Hello,
I am new to the site but I live locally near the Limestone Mine and have been in and about them a few times. I have some information which may or may not be new to the forum but I feel I should help folk any way I can 😞

As far as I know there are 3 ways to get into the tunnels which AREN'T main ways in...more collapsed inlets.

The 'Rescue Checked 21/3/95', is to do with a Search and Rescue back in '95 (obviously) where a group of 5 teenagers got lost in the Mines and were never found nor where the bodies discovered.

A buddy of mine knows someone who, apparently, used to WORK in the Mines and he mentioned there is a large chamber where they used to park trucks in? The same person may actually have a copy of the layout of the mines but again I'm unsure on that issue but if he does I shall report back.

There is also a 'Mine' and 'Shaft (dis)' marked on the OS Map of the area* in a wooded area about 3/4 of a kilometre away from Rameldry farm which I'm planning to check out soon.

Pictures will follow that visit!

*OS Map, Explorer 370; Glenrothes North, Falkland and Lomond Hills.

Hi DrFoxhole,
Look forward to seeing your postings.
You may not be aware that a lot of limestone mines were worked in Scotland.
This occurred simply because unlike England there are not large surface exposures in our country.
The exception being on the East coast, south of Edinburgh.
The BGS also produced a book called the limestone off Scotland and you might find some information about this mine in it.

I forget just where exactly, could have been brought out with one of the guys on our last trip there but I've seen a plan for Cults and it's vast, a lot of it now no longer accessible due to being underwater. What is open to exploration is probably only a third of the mine and that's not exactly a small are. The steeply driven brick lined adit looks like it would have been the main drive and would have led into the best the mine had to offer but unfortunately it is flooded a short distance from the entrance.

I thought the kids who got lost were eventually found, not heard anybody say they were lost and never found!

Yeah it's insane how easily you get turned around in there. The third entrance we found has the minecart tracks leading in both directions through fairly sizable tunnels, just haven't been able to get up there since the weather is pretty bad and the only way to find the entrance clearly is with daylight.

The kids were found, I remember seeing it on the TV news.

http://www.ipernity.com/doc/287597/16543667/sizes/2048  )It ran until the 1980s but it's completely blocked up now, and I think it would be flooded anyway.

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/mmartin/fifepits/starter/east/pits/r/pit-3.htm  they are worth seeing but there's no way in. The base of the headstock still exists and the shaft is a fenced off depression in the woods. There are also two adits near the road but I can't find any trace of them. One is beside a ruined building and the other is among a load of fallen trees that I just can't find a way through. I can't help thinking it's shallow workings that have made all the trees fall down.

hi do you have or can you get a copy of a plan for the cults,been down a few times and curious to how far they go

I've seen a plan but I don't have one. The mine extends south about as far as the top road, east about as far as the crossroads and west to roughly where the low road dips away (if you drive along there now you'll see where some doors and stuff have been flytipped, that's about the point where the mines end as far as I can tell). If you look at some of the old maps on the NLS website you can see that there was once a third limeworks there, and a mine entrance on the north of the road, but I can't see any traces.

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/nocomico/choose_search.htm  It's probably best to contact them beforehand to tell them when you're going and what plans you want to see.

I'm trying to get hold of a copy through a mate but the bloke is having trouble finding it haha. Once I get it I'll happily scan it and send it out if you leave an e-mail address!

Heya
I was wanting to know what a 'NGR' number is and where to use it, I'm interested in visiting these mines but have no idea where they are

Cheers
~Ross

National Grid Reference.

www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2013/03/map-reading-skills-learn-how-to-use-grid-references/

There was a wee cupar who lived in Fife !

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http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12129175.Exhausted_teenagers_found_safe_after_17_hours_lost_in_lime_quarry_tunnels__Escape_from_the_labyrinth/ 

Hi guys,

With regard to the flooded sections of Cults. I know a group of cave/mine divers who would be interested in possibly exploring the submerged sections as best as they can. Is the mine relatively stable in terms of rockfalls etc?

Andy

My father was the last manager of the Cults limestone works. I remember being down there as a child. After dad had to retire due to ill health the mine was closed down.

Another rescue tonight. I think it'll get blocked off now.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/fife/307610/workers-trapped-limestone-mine-near-pitlessie/ 

They weren't though, just a couple of young lads who got lost and found their way out by the time help arrived.

Another rescue tonight. I think it'll get blocked off now.

Yup, that'll do it...another to add to the ever increasing list of sites lost in last few years 😢

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Especially with the Coal Authority taking an interest in the mine.