Working in Kirkcaldy affords me with the opportunity of meeting up with my sister Linda, who lives in the town. Everyone now and again during the warmer months, we plan a local wander. One such example was a late-afternoon stroll from the western fringe of the Lang Toun out to the village of Auchtertool. We met in the car park at Balwearie Golf Club and set out on the trail. It was pleasantly warm and no jacket was required.
The walk began on a farm track with hedgerows and we also passed through a small stretch of woodland. The main historical point of interest en route was the ruins of Balwearie Castle, which we encountered after passing by a farmstead. A 15th century tower on the flattened side of an extensive ridge, the remaining walls of the castle rise to a height of 45 feet above the ground. Originally there were three upper storeys. Around one half of the total footprint has now collapsed. One previous resident of these parts is said to be Michael Scot, who apparently inherited the lands of Balwearie in the 13th century, although the extant castle was certainly built around the mid 1400s. He is mentioned in Dante’s Inferno - a poem considered to be one of the great classics of Western literature. Scot studied mathematics, philosophy and theology at Oxford University and then Paris. Travelling extensively around Europe, Scot gained a knowledge of many languages and became a skilled translator. He began to dress in Arabian fashion and developed a passion for the Arabic language and eastern literature, which is thought to be the root of his reputation as a wizard. He is credited variously with being Scotland's first scientist, alchemist and sorcerer, as well as the foremost public intellectual of his day. Apparently a typical example of the wandering polyglot scholar. It gets murky though. Much of the modern day legend derives from literary giant Sir Walter Scott's romanticised 19th-century fictional account of the wizard's life. Many historians remain unconvinced that Michael Scot of Balwearie was the true identity of the magic man. Old Walter certainly never missed an opportunity to embellish a folk tale. The legend of the Kirkcaldy wizard does live on locally and there is walking trail name after him in the town's Beveridge Park. An unexpected bonus was the trail switching to the trackbed of the old Kirkcaldy to Cowdenbeath (via Auchtertool) freight railway. It never carried passenger traffic and was built purely as a relief line to take the pressure off the main routes. No calls have been made for its restoration since it closed in 1963. Evidence of the line near Cowdenbeath has vanished under a new golf course but a fair bit can be traced in the vicinity of Auchtertool, including walkable stretches and the remains of a high bridge across a minor road. The village once had a small goods depot and this serviced a distillery. There is quite an interesting story about the Kirkcaldy end of the railway, or rather an offshoot near the junction with the East Coast Main Line. Grand plans had been announced for a new harbour at Seafield and a tunnel was burrowed below the main road and rail routes to take trains down to the proposed docks. In the end, the harbour project never got off the ground and was rapidly forced out of business as a result of nearby established ports playing hardball. The tunnel below the ECML can still be explored and the top of a bricked-up portal protrudes above the grass in a small playpark beside Invertiel Road.
Back to our walk. The old railway passed through undulating fields on a high embankment and it added up to a nice rural atmosphere. Eventually we left the old line as it met the B925, although the underbridge had long since been infilled. A council rubbish dump used to be located here and it was always a thrill as a kid to go on a tip run. Must have been easily pleased! The area has now been landscaped but the tell-tale methane vents poked their heads above the soil. The path now paralleled the road but often at a lower level, thus keeping the country feel. We merged on to the pavement at the edge of Auchtertool but decided not to walk into the village as we had both been there before. The pub closed several years ago. It was a restaurant for a while and I had my 40th birthday meal there. Auchtertool doesn't have any shops nowadays and I think the post office has also gone. Buses from Kirkcaldy to Dunfermline (and onward to other destinations) passed through here in recent years but only limited local services remain. Funny how a village can be cut off from the public transport map at the whim of a private operator. Thankfully we are at the stage where closing a railway would be tantamount to political suicide. Bus routes, however, don't have the same level of protection. Indeed, my home village seems to have lost it's coach connection with Dundee during the pandemic fall-out. Incredibly, Dunfermline is in the same boat and a change at Glenrothes is now required in order to reach the City of Discovery. The old direct service would have gone that way anyway and you can switch from one Stagecoach Express to another on a bargain Dayrider. Not so bad. The much-touted Travel Line Scotland app doesn't tell the full story though. It suggests passengers change at Halbeath Park & Ride to a Megabus connection which - crucially - is a different company, thereby invoking two sets of fares. Unless of course you're a pensioner and can run about as you please on a permanent free pass. It does illustrate the lack of true central planning on these matters every little obstacle simply persuades more people to stay in their car, assuming you actually have one. The walk back to Kirkcaldy was a simple re-tread but sometimes it's nice to know exactly where you are heading and you can even deliver a mini-rant without fear of missing an important turn. Now, who would do that?
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