Miscellaneous

Dalbeath Colliery To Close - Much dismay has been occasioned by the announcement of the closing down of No 2 Pit Dalbeath Colliery as from the 23rd of this month. On inquiry it was learned that this will affect 100 men, very few of whom will be put up at other pits. Nearly all of the men reside in Hill of Beath, which will increase the depression already existing in that village. [Dunfermline Journal 20 October 1928]

From Dunfermline To Lassodie

A stranger desirous of seeing the mineral fields of the West of Fife can spend a day very profitably in visiting the collieries that lie between Dunfermline and Lassodie. The access to Lassodie is very difficult, and the traveller, with three available routes before him, can have but one choice, and that is to take the road by Kingseat Hill, and thence through the village of Kingseat itself. All the way the road is one long "hill of difficulty," but the pedestrian will find it interesting in many ways. Leaving at the cross roads at Towngreen Old Toll-house we proceed direct north through Gardener’s Land, at the top of which we get a splendid view of "the Auld Grey Toon" and its immediate surroundings. On reaching the summit of Kingseat Hills a still more enchanting view is obtained of various reaches of the river Forth and the three Lothians. Two cottar houses are built on the hill, and looking east we see in the distance the thriving village of Townhill.

Since the Townhill Coal Company settled down in the village some sixteen years ago the place has rapidly increased, and is improved in many ways. Year by year the tenants of the colliery have increased the area of their field, giving to the burgh a large and annually increasing revenue. At the entrance of the village there is the brickwork of Mr Richard Strut, who has been four years located in the village. Nearly six years ago Mr Muirhead, a cattle salesman and experienced farmer, and who had had a thriving spirit and grocery store at Quarter, near Hamilton, came and settled down in Townhill, and the change over the extensive property he owns, and the remarkable progress of the village in these years is unparalleled in the history of the West of Fife. For over sixteen years the village had been without a public-house, and singular to say in one year such a house was opened by Mr Muirhead, and in three months afterwards a new church was opened, with the Rev. Jacob Primmer as its first minister. Since then the church has got a bell and a public clock, and gas and water have been introduced into the village. North from the village stands Lilliehill Brickwork, which employs over 60 men and boys. Near the village also are the four farms belonging the burgh. viz., Lilliehill, Cairncubie, Muircockhall, and Highholm, the total acreage being about 600 acres. To the east there is the new colliery of Muircockhall, which was let on lease to the West of Fife Coal Company in 1868. This thriving Company have since entering on their lease built several fine rows of houses, the most of which are in Townhill village, and lie straight west from Mr Muirhead`s properties, and stretch away down to the shores of the Loch, which is famed for the quantity of trout it contains, and as being the spot where skaters most do congregate when the ice is in its strength.

Returning to Kingseat Hill we go straight east, away by Muircockhall Colliery, and going right behind the Hill of Beath we come to the rising village of Kingseat. At the north-west side of the Hill of Beath a large school has been erected, which accommodates the children residing in Halbeath and Kingseat. Before entering Kingseat we get a glimpse from the south of the Halbeath Colliery, many of the pits of which are now well nigh wrought out. There is nothing remarkable about Kingseat, which is wholly tenanted by miners. It has one public-house and a licensed grocer`s premises, a small hall, but no public buildings. Leaving the village we cross the hill, and in the valley below we see Hensneb Colliery, and going east come to Hamilton’s store. Here we come to two cross roads. The one leading due east leads to Kinross and the Great North Road, and the one direct north takes the traveller right into Lassodie Colliery village.

The first house we come to is the palatial residence of Mr Brownlee, under whose care and by whose able management the village has thriven and attained its present size and prosperity. North from this we come to the school and schoolhouse. The present teacher is Mr David Ayton, who for over five years was head-master in the Commercial School, Dunfermline. The teacher’s house is a commodious building of two storeys, and having behind it a large garden. The school is really a splendid building, and was erected a few years ago from plans prepared by Mr Andrew Scobie, architect, Dunfermline. The school at present is attended by 240 children. The main room and classrooms of the school are lofty and airy and the apparatus excellent. The present staff of teachers consists of one headmaster, one female teacher, and three pupil teachers. The playground is spacious, and the whole buildings a credit to the Beath School Board. The village is like most colliery villages - the houses being most or generally all constructed of brick - but in accommodation and for finish and general comfort the miners’ houses at Fairfield, Lassodie, excel those of any colliery in Fife or Clackmannan. There is a prosperous co-operative store in the village. At the east end a church has been erected, which is in connection with the Free Church, and attached to the Presbytery of Kinross. The Rev. Mr Clark is the present minister of the church, and the membership is very strong. Near the church a fine manse has lately been built, and a bazaar to assist in defraying the cost of its erection will be held in Dunfermline this spring, when, doubtless, all denominations in Dunfermline and the West of Fife will give what aid they can to raise sufficient money for this not unworthy object. Altogether, one cannot but be pleased with a visit to Lassodie, and that the village is there, with all its institutions and its rapid rise and progress, a testimony of the perseverance and the genius of one single man Mr John Brownlee.

Going down the West of Fife Mineral Railway, we leave Lassodie, and quitting the line, walk up the Valley of Balmule. Here it was that for several years a remarkable family was located. We refer to the Hutchisons of the Valley. In early years the three brothers - William, John, and James - lived, and the work of their hands is to be seen at every farm steading, and in almost every mansion near Dunfermline. Quitting the quietude of the Valley, the brothers settled down in Dunfermline, and their industry is seen to advantage in the Victoria Works at Grantsbank, and in their last and greatest work, the erection of the Corporation Buildings, Dunfermline. At the entrance to the Valley of Balmule we reach Lochend, on the Crieff Road. Going straight south, we reach Wellwood village and colliery. At the north end of the village we find a grand school and schoolhouse, with a large playground. The present teacher is Mr Alex. Dawson, assisted by Miss Jessie Carson. The school buildings are replete, and for general efficiency cannot be matched in Fife. The rows of miners’ houses are neat and comfortable. In this village and in Milesmark reside a number of widows and aged men, for whom Mr Spowart of Broomhead makes generous provision. South from Wellwood is the estate of Broomhead, which is the summer residence of Thomas Spowart, Esq. Broomhead House is a large modern building surrounded by spacious policy grounds, and having a fine carriage drive, with entrance from Castleblair, and also from the Crieff Road. In front of the mansion house is a fine bowling green and a spacious lawn, and near it a summer house, vinery, &c. To the east of Broomhead are the lands of Venturefair, also the property of Mr Spowart, and a mile south the estate of Woodmill, which passed into Mr Spowart’s possession a few years ago. From Broomhead we come to Grantsbank, at the southern portion of which are the Victoria Works owned by Messrs Inglis & Co., and opposite the Dunfermline Foundry, where nearly 100 hands are employed, and where dozens of powerlooms are made weekly. The above is a brief sketch of our journey to and from Lassodie, and we trust it will interest our numerous renders. [The Dundee Courier & Argus and Northern Warder 13 January 1880]