Burntisland: A lovely Royal Burgh

Here you see a panoramic vista featuring the Royal Burgh of Burntisland.  I stumbled upon the treasures of this town while browsing through a Fife tourism book in our hotel room. When I mentioned my discovery to Dave at breakfast, he had warned me that I would be entering a "ghost town", as he put it, but I wasn't interested in camaraderie, so I purchased a ticket, hopped on the train, and set out to find the library where I hoped to find a copy of the Heritage Trail Map. (See, Rebecca, I took your advice seriously)

The library was easy to find and once inside, I spotted a plaque on the wall, devoted to Andrew Carnegie, the man who was responsible for the library in this town.  One more to add to his ever growing list of donations. 

The librarians were eager to help me, and when they could not locate the brochure that I was seeking, one of them went online, downloaded the .pdf file, and printed up the document for me to take with me. The local people never cease to amaze me with their eagerness to help out a stranger.  I thanked them and headed out the door, ready to embark upon the trail when I realized that the Museum of Communication was directly across the street.

Again, I had located the info for this place in the same Fife Tourist Board booklet in my hotel room. And, once again, Dave had laughed when I expressed an interest in seeing it, telling me that it wouldn't take up much of my day because the entire contents were the size of my hotel room. 

But, I didn't let Dave's comments dampen my enthusiasm.  I had looked at the website online, and found information that showed that the place was open only on Wed. and Sat., was closed until sometime in April, but the info encouraged one to ring the bell, just in case someone was there.  Being Wednesday, this was the one opportunity to check this place out, if I could. 

When I spotted the museum, it was obvious that the place was closed, but the ringer was right there by the door, and I could not refrain from pushing the buzzer.  Within minutes, an older woman answered the door, and I asked if the place was open.  She informed me that they were not officially open, but that they were preparing for a display featuring the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  I thanked her, told her what I had found online about ringing the buzzer, and mentioned that I had thought that it was worth the try.

The next thing you know, she was ushering me in, introducing herself as Dorothy, and giving me the lo-down on many of the items in the cases.   Dorothy enthusiastically explained where a lot of the items came from, and my personal favorite line was when she said "The bloke donated all that he had."  I had always associated the word "bloke" with a negative connotation, but this woman was definitely not using the word in that context.( In any event, I don't plan on using the word myself anytime soon, until my friend Jennifer clears up the accepted practice in using the word "bloke".)

Back to the museum:  this place was filled with Ham Radio paraphernalia, Friction machines, lighthouse information, telegraph instruments....anything that fell into the realm of communication.  One of my favorite items was the Admiralty Telegraph which had been developed during the Napoleonic Wars in England. 

These giant devices were set upon high hills (which continue to be known as certain telegraph hills) and one could read the message by reading the letters associated with the position of the paddles on the device.   A message could travel 400 miles back and forth in 5 minutes time, as long as the weather was clear, and it was daylight. Fascinating...don't you think?

After spending well over an hour in this place under the direction of my tour guide, Dorothy, I had seen just about everything and was thrilled that I had made the effort to push that buzzer. Obviously, this place had expanded since Dave last stuck his head in the door.  I thanked Dorothy for her exuberant tour and headed out  to begin the Heritage Trail that was my original plan.

The town was not overcrowded, but there were plenty of people out and about since the children have Easter Holiday until the end of the week.  The weather cleared, offering me outstanding vistas with bright blue skies and puffy white clouds.  

There were many buildings in the town, not featured in the Heritage Trail pamphlet, that I found to be quite amusing.  The Short & Curly Barber Shop caught my attention with the snarly looking man's face featured above the door frame. (Could he be called a bloke?)

The trail led me up a walk to the top of Broomhill, where I was amazed at the beauty of the Firth of Forth sparkling behind the Royal Burgh. 

It looks like a post card, don't you think?

The town was filled with many historical buildings like the Parish Church of St. Columba, opened in 1594.

Apparently King James VI proposed a new translation of the Bible in this church.  That was before he became King James I of England. 

Down the street stands the old Parsonage, built in 1854 as a schoolhouse.

From what I observed, it appears to be an apartment complex now. Strollers in the entranceway and laundry hanging out back on a line gave that impression. 

One thing of particular interest regarding this town, was the obvious revitalization that was going on.  Houses were being refurbished, trash collectors were busy at work, and contractors were out and about fixing roofs and painting building exteriors. I was taking a photo of the plaque on the Mary Sommerville house when two very friendly policemen came walking down the street. I waited for them to pass before getting a shot of the house.

The next thing I know, these men were asking me if I was taking a photo of the house to put it on the list of houses that needed to be cleaned.  I told them that I was from America, and assured them that I was just fascinated by the history of the house.  We all got quite a chuckle out of that confusion.

The policemen weren't the only ones interested in my photography.  This guy even posed for me:

My tour of the town ended with the climb up yet another hill to see Rossend Castle.  It sits on a cliff overlooking the harbor and was originally built in 1199.

Mary Queen of Scots once visited this castle.  It fell under disrepair many years ago, and an engineering firm bought it up and fixed it up.  The firm continues to work out of the building, although I did read that one could purchase it for £ 450,000.  Any takers?

I managed to capture this fabulous view  from the train on my way back to the hotel.

You see the church in Kinghorn with the Firth of Forth in the background. Kinghorn is where Alexander III's horse stumbled near the edge of a cliff, on a dark and stormy night, causing Alexander to plummet to his death.  Sad story.  And, he left no heir.  Even sadder story because Scotland underwent a lot of turmoil as a result.  But that's enough history for today.

As you can tell, the day was A+ all the way.  I managed to make it back to my hotel room before the skies became dark, and thunder and lightening rolled in.  Now, how lucky was that?