Not so Outlandish

Culross Palace

    We take for granted switching on the light, the kettle or the coffee machine, never mind charging up the laptop. However, we're now aware that we have to find alternative methods of making the energy that is required to power our gadgets and the things that we see as essential in our everyday lives.

Firth of Forth

    Back in Elizabethan times cooking and heating in UK homes was dependent of wood. But as supplies depleted due to the timber also being used for the building of ships and houses, it was important that an alternative source of energy be found. Yes, history is repeating itself here.

    Coal was being mined in Great Britain in the 16th and 17th century, however, the techniques being employed for extraction were primitive compared to those of their European counterparts. Ultimately, production was low and resulted in many of the mines falling into disuse.

Culross Palace, Bruce's home

    One  engineer, Sir George Bruce of Carnock, saw a business opportunity and took out the lease on one such disused mine in the coastal village of Culross, West Fife. By bringing the mine up to European standards and devising a way to make a workable tunnel out under the Firth of Forth, he was able to use the seam to its full potential.

Typical cobbled street

     The small port became a hub of activity, from here vessels took the coal and salt that was panned in the area, all over the world. Bruce himself became a wealthy man and had a large house built in the village or as it had become, Royal Burgh. The distinctive red tiles on the roof of his home and other roofs throughout the village were the return cargo on the ships that came back from Holland. Unfortunately unlike his mine many of these tiles have stood the test of time and examples of these can still be seen there.

Culross Abbey and House 

      Culross's cobbled streets, Market square (Mercat Square), Palace and Abbey have made it a film maker's dream. In the TV series, Outlander, it featured as the fictional village of Cranesmuir and it also played host to cast and crew of the 1971 film Kidnapped, starring Sir Michael Caine.

The Townhouse

     This village of approximately 400 residents is so timeless it would be easy to imagine that I had travelled there by time machine rather than a car. The Townhouse, a large 17th-century building which is now utilised as a visitors centre is where I stopped to take my last picture. In its history, it has had many usages, two being a court and prison to those accused of witchcraft.

    If one of its former inmates had appeared at a window while I was clicking away, I wouldn't have found it so outlandish. Of course, they would have popped by on a broomstick, not a motorcycle as in my picture.