local area
The east of Scotland
The Kingdom of Fife, ancestral home of the Scottish monarchs, famous worldwide for its golf and with world renowned areas of natural beauty, is a proud region with its own distinct identity.
Despite its small size, barely 50 miles at its widest point, the region of Fife encompasses Dunfermline, a former Scottish capital for six centuries, the ‘Lang Toun’ of Kirkcaldy, overlooking the Firth of Forth with its Forth Road and Rail Bridges. Further up the Forth coast in the East Neuk (in Scots ‘neuk’ means corner or nook) lie picturesque fishing villages, steeped in history. North of Kirkcaldy, further inland, characterful villages and towns, such as Cupar, Ceres and Falkland, lie within rolling hills and farmland.
In the northeast corner of Fife, the landscape varies from gentle hills to dramatic windswept cliffs, rocky bays and sandy beaches, the latter epitomised in the film ‘Chariots of Fire’ shot on the West Sands at St Andrews.
St Andrews, population approximately 16,500, is known worldwide as the ‘home of golf’, in part due to the Royal and Ancient gold club founded in 1754 and the famous links which are a frequent venue for the Open Championships which is the oldest of golf’s four major championships.
The town is also home to St Andrews University (www.st-andrews.ac.uk), the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in Britain. It has an enviable reputation worldwide for excellence in research, teaching and the quality of student life. During term time, the student population swells the town’s population by one third. For more information about Fife and St Andrews visit (www.visitfife.com/guide)
Close to St Andrews, some 14 miles north, lies the city of Dundee, which is the fourth largest city in Scotland with 142,000 inhabitants. Dundee has a distinctive history, largely known for its ‘jute, jam and journalism’ due to its pivotal role in the import, weaving and export of jute, marmalade industry and publishing a number of well known publications such as The Broons, Oor Wullie and The Beano. Dundee is also home to two universities, The University of Dundee and Abertay University. The former which is renowned for its life sciences, medicine and art college (www.dundee.ac.uk). Abertay University boasts significant developments in technology and design and social science programmes (www.abertay.ac.uk).
Today Dundee is known as ‘City of many Discoveries’ in part due to its history of scientific discoveries and home to the RRS Discovery, Robert Falcon Scott’s Antarctic exploration vessel which was built in Dundee and is berthed at the city harbour. The Michelin factory on the east side of Dundee has installed two wind turbines to generate electricity for the plant.
The Sidlaw Hills, Angus Glens and Glamis Castle lie to the North of the city. For more information about Dundee visit (www.dundeecity.gov.uk/economicdev/discoveryoverview/).
The East of Scotland is a diverse and interesting place to discover from sea and sand to history and hills, large cities to quaint villages; there truly is wealth of sights to see. For more information about the east of Scotland visit (www.visitscotland.com); (www.scotland.org/about/central-scotland-east/index.html).