Just in case the previous post made Methil sound grim and desolate, here are a few pictures of the area. For those who have been bold enough to read ‘The Game of Snooker’ in the ‘Lower Methil Annexe’ series, here is the Miners Welfare Institute – the actual building mentioned in the story. The Lower Methil Annexe once stood on the other side of the road (only in the story! The building was really the Imperial Cinema – long since demolished) I am sure that the interior of the snooker hall is much nicer looking than it was in my day …
Proof that there is such a place as Lower Methil. And no! There is no Upper Methil. It is simply Methil. And whoever stole the Methil crest, it was not me. Honest!
This is the pub where I began my drinking career. I was 15 at the time. I wore my jacket inside out so that no-one would recognise me. And that was before the first pint …
The part of Methil that might have been Upper Methil, is actually called Bayview.
Between Methil and Leven, we find Aberhill, and the Tower Bar. Not to be confused with Innerleven, which is between Lower Methil and Leven, and is NOT actually in Leven.
This is a view of the 3 bridges which connect Methil to Leven. The Bawbee Bridge is the new one (I remember the old Bawbee Bridge, whose foundations are in the picture if you know where to look. The railway bridge once connected Methil Docks to the main rail line to Thornton.
The Austin Maestro was not Britain’s Most Reliable Car, and probably contributed to the demise of the British car Industry. It was a great driver’s car, and someone was bold enough to drive it to Rome (and presumably back again!). Or maybe, it never made it out of the driveway?
A view along Leven Prom (never called it a promenade), during the 2015 solar eclipse. The colours were surreal to the eye. The shadows crisp, due to the sun being a point source.
This was taken on the day of the eclipse. The sun is just above the top of the picture.
Additional:
The administrative district of Levenmouth is made up of more places than any town that I have ever come across! If I miss any, please let me know. The 3 main areas were Leven, Methil and Buckhaven.
Leven was made up of the Shorehead, the Prom, Parkhill, Scoonie, Letham, Mountfleurie and the Broom.
Buckhaven and Methil (all one burgh) consisted of Innerleven (now called Dubbieside for some ridiculous reason. It is an old name but nobody used it!), Aberhill, Lower Methil, Bayview, Methil, Denbeath, the Toll Bar, the Big Tree, Crossroads, Kirklands, Methilmill, Methilhill, Buckhaven, Old Buckhaven, Ness Braes, Starkie’s Woods, Muiredge.
I’m sure that there might be a debate or two over the areas, but if you travelled by bus, these were all legitimate areas for the bus to stop. Buckhaven was always pronounced ‘Buck-hind’. The is even a pub called ‘The Buck and Hynd’. It was a fairly late arrival on the scene. The name was there long before.
If you want to see the pictures in more detail, then simply click on them.
Do remember … they are (c) tachras 2015. Please ask first, if you wish to copy them.
Here is the BBC’s guide to the constituency of Glenrothes. Methil and Leven were there long before Glenrothes ever was, but, in the spirit of lumping places together to form an ‘administrative area’, here we find ourselves.
Points to note:
Who on earth would consider living in Glenrothes and commuting to Glasgow?
The Rothes pit was a total disaster. Lots of money spent, lots of dodgy claims, and not enough coal to warm up a watchman’s brazier.
And as for the ‘industrial ports’ of Leven and Methil – well! Methil was an important port in its time, but Leven stopped being one when sailing schooners were in fashion. The Shorehead has been a car park during all my lifetime, and the boats stopped coming in long before.
As for the electronics industry – Silicon Glen, as reporters like to call it – most of it vanished with the demise of GEC/Plessey/AEI and a lot of other ‘bright new hopes for the future’.
So, Dear BBC! Get off yer arses and take a look at the place. You might learn something!
Constituency profile
From coal mining to concrete hippos marching through its streets, Glenrothes – in the heart of Fife – is seen as one of the great success stories of all Scotland’s new town projects. Unlike other new settlements such as Cumbernauld, Glenrothes was seen less as a Glasgow commuter town and more a self-sufficient community, which sprung up to support Scotland’s first “super pit”, the Rothes Colliery, which opened in 1957.
Following its closure after just five years, work was undertaken to transform the area into an electronics industry centre and today employs people in a range of sectors, including manufacturing, administration and services.
The seat, which also includes the industrial ports of Leven and Methil, was held by Labour’s Lindsay Roy in a 2008 by-election, following the death of sitting MP John MacDougall. Mr Roy retained the seat in 2010 by 16,448 votes.