a selfie, well I guess it is, but thats not the point of interest, the cobbled lane is of far more importance! It shows Back causeway, a late Medieval – Jacobean roadway heading from Culross Town House, or Tolbooth, to the […]
As part of this weeks WordPress Photographic Challenge for the theme “Boundaries“, for many people in the UK, Hadrian’s Wall is one of the most famous boundaries. It marks the divide between the ‘civilised’ English, and the ‘barbaric’ Scots. Okay, that is somewhat exaggerated, but you get the gist of it. Hadrian’s Wall was started […]
Hill of Tarvit mansion was originally built in 1696 by John Wemyss of Unthank possibly using Sir William Bruce as the architect, and was known as Wemyss House. In 1906, Frederick Sharp, a wealthy businessman from Dundee, bought the house and employed Sir Robert Lorrimer, an architect and designer, to completely rebuild and modernise the […]
Just to the west of one of the most picturesque villages in Fife, lies Falkland School. The area surrounding the school was once part of the Falkland Estate, and has a few of the remaining architectural features which were built in the 19th century, including this fine bridge, which crosses the Maspie Burn (a small […]
The village of Charlestown, which lies on the south coast of Fife between the Kincardine and Forth road bridges, was established in 1770 by the 5th Earl of Elgin, Charles Bruce. The village, which is on a ridge overlooking the harbour, was laid out in the shape of an inverted ‘C’ & ‘E’, for Elgin […]
The building was built on the location of an older Town House dating from 1771, which itself stood on the location of a yet older Town House built in the 17th century. The older of these two original buildings was demolished in the 18th century in order for Bridge Street to be built.
This photograph is from an old barn, near the hamlet of Star, just outside Glenrothes.
The Metal Bridge, Leven This is the 3rd bridge up from the mouth of the River Leven. It tends not to be seen by all that many people, as it is on a small side road running from Levenvale to Aberhill in Methil. The bridge was built in 1908 by the Brandon Bridge Building Company, Motherwell.
The Oldest House, Glenrothes
A church is recorded to have existed on this piece of land from as early as the 11th century. The church is dedicated to the Pictish St Drostan, who was meant to have come to Scotland, from Ireland, with St Columba in 563AD. The tower of St Drostan’s Church dates from early medieval times, probably […]
The Coo and the Tower Blythe’s Tower or Folly, seen here in the background of this photo, which I took early one morning a couple of weeks ago, was built in 1812 by a wealthy linen merchant. He wanted to be able to view cargo ships as they entered the Forth, so he could procure the […]
Originally built in 1674, the tower of which still remains today. In 1787, the rectangular portion of the church was demolished to make way for a larger church, for an ever increasing congregation. The organ loft on the south side of Abbotshall Church (seen on the far right of the photo) was added in 1898.
Black & white photograph I took last Tuesday, on a walk from Glenrothes to East & West Lomond Hills. This small clump of trees is in a field of wheat, on the edge of the Formonthills to the north of Glenrothes.
Limekilns is a small village on the northern edge of the Firth of Forth, just to the west of Rosyth and the Forth Rail and Road Bridges. It’s name nowadays is confusing, because there is very little remaining evidence of lime kilns in the village, whereas neighbouring Charlestown to the west, has the largest lime […]
For many non-Scots, two famous icons representing Scotland would be thought of as Edinburgh Castle and whiskey, or tartan kilts and the thistle. But to a TRUE Scot, Barr’s Irn Bru is the most iconic of Scottish symbols!
Leslie, built on a spur of land between the River Leven and the Camby Burn, on the western side of the new town Glenrothes, was once a thriving community. It is now a fairly quiet village, with most of the community working outside the direct confines of Leslie.
The only two easily visible remnants of the Mary Colliery (coal mine), at Lochore Meadows, are the massive winding gear reinforced concrete headframe and a locomotive engine used for transporting the coal away from the mine.
Fife Photos & Art 