Burntisland and The Binn - 13th April 2019

About the start of January 2020 I decided I would make my quest to walk through and photograph all of Fife's 1 km gridsquares a little more attainable. Whilst in Dorset, I had concentrated on all girdsquares west of an arbitrary line (which went through Dorchester); now, in Fife and living on the east side of the county, I decided to draw an abritrary line down through Kirkcaldy and complete all the gridsquares east of that line.

But this walk is one of the few that I did, west of that line, before I made that decision, and I'm glad I did because it was a lovely walk with lots of history. For the purpose of this blog, I have used a mixture of photographs from two visits to the town, the second one being in June 2019 - hence the more verdant greenery!

I parked in Burntisland, a town which is significant in Covenanting history. 

East Port Gates, Burntisland. NT2385

David Hackston was a Covenanter who fought for religious freedom during the seventeenth century. The Covenanters refused to accept the English Prayer Book or the system of Church Government with the role of Bishops and, more significantly, the idea that the monarch could be head of the Church. They believed that the Bible taught that Christ, and Christ alone, was the head of the church and if the monarch and his or her government's policies came into conflict with what they believed to be biblical truth, they would not adhere to those policies. Such was the case with King Charles II. Archbishop Sharp was a notorious persecutor of the Covenanters around St Andrews. On 3rd May 1679 he was murdered by a group of Covenanters, one of whom was David Hackston of Rathillet in Fife.

Following Hackston's execution in 1680, his disembowelled body was taken to four places to be displayed. One of those four places was the East Port at Burntisland, where there used to be an arch marking the eastern entrance to the town. It was from this archway that part of David Hackston's body was hung, no doubt as a warning to other 'rebels'. His grave is at Cupar, although I am not sure which part of him is actually buried there!

I walked up the High Street to the former site of the tollbooth.

Site of former Burntisland Tollbooth. NT2385

In May 1685  224 Covenanters were ferried from Leith to Burntisland and imprisoned in two tiny rooms in the tollbooth for two days and nights in appalling conditions before being marched to Dunnottar Castle, where they were imprisoned indefinitely. Burntisland Heritage Trust has an excellent webpage on this subject - here

The tollbooth was demolished in 1843.

I followed the Fife Coast Path to the 16th Century Rossend Castle, which is now the offices of architects Robert Hurd & Partners. I wouldn't mind working in an office like that!

Rossend Castle. NT2285

I got a little lost finding my way through the park and across the railway line, but eventually found the path and walked parallel to the railway line virtually all the way to Aberdour.

Fife Coast path near Kirkton, NT2286.

A little spring provided a photograph for the next gridsquare, although there was also a waterfall which was very difficult to photograph as there wasn't enough path to move backwards on!

Spring on Fife Coast Path. NT2185

Waterfall on Fife Coast Path. NT2185

By the time I'd reached the next gridsquare I had crossed to the other side of the railway, but I can't remember doing so! This part of the coast path is known as The Heughs.

The Heughs, near Aberdour. NT2085

And so I was in Aberdour and NT1985, a place and square I have posted about before on this blog, so will fast forward via Long Haugh, the Railway station and the nasty (as far as walking is concerned) A921 to the next gridsquare.

I had raced up the A921 as it is not pleasant walking and, feeling rather puffed out from my exertion, I quickly crossed the road to join a welcome footpath at the chevron. I now entered NT1986, but only briefly and despite it being dominated by the rather attractive name of Humbie, I somehow managed not to take a photograph in this gridsquare.

As I walked north-east and upwards, I gained some good views of Edinburgh and across the Forth and, much closer, of my destination, The Binn. The airshaft on the bottom left of the bottom photograph is to ventilate a disused mine.

Edinburgh and Arthur's Seat from NT2086

The Binn from NT2086

Burntisland and Inchkeith. NT2086

Ahead of me lay Torry Hill and this was my featured photograph for this gridsquare.

Torry Hill. NT2086

I arrived at the busy A909 and ran across. The footpath emerges at a bit of a blind spot so care is needed in crossing. Fortunately I did not have to walk along the road as the minor road to Dunearn is directly across from the footpath. I wasn't going to be in this gridsquare for long, though, so needed to take a photograph quite quickly. The junction afforded an excellent opportunity.

T-junction at A909. Road to Dunearn with Dunearn hill fort in background - and, noticeably, logs for sale! NT2087

Tempting though it was to explore the hill fort, I had to stick to one project at a time, so would leave that for another 50 years when this Fife gridsquare project is complete!

Dunearn House provided a subject for my next gridsquare, whilst some curious horses came to say hello.

Dunearn House. NT2187

Horses at Dunearn. NT2187

My original plan had been to extend my walk to take in Orrock Hill with its trigpoint, but I decided against it as I approached.

Orrock Hill. NT2288 from NT2287

 I made do with a very boring photograph for NT2287.

Road to Orrock. NT2287

I turned off right towards Craigkelly Transmitting Station Mast, a local landmark, though few perhaps know its correct name.

Craigkelly Transmitting Station on The Binn. NT2387

I followed the path eastwards to Binnend and photographed the Shale Oil Works as I didn't think I would see anything else to photograph in that gridsquare. I was very wrong.

Burntisland Shale Oil Works. NT2487

The Oil works employed 1000 men at its peak. They were established in 1878 to mine shale. The business started off very small but expanded when they were brought by a new company in 1881. The average daily output of shale was 500 tons, which yielded 15,000 gallons of crude oil.The year 1887 was, sadly, the turning point for the company and the works closed completely in 1894.

During its heyday, however, a village was created to house the oil work employees. This was known as Binnend and was divided into two parts - High Binn and Low Binn. At the 1891 Census, the High Binn had a population of 564, crammed in to 95 houses (mainly of two rooms each) and the Low Binn had a population of 192 in 33 houses. The High Binn had its own school, Free Church Mission Hall and football pitch.

When the oil work employees were paid off in 1893, the populations began to dwindle. There was a brief revival during the First World War when troops and dockyard workers occupied the houses and when the aluminium works and the shipyard opened in Burntisland around the end of that war, the village provided good low cost homes for a number of the incoming workers.

Between the two wars, however, the decline in the permanent population continued. Many of the houses then were developed into holiday homes  and old postcards. The school closed around 1931, but, despite the lack of basic facilities such as piped water, gas, electricity and sanitation, some families insisted on remaining in the village.

Sadly, by 1952 only two couples remained, the Hoods and the McLarens. The last resident to leave in 1954 was 74 year old George Hood.

Today, people in Burntisland still remember the Binn village.

I knew none of this story as I happened upon these poignant ruins.

These four photos show the village as it is today. NT2487

For photos and more information about Binnend Village, visit the Burntisland Heritage Trust page - here.

I sat on a boulder neat the village with my lunch feeling really chuffed to have come across such unexpected history on my walk. I do love it when that happens. I love having some homework to have to go and research.

I descended down the hill via a well-used footpath.

Footpath on The Binn. NT2487

Footpath on The Binn. NT2486

I was in NT2486 very briefly before emerging onto the B923, along which I had to walk to re-enter the town of Burntisland. I looked up at a curiously named place on the map, Widows Land. It nestled beneath the interesting bulk of the Binn which I had just visited. I later found out it refers to

' An enclave of arable and pasture land on the S E side of The Binn granted by Capt [Captain] Watson, to 3 Widows of the name of Boswell, Watson and Orrock, there is a house in which the Widows live in Burntisland.'

(OS Name Book OS1/13/135/1/50)

Widow's Land, on The Binn, Burntisland. NT2386

I followed my nose now back to my car, turning frequently to look back at The Binn with its hidden lost village. What a wealth of stories that place must hold!

The Binn and Burntisland. NT2385

Number of new gridsquares: 13

Number of miles walked: 8.1

Walk worth repeating: yes, and include Orrock Hill

Highlights: Burntisland town, Binnend lost village