Historical Societies

I've been to a number of historical talks over the last few years at Dunfermline Library. As I type, I'm booked in for a couple of lectures this month: Air raids on the River Forth and the life of Lillias Adie, the West Fife witch whose remains were disposed of along the Torryburn foreshore. The slab marking her watery grave can still be spotted. Social media is naturally a good way of finding out about local happenings and I'm a member of various Facebook groups. These channels have alerted me to a number of events. I spotted a post on Inner Forth Wanderings from a lady who was preparing to speak at a meeting of the Gellet Society (based in Charlestown). The topic was the development of formal path networks along both banks of the firth. Right up my street I thought. I browsed the society's website and discovered this talk was the first of their 2019/20 season. It was £15 to join for a year but guests could pay £3 on the night. Quite a few of the lectures looked interesting and I decided to attend as a visitor and see if I liked the set-up. The event was being held in the village hall and there must have been nearly 50 people present. I bumped into an old colleague, Ken McFee, with whom I used to play five-a-side football and it was nice to catch up. The talk was indeed interesting and - as expected - there was a question and answer session at the end. I'm certainly considering joining as a full member. The bit I hadn't really bargained for was just how many of these local history groups are in existence! A pin-board displayed the programmes for societies based in Inverkeithing, Dollar and Dunfermline. I've since attended a brilliant talk on Scotland and slavery at the latter. On that particular night, I also heard about a similar organisation in Saline. To top it off, I found my way to the opening session for the year at the Torryburn & District History Group, just down the road from me. Basically, these clubs are all over the place. I plan to delve in and have already programmed several dates into my phone.

On a related note, I went along to a public meeting in Torryburn regarding the proposal to erect a monument to the Scottish women accused of witchcraft. The case of Lillias Adie recently made the national newspapers and TV channels. She is the only victim for whom a known resting place exists. This is due to the fact she was buried (dumped being a more accurate description) after dying in custody. Experts performed a facial reconstruction last year from a cast of the skull. The normal fate of these accused women was burning or drowning. Around 30 people were in attendance at the meeting, split roughly 50/50 between villagers and those from further afield. The suggested memorial was in the form of a decommissioned warning beacon sited previously in the Forth. It could be mounted on a plinth and illuminated during the hours of darkness. What a great idea! A feather in the cap for a West Fife village and something that would draw interest from far and wide....the locals are going to love this. I couldn't have been more wrong. A wall of negativity was thrown up and apparently visitors wouldn't come to Torryburn because the village has no infrastructure. Or so the argument went. Inadequate parking, a lack of public toilets....I'm sure you get the picture. I tried to point out that Dunning in Perthshire attracts people to its witch memorial despite the far more isolated location. Moreover, a nationally endorsed tribute would surely bring footfall and a financial boost to Torryburn. That's basic economics, isn't it? Nope! People are only interested in going to nearby Culross. As I've said in other posts, Culross is indeed booming, due in no small part to the Outlander connection. Why wouldn't you want to tap into that? Every counter argument fell upon deaf ideas. The chairman of the Community Council was present, as was the secretary. Their closing remarks did leave a slightly bitter taste. Rejection of the idea is one thing but to suggest the meeting should have been restricted to villagers was taking parochialism too far. One woman in the audience had travelled from Inverkeithing and stood up to say she had been made to feel most unwelcome.

In the meantime, I've heard that Culross Community Council was approached and gave positive feedback regarding the beacon. Apparently, the views expressed at the Torryburn meeting don't reflect the position of all the village reps and certainly not the residents in general. Let's see what comes out in the wash. What actual clout do community councils have? The tail must never be allowed to wag the dog.

Edinburgh Western Wander

An outlying spur on the capital city network of old railway paths runs westwards to the suburb of Davidson's Mains. At just under three miles from Haymarket Station, it's a walk I could easily complete by heading over to Edinburgh after work. I took the bus across and got off at the West End. When planning the route, I noticed the path terminated close to Lauriston Castle and a visit to the grounds seemed a good idea on a fine sunny evening. As I began my excursion, I encountered a stunning building just beyond Haymarket - the former Donaldson's school for deaf children.

Opened by Queen Victoria in 1850, the palatial mansion and surrounding land was bequeathed by newspaper publisher Sir James Donaldson on condition it be used for the education of youngsters afflicted by poverty. Applications from deaf children were welcomed and by 1938 the school was concentrating solely on working with the hard of hearing. As the 21st century rolled round, the building was sold for £22 million and the pupils transferred to a modern facility in Linlithgow. The old school is now in the process of being converted to luxury flats. I was able to poke my camera through the railings and take this nice shot. My immediate reaction was to wonder why the school management had decided to desert such a jaw-dropping location. Indeed Queen Vic herself remarked it was grander than some of the official royal residences! Spectacular, however, doesn't necessarily equal fit for purpose and it's probably extremely difficult to alter a vast A-listed property to comply with modern special-needs legislation and the associated technological requirements. No doubt the capital raised from the sale will fund a state-of-the-art facility with lower running costs to the benefit of the children. Moving on, I picked up the start of the railway path.

The first section of the trail was familiar ground and dozens of homeward bound commuters passed me on their bikes. It was the first time I'd walked one of these railway routes during rush hour and it's good to see the paths being so eagerly used. Choosing to ride Shanks's pony certainly put me in the minority. I branched on to Blackhall Path which ran for just over a mile to Davidson's Mains. It ended at a Tesco supermarket and I picked up a snack to keep me going. There was also a Starbucks nearby but I wanted to press on as the light was great for photographs but wouldn't last forever. Within ten minutes, I found the entrance gate to Lauriston Castle. It sits on high ground overlooking the Firth of Forth and there is a wonderful view of the tidal Cramond Island. The castle itself is a 16th-century tower house with added extensions. It is now in the care of Edinburgh City Council and afternoon tours are available. The grounds are free to enter and open until 8pm, another reason why I wanted to keep moving.

The tide was fully in and I was able to photograph Cramond Island surrounded by water. There is a causeway to the mainland and I've read that around 50 people per year find themselves trapped by the incoming water. The castle was nicely illuminated by the setting sun and I had a pleasant wander around the grounds although I didn't manage to find the Japanese garden. There was no need to trek back along the railway path as I was able to connect with the Fife bus routes following a 10-minute walk downhill. Back to Dunfermline in good time for a couple of pints in the Commercial.

Bo'ness Heritage Railway

The Scottish Railway Preservation Society own five miles of track from Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth to a junction with the main Edinburgh to Glasgow line further inland at Manuel. Heritage steam and diesel trains operate from the middle of March until the Santa Specials at the end of the year. Most of the action takes place at weekends but midweek running days are added during the warmer months and school holidays. As a lifelong fan of preserved railways, I visit at least once a year to support the project.

You don't even need to board a train in order to appreciate the historic ambience of the set-up. The station buildings are suitably retro and were in fact previously sited at Wormit in north Fife. A traditional café provides hearty nourishment and the souvenir shop stocks a good range of railway literature and gifts. Further down the platform, a coach has been converted into an emporium crammed with a huge selection of second-hand books and magazines, as well as other memorabilia. I should state at this point that the Museum of Scottish Railways is just a short walk away and well worth a visit. A combined ticket can be bought for the heritage line and museum, saving a couple of pounds in the process. Having seen the exhibits many times previously, I decided not to place the museum on my itinerary for today. I arrived just in time for the first scheduled departure and the sun was blazing. A German couple were buying tickets ahead of me. As I walked along the platform, I noticed a couple of dining coaches and another carriage reserved for an Outlander party. Clearly the railway attracts a broad spectrum of customers.

The train chuntered out of Bo'ness and halted at Kinneil. I was planning to alight here on the return leg and walk along the foreshore. The route then swings inland and the next stop is Birkhill. This was formerly the terminus of the heritage line and tours of an old fire clay mine were available here. The clay was a raw material for brick production but the mine has now closed to the public. A fine viaduct carries the train over the River Avon and we carried on as far as the junction with the Edinburgh to Glasgow line. Forging this connection with the national network enables legendary working steam locomotives such as Flying Scotsman and Tornado to visit Bo'ness. In fact they are often stabled here overnight in preparation for Scottish tours. A raised viewing platform at Manuel Junction provides an outlook across the rolling landscape while trains thunder by on the express route behind. Railway buffs can watch the engine running around the train in readiness for the return trip. The Outlander group appeared to be from Spain, once again proving the international appeal of the TV series and it's valuable contribution to Scotland's economy.

I hopped off at Kinneil on the way back (the only person to do so) and hooked up with the local walking paths. A colliery was formerly sited right on the banks of the Forth and it closed in 1982 - a turbulent decade for the mining industry to say the very least. The scarred landscape has now been reclaimed and formed into a nature reserve with circular trails. Although I would do part of this network on the walk back to Bo'ness, I first wanted to push further up the coast towards the oil refinery at Grangemouth. What seems to be an abandoned access road takes you as far as the lagoons close to the mouth of the River Avon (the traditional boundary between West Lothian and Stirlingshire). I spotted lapwings and oyster catchers among the ubiquitous gulls. It was a scorcher of a day and I rounded the headland of the nature reserve on the return trek. There is a small tidal island here. I've always enjoyed a visit to Bo'ness. It has retained several traditional shops which are sadly missing in many modern town centres. The jewel in the crown is the fully restored Hippodrome Cinema which originally opened as far back as 1912 and is Scotland's oldest surviving purpose-built picture house. Collecting my car at the station, I watched the next train arrive and a suited and booted party spilled out of the dining saloon. Great to see the line appealing way beyond trainspotter types like yours truly!

The plan was to combine a railway outing with additional heritage stops and I sought out the Bridgeness Slab - a replica of a Roman distance marker. The Antonine Wall ran through this area and the original stone is in the care of the National Museum of Scotland. I then drove along to Grangemouth to have a look at the spitfire memorial. On the way I passed the main entrance to the refinery and was struck by the sheer size of the complex. All of Scotland's petrol is produced here so I guess it's an almighty operation. I located the aircraft display, already aware of the fact that fighter pilots were trained here during the war. However, I was to discover a transportation fact completely new to me. Apparently a national airport was slated to be built in Grangemouth towards the end of the 30s to cater for the ever-expanding aviation industry. The central location with links to rail and shipping channels were the driving forces behind the project. The outbreak of hostilities put the scheme on ice and it never came to fruition. Glasgow and Edinburgh both developed their own airports yet even to this day there are occasional calls to merge the two into some sort of super gateway to Scotland, ideally within a stone's throw of the motorway and rail networks. It's not really a new idea after all then!

There were interesting display boards positioned around the exhibit and I learned that Polish pilots had greatly assisted the British war effort. Poles contributing positively to our society is actually a decades-old occurrence. My final stopping point for the day was the Queen Elizabeth II Canal which runs from the Kelpies to the sea lock on the Firth of Forth. This half-mile waterway was the final piece of the jigsaw in restoring a seamless passage across central Scotland from the Clyde estuary to the Forth. The original canal entered the River Carron at the point where the Kelpies currently stand. Navigating a safe route beneath the bridges over the river had long been an issue for vessels. The purpose of the new stretch of water is to provide easy access to the mouth of the Carron a little further downstream. A towpath stroll can be undertaken from the Kelpies by means of a tunnel under the M9. The steel horse sculptures attract visitors from all over and have been a great asset to an area more associated with industry than tourism. It's a pleasant wander along the brand new waterway and around a dozen information boards relay the industrial importance of Grangemouth.

The walk is marketed as the Charlotte Dundas Heritage Trail, in recognition of the world's first practical steamship launched on these very shores. Designed at the turn of the 19th century by William Symington, the Charlotte Dundas successfully negotiated the canal but fears of damage to the banks curtailed the boat's deployment. Probably a case of an engineer being ahead of his time. Symington also developed steam engines for use in mines and mills but was deeply in debt by the end of his life following an unsuccessful venture. For every inventor who hit serious paydirt, there were no doubt many who vacillated on a knife edge throughout their careers. I am a great believer in paying homage to those who may not have become household names but otherwise made vital contributions. It's also good for local people to get an insight into what has emerged from their homeland. A peculiar trait of the Scot is to denigrate one's own place of upbringing, yet fantastic achievements can be found almost anywhere you care to look. A day of varied activities and one to remember.