The East Neuk of Fife is the further east corner of Fife, known for its quaint Firth of Forth fishing ports such as Crail and Ellie, beaches, famous links golf courses (none more famous than St Andrews) and rolling hills. It is far removed from the traditional Fife Coalfield stretching along the Forth as far east as Buckhaven and including towns and villages synonymous with the coal industry (Comrie, Kelty, Cowdenbeath, Lumpinnans, Lochgelly, Kirkcaldy, Buckhaven etc).

It is not without at least one well-known mining remains, the limestone mines at Cults, but much less well known is that the coalfield extended almost to the outskirts of St Andrews. It once supported salt pans along the coast, provided fuel for local lime kilns and provided coal to the local market. The geology of the coalfield is very complex, limiting workings to relatively small undertakings of which the only signs are the occasional small spoil heaps. It was an industry which could not keep up with the much larger concerns to the west. The final colliery working Largoward Colliery closed in the early 20th Century.

John McManus (Emeritus Professor at St Andrews University’s School of Geography and Geosciences) has published a superb account of the coal mining in the East Neuk. This is a follow up to his previous publication ‘Mining between Ceres and St Andrews’ (Windfall Books, 2010) which concentrated on the northern edge of the East Neuk coalfield (a very good read in itself) The new book ‘Coal Mining in the East Neuk of Fife’ was launched on Saturday in St Andrews. It covers the geology of the coalfields and explores in considerable depth the mining and social history of the coalfield and its collieries. Print quality is excellent with some great archive images.

http://www.dunedinacademicpress.co.uk/page/detail/Coal-Mining-in-the-East-Neuk-of-Fife/?K=e201610011007045276 

Recommended 🙂