The Binn - Burntisland (4 miles)
This walk is measured from the railway station near the High Street but you can knock off a mile and a half by parking at the top of the town on Grange Road. This street has a pedestrian exit to the A909. Cross with care, turn left and after 60 yards there is a signed path leading up a flight of steps. This route leads you through the woods until we reach an area of open ground.
Rather than attempting to climb the rough slope on your right, proceed straight across the clearing to meet another path then bear right towards Binn Pond (pictured above). Follow the obvious route uphill, working towards the TV transmitter. Continue along the path to the summit at 630 feet. Excellent views can be up and down the Firth of Forth and of Burntisland itself. Stone benches are provided.
Keep going and we start to descend. After crossing a stone stile at the bottom of a slope, keep an eye out to your left for the remains of Binnend Village, built in the 1880s to house workers at the local shale oil plant. Don't go any further than the three-path junction. The last resident left in the 1950s and the buildings are now overgrown and dilapidated. Nevertheless there is still enough to see to make this extension to the walk worthwhile.
Retrace your steps back to the town. Pay a visit to Hanselled Books on Kirkgate where a range of new and second-hand titles are stocked. There aren't many places like this left! For a decent pint of ale, head half a mile along the links to the Sands Hotel which always has a handpump in action.
