Fife Tourist Information

East Neuk Tourist Information, Crail & Anstruther Waterfront

The pretty East Neuk coastline of Fife south of St Andrews is popular for family holidays, with more golf courses on offer around both Crail and Anstruther. This stretch of the Fife coastline has long historical links with fishing, and today the area offers an excellent choice of fish restaurants (see East Neuk seafood webguide right).

The sublime harbour and centre at Crail is not to be missed, and the Crail Pottery Centre offers a fine collection of stoneware. The Fife Coastal Path (weblink right) offers a choice of walks, plus a selection of striking coastal castles including Kellie Castle and Garden at Pittenweem, Ravenscraig Castle at Kirkcaldy and Rossend Castle at Burntisland. Details on all these historic Fife coastal castles can be found on the Fife Coastal Path website. More blue flag beaches on the Fife coast are at Burntisland and Elie Harbour, with more blue flag awards no doubt pending. Kinghorn, Crail, Anstruther and Aberdour all have striking beach areas, peaceful and perfect for coastal walking. Just to the north of Anstruther, inland near Airdrie at Troywood sits Scotland's Secret Bunker. One of a number of Government Cold War secret bunkers which have recently opened to the public (see Hack Green too in Cheshire), offering a gruesome insight into the lottery of survival in the event of nuclear war during the Cold War period. The threat you'll see was perceived as very real. This one is strategically located near what would have been a key enemy target at the Royal Navy's Rosyth dockyard and RAF Leuchars. These days you can watch Scottish Rock concerts in the Sonic Boom Concert room within the bunker, plus dine in what was the original Bunker Canteen.

Moving down to Anstruther, long a centre for Scottish Fishing, a Scottish Fisheries Museum is aptly sited here. Galleries include one on Whaling, another on the Herring Market and there's a Fisherman's Cottage and Loft on-site. The museum has grown considerably since its opening in 1969, and is now a hub for the history of Scottish Fishing! Scottish Fisheries Museum, St Ayles , Harbourhead, Anstruther, Fife, Scotland, KY10 3AB. Tel. 01333 310628. A popular boat trip from Anstruther is the trip to the little Isle of May, just 6 miles off shore. (Anstruther Pleasure Trips, 28 St Adrians Pl, Anstruther, Fife, KY10 3DX. Tel. 01333 310054, or see website to the right). Boat trips run from April through to October. The island is a National Nature Reserve with a huge array of wildlife including puffins, guillemots, razorbills and colonies of grey seals.

Crail Pottery, 75 Nethergate, Crail, Fife, KY10 3TX. Tel. 01333 451212. (website right for opening hours). Crail Museum and Heritage Centre, 62/64 Marketgate, Crail, KY10 3TL. Tel. 01333 450 869. Scotland's Secret Bunker, Scotcrown Ltd, Crown Buildings, Troywood Fife KY16 8QH. Tel. 01333 310301 (see the Secret Bunker website right for details).

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What's On in Dunfermline, Dunfermline History

Scottish history is afoot at Dunfermline, one time capital of Scotland just across the Forth Bridge north of Edinburgh. A number of key Scottish historic attractions pull in the crowds to Dunfermline, particularly the fact that this is the burial site of not just Robert the Bruce but 11 other Scottish Kings and Queens. Moving to philanthropic royalty, Andrew Carnegie was born here in Dunfermline in 1835, and he built his first Carnegie library in the town in 1881. Carnegie's birthplace home in Dunfermline is now a museum, highlighting his humble beginnings from weaver's cottage to American Steel magnet.

Dunfermline offers a good choice of family attractions too, including the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum (weblink right).

The big one in Dunfermline however is Dunfermline Abbey and Dunfermline Palace dating from the 11th century and founded by Queen Margaret. The original building now sits under the breathtaking 12th century Romanesque nave. View the Benedictine Abbey remains, and The Abbey church where many of the Scottish kings and queens are buried. Dunfermline Abbey & Palace, St Margaret Street, Dunfermline, Fife, KY12 7PE. Scotland. Tel. 01383 739026. (see Historic Scotland weblink right).

Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum, Moodie Street, Dunfermline, Fife, KY12 7PL, Scotland. Tel. 01383 724302. (weblink right for details). Carnegie also left Pittencrieff Park (alongside Elgin Street) to the people of Dunfermline.

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North Queensferry, The Forth Road Bridge & Cantilever Forth Rail Bridge

Unfortunately the Forth Bridges Visitor Centre located at the Queensferry Lodge Hotel, North Queensferry is temporarily closed. However, the excellent Forth Bridges website is still up with a comprehensive history of these spectacular bridges (both road and rail), and you can still park up at the Queensferry Lodge Hotel and view the bridges close up.

The Forth Road Bridge has a pedestrian walkway for the really keen, and it's well worth walking a little across the bridge for fine views of the Firth of Forth and the cantilever Forth Rail Bridge. Pedestrian paths lead right under the Forth Road bridge.

The Forth Bridges history website right details the time before the bridges, particularly the road bridge. Queensferry Passage Ferries left from North to South Queensferry several times daily! There was talk of building a tunnel around 1805-1807 between Queensferry and Rosyth, which never materialised primarily through lack of funding. The Forth Railway Bridge is an important bridge within the history of world bridges. It was the first steel bridge begun in 1883 and completed in March 1890. After the Tay Bridge disaster in 1879, the Engineer Thomas Bouch who was working on the Forth Bridges was disgraced and sacked, opening the way for cutting edge Victorian egnineer William Arrol and his company to work on the Forth Rail Bridge. Naturally public fears were raised after the Tay Bridge collapse (in which 75 people died), and the Forth Rail three diamond cantilever structure was built to be fail-safe. Huge cylinder foundations were filled with concrete to support 55,000 tons of steel towers. The Forth Rail Bridge too 7 years to build and contains 8 million rivets. Testament to its fail-safe cutting edge design is in its continued use today. Worth remembering though is that 57 workers, most French and Italian labourers, lost their lives during the dangerous construction process, and over 400 injured injuries.

The later Forth Road Bridge is no less of a marvel. When it opened in September 1964 it was the largest suspension bridge in Europe at over one and a half miles long. Today the Forth Road Bridge ranks as number 17 in the world's largest suspension bridge chart. (the Humber Bridge is number 3!). Both the Forth Rail Bridge and Forth Road Bridge remain today iconic Scottish feats of engineering. A stop at the Queensferry Lodge at North Queensferry for a good look at both bridges is highly recommended!

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