After another spell confined to barracks by the wintry weather and the ongoing Covid restrictions, it was time for a bit of exploration. It would have to be local as we were not yet supposed to venture outside our authority and I racked my brains for any landmarks I hadn't yet checked out. A couple of ideas came to the fore but first I decided upon a return visit to Pitliver Estate, less than two miles from me as the crow flies. Without the convenient corvine ability of flight, I decided to take the car to a nearby spot and wander in from the main road.
A well-maintained track leads for half a mile past several houses and apparently a mill was situated around here in the 19th century. The gushing Lyne Burn was clearly audible and this must have been the power source for the water wheel. While researching the history of the estate (again), I came across a report of working conditions in the mill during the early 1800s. It made pretty grim reading. The young workers toiled for many hours each day and existed on a meagre diet. Things of course improved over the decades but the pace of change was slow and no doubt the poor souls I read about didn't live long enough to experience a safe and fair workplace. I headed through the main gates and took a few photos of the private golf course. I've written about this place in a previous blog post and will stick to a brief historical review here. The mansion house was occupied by Prince George during the early years of WW2. He was serving at nearby Rosyth and was the son of King George V and uncle to the present queen. Polo grounds were laid out during his stay and the crack of the mallet must have been a strange sound to hear in West Fife. George lost his life in an air crash off the Caithness coast before the end of the hostilities. I unearthed some new information about a hospital annex being planned for the site in the post-war years. This was of course a time when many country houses faced an uncertain future due to changing attitudes and the sheer running costs. Many had been requisitioned by the armed forces and were returned to the owners in a less than perfect state. Pitliver survived as a private house and in more recent times a luxury golf course resort/retreat was planned but this was never fully realised. There was even a story of Sean Connery being approached as a potential buyer/investor but this smacked of a publicity stunt rather than a serious proposition. The golf course is lovingly maintained today but I'm not sure who actually plays upon it.
Going further back in time, the British Newspaper Archive informed me that Pitliver had previously been the seat of the Wellwood family but they vacated the premises around 1920. The house was available for £6000 which is a handful of pay cheques for most people nowadays. The advert boasted of three lavatories! A local farmer took the place on and there are many reports of agricultural shows, flower shows and other public events taking place within the grounds. A true working estate rather than a place of leisure. My mum gave me a year's subscription to the newspaper archive as a Christmas present and it is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in local or family history. A bargain at £80 considering the wealth of information at your fingertips. Access is free at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh and Glasgow but travelling there wasn't an option (still isn't) during lockdown and - in any case - bus/train fares would quickly have exceeded the home subscription fee considering the number of days I've spent trawling the material. It's important to note that not EVERY edition of every paper is present. Digitising the old pages is a mammoth ongoing task and new data is constantly being added. But what you can see right now is well worth the money. The estate access road swept round past the mansion and I managed to pick a suitable spot for a photo where the house was visible between the trees. The front garden was clearly demarcated with a stone wall and I certainly wasn't going to make an attempt to climb over. The Outdoor Access Code states you have to respect these boundaries. Further on lay a collection of old greenhouses with rusting frames that appeared to have been derelict for some time. I walked past stone outbuildings which I guessed were once the stables but again looked as if they had been out of use for decades. A bridge over the Lyne Burn led to a small area of woodland and fields but the going became increasingly muddy and I turned around and wandered up to the high point of the golf course. Two things were revealed to me.
The railway line to Kincardine cuts through the estate. I already knew this but as I looked down upon the tracks, I couldn't help thinking it would be an excellent vantage point to view the occasional steam specials that are about the only traffic the line sees following the closure of Longannet power station. There are proposals to utilise this route for a passenger service between Dunfermline and Alloa, thus creating a Fife Glasgow corridor. As I type, I'm due to take part in a Zoom conference tomorrow, regarding this issue. I shared links to the event on local community Facebook groups and feedback was hugely positive, alongside predictable rumblings from a handful of people living trackside. Imagine buying a house next to a railway and one day trains appear! Personally I think we're still years away from the route being fully developed. Fortunately the chances of permanent closure are virtually nil as this would rapidly become a toxic political issue. The real surprise as I reached the summit of the small green mound was the excellent view of Pitfirrane Castle on the neighbouring estate. Again, I've written extensively elsewhere about this building. It now functions as the clubhouse and administrative headquarters for Dunfermline Golf Club who are in possession of a wonderful course within the old estate grounds. I acquired more information about the history of Pitfirrane (and the golf course on the Torrie Estate) via the newspaper archive and I'll flesh this out towards the end of this post, particularly as I went walking in these areas recently and discovered new things. It looks like this article is shaping up to be a long one, as did the post I put together chronicling my wanderings as the first lockdown eased. When I returned home, I uploaded my photos to the West Fife Woodlands page on Facebook, along with a lengthy piece of text relating the history of the estate. Feedback was positive until I received a message from a site administrator, saying the estate owner had asked for the post to be removed as he and his family were private people and didn't want pictures of their property online and they were worried about potential break-ins. Fair enough, although I thought he was definitely over-egging the pudding on the second part, a point the site curator readily agreed with. But I had no real objection to my efforts being deleted.
Later that evening, I noticed communication in my message requests folder. It was from Mark Taylor - owner of the Pitliver estate. He was asking me to remove my post as - in his opinion - it constituted an invasion of privacy and I hadn't obtained permission to enter the grounds. The entire post had already been taken down at this point. I replied, stating that I had only been investigating the history of the area and the pictures were already gone. I could understand his point about the residential property and it also seemed he hadn't been happy about me posting images of the abandoned stables, particularly as someone had enquired on the page about their location. I wasn't going to start an argument about the situation. I'd had a look around, he didn't want my photos on public display. I can certainly live with that. I do feel however that all the talk about burglaries and not wanting their business discussed on an open forum was something of a smokescreen for preventing people walking on his land. Ironically, a resident of a house close to the main gates had enthusiastically engaged with my article, even posting pictures of his property and garden.
Some time passed, a lot of snow fell and I began getting itchy feet again. I decided to have a look at Blair Tower which lies just off the main road between Oakley and Carnock. I could get there in 10 minutes and for some reason I had never viewed the B-listed tower from close quarters. Time to change that! I found a place to park on an industrial road in the vicinity and headed up the hill. I had to negotiate a low fence as the structure stands in a field but I was soon at the base and it was certainly an impressive sight.
I've seen a couple of similar towers over in the Lothians. I struggled to find out information about why this one was built. One explanation suggested it was intended to house an observatory but was never completed. I'm inclined to run with this as these words come from the Ordnance Survey Name Book 1855 for Fife & Kinross. Basically a record of all the significant landmarks in each parish. Blair House is nearby (also B-listed) and my guess is the estate owners had something to do with it. I haven't checked out Blair House yet and must do so at some point. The access road that led towards the tower continues down the other side of the hill and the maps show a scarred landscape. Apparently opencast operations were carried out here but ceased on the financial collapse of Scottish Coal in 2013. I did read that funding had been granted to at least partially restore the area and it would be informative to have a wander down that way and see how it looks now. Before I set out from home, I had been researching the fate of Luscar House which was described in an 1862 guide to Carnock Parish as a principal mansion of the area. Cairneyhill falls within the parish boundaries and it was very interesting to read a few snippets relating to my home village. The weavers cottages at this time were becoming fewer in number due to increasing competition from mechanised factories. I also liked the tale of the two walking postmen who set out each day from Dunfermline, delivering letters along the Oakley and Cairneyhill roads respectively. These days a single postie can't cover the whole of our village with a van. Of course Cairneyhill and Crossford would barely have extended back from the main street in the 19th century. Probably very few parcels in the sack too! Back to Luscar House, it was situated in a raised position (as was the norm) just outside Carnock. Built in 1838, it was regarded as one of the finest examples of the work of architect David Bryce, who also designed Fettes College in Edinburgh and the iconic Bank of Scotland building on the Mound. Converted to a nursing home in later years, Luscar House was purchased by David Edwards in 1995 but the property was largely destroyed by fire in 2001. Just two years later, the owner (having pocketed the insurance pay-out) had the B-listed house demolished without permission and was fined just a few hundred pounds. A token amount! Moreover, he sold off the refurbished stables as luxury accommodation so no doubt did rather nicely out of the whole episode. I realise there are cases of burnt-out listed buildings stuck in limbo because officially sanctioned demolition requires a lengthy (and potentially costly) legal struggle, yet to restore a charred shell is often beyond the means (or will) of the owner. That said, the laws exist for a reason and you can't just flatten a place to make a fast buck. While I was in the area, I checked out Bandrum House a couple of miles down the road. It is now a luxury care home with multiple modern extensions. A fine example of a country house that found a long-term alternative use continuing into the 21st century.
My secondary mission for today was to locate Bath Castle - allegedly Scotland's smallest. I knew it was somewhere in West Fife and a bit of digging online gave me the suspected location and also threw up an article about the property being on the market as recently as 2015. I also found the estate agent literature with some nice interior shots. I knew I was heading for a concrete road off the A907 past Bogside. I parked on a patch of waste ground and headed towards the Bathmoor Plantation. The road had obviously been built for forestry traffic and I passed a few private properties and commercial premises before reaching the unmistakable stepped gables of Bath Castle. I took a couple of discrete photos from the roadside before passing the entrance gate. Kids were playing in the large garden and it was nice to see the place functioning as a family home. I'm not exactly sure why the building qualifies as a castle. The Scottish Places website offers the following information. A historic white-harled house occupying a picturesque situation on a rocky knoll in West Fife. Bath Castle, previously known as West Bath House, is located half a mile northeast of Bogside. Dating from the 17th century, the rectangular two-storey building features a red pantiled roof and crow-stepped gables. The turnpike stair tower was added later. Bath Castle was B-listed in 1972. At one time sub-divided, it was restored as a private home in the mid-1980s, comprising a living room, kitchen and two bedrooms. It was nice to find this obscure residence and I continued my walk into the actual plantation, taking a path through a cleared area towards a raised point which offered a sweeping panorama of this far corner of Fife. I later uploaded pictures to the Woodlands group and the owner of the castle posted a compliment. What a difference in attitude compared to the Laird of Pitliver! Upon returning to the car, I noticed Brankstone Grange country house sitting atop a grassy mound across the fields, partially obscured by the surrounding trees.
I decided to head over the empty pasture land for a closer inspection. This required the simple scaling of a couple of farm gates. There was no real way of avoiding the branches with my camera but the absence of foliage enabled the house to peek through. I had approached this place from the other side a few months previously. I'd heard they don't welcome visitors but I didn't see any harm in popping up the access road for a quick photo. Adjacent to Brankstone Grange is the mysteriously named Skyfall Estate - a heavily fenced enclosure with security cameras everywhere. Yet glimpses of the modern house within don't suggest it's anything of architectural note. I doubt they would have had any more luck than Pitliver in tempting Sir Sean to make a purchase, despite the Bond-themed name. Brankstone Grange became a Barnardo's children's home in 1946 and a notable resident was Gregor Fisher - later of Rab C Nesbitt fame. It reverted to private use in 1969 under its original name (having been renamed Haldane House by the charity). I've heard the place was run as a hotel for a while but that needs verification. Having stretched my legs enough for the day, I made my way back to the car and drove home, happy that I'd finally accomplished a bit of exploring. As ever, when you write about your research or experience of historical places, there's a fair chance new evidence will appear further down the line which enhances (or contradicts) your previous conclusions. I found myself walking on a frosty Sunday morning across the old golf course on the Torrie Estate. Despite the palatial clubhouse and the fact a top designer had no doubt been handsomely paid to specify the course layout, Dunfermline Golf Club only remained here for two decades. I put together a little article for the Woodlands page and stated the discovery of dry rot in Torrie House had been the main reason for the club moving along the road to the vacant Pitfirrane Estate in 1953. Someone, whose father had worked at the Torrie course, replied to inform me that while there was indeed a fungal infestation, the damage caused by military occupation during the war had been a more significant factor in the departure. I also took advantage of lockdown to have another free roam across the Pitfirrane course and a visit to the old walled garden in the centre.
Further research on Pitfirrane Castle revealed that a large extension had been bolted on to the original tower house in the 1880s. Effectively doubling the size of the building. It was removed around 1980 due to being beyond economical repair. I also hadn't fully appreciated the royal links and Queen Mary (wife of George V) was apparently a personal friend of the two Halkett sisters who occupied the mansion. There are newspaper reports of Her Highness staying at Pitfirrane on several occasions. The estate was sold upon the death of Madeline Halkett, who left no heir. While browsing the Crossford community page on Facebook I read a post from a lady whose father had been the head gardener at Pitfirrane. The family lived in one of the estate cottages and she remembered being shown around the castle at a young age. As expected, her memories were of a huge place but also a very "cold and creepy" one. I don't think the landed gentry were necessarily all leading lavish lifestyles in the post-war period. Asset rich but cash poor was probably a common state of affairs. Nicole made her first visit to the Pitfirrane grounds when we went along to check out the rumoured starling murmuration. We had witnessed this spectacular event a couple of times down south and - truth be told - didn't expect the Crossford gathering to be anything special. While the throng of birds was certainly smaller, that didn't detract from the viewing experience, particularly as we watched the starlings swarm more or less above our heads rather than in the distance. A little bit of magic rustled up on these ancient lands.
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