EK News Article by Eric Kent: This week’s Duncanrig Ramblers walks were in Fife. The main walk was from Kirkcaldy to Dalgety Bay (9.6miles).The alternate walk was from Kinghorn to Dalgety Bay (7.6miles.  We were very fortunate with the weather on the day as we had warm balmy day with wall to wall sunshine which was a welcome change considering the recent weather. The main walk was the first to be dropped off at the edge of Kirkcaldy and the walkers headed along the fife coastal path towards the village of Kinghorn. Kirkcaldy  lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth and is the largest settlement between the cities of Dundee and Edinburgh.  It is nicknamed “the Lang Toun” as the main street which was once about a mile long and this eventually reached a length of four miles (6.4 km) when the burgh boundaries were extended to include the neighbouring settlements of Linktown,  Pathhead, Sinclairtown and Gallatown in 1876. During the late 19th century, the town became a prosperous centre of linoleum production, dominated by Michael Nairn & Co. After the Second World War the production of linoleum, the town's primary industry at the time, declined in the middle of the 1960s as new flooring products became fashionable. About half way to Kinghorn the walkers passed Seafield Tower which are all that remains of a castle built in the early sixteenth century by Richard Multrare who was granted the land of Seafield and Markinch by James the second in 1443. The castle was abandoned in 1733. The tower name is a reminder of the Seafield colliery which was started in 1954 and was sadly closed in 1988 with reputed reserves of 60million tons of coal much of which is deep under the seabed of the Firth of Forth. We enjoyed walking along the coastal path delighting in the panoramic views over the Firth of Forth to the Bass Rock, Berwick Law and Inchkeith Island. The views over to Edinburgh were also very clear as we could see Arthur`s seat, Salisbury Craigs and the Castle from the Fife shore. We arrived at Kinghorn now a small seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay and a small fishing port harbour. The town is best known historically as the place where King Alexander III of Scotland died as he was returning to his castle at Kinghorn to see his new wife Queen Yolande his horse stumbled and he fell over a steep embankment at Pettycur Bay and broke his neck. Incidentally the town's lifeboat station is one of Scotland's busiest – the current life boat is an Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat B-836 named as the "Tommy Niven" and is regularly getting called out to all sorts of emergencies in the Firth. We passed by the Kinghorn Harbour and Beach then on through the edge of the town and enjoyed watching the wind surfers working their kites on the large sandy expanse of Pettycur Beach which is at the south side of the town next to the Pettycur harbour which was developed in 1760 and was the main ferry service to fife for many years from Edinburgh. Pettycur beach runs all the way to Burntisland and the sandy beach at that end was being well used by the local children in the sunny weather. Due to the industrial nature of the Burntisland docks and the industry in this area we were forced to move away from the shore. This allowed us to pass by Rossend castle has been on this site since 1119. The castle was the residence of the Duries, who were the Abbots of Dunfermline, and remained in their care until the Reformation.  Mary Queen of Scots stayed in 1563, and a French poet, Chastellard, was discovered hiding in her bedchamber, for which he was executed at St Andrews (this was his second offence, the first occurred in Holyrood).  Perhaps an early example of the "2 strikes and you're out" law!  Burntisland flourished in the 1500`s becoming the second most important seaport in the Forth after Leith.  The harbour area prospered and expanded and shipbuilding became a major industry, and would remain so for nearly 400 years. Shortly after passing the castle we travelled down some delightful walled lanes close to the railway and the eventually the coast until we reached the lovely Silversands Bay at the edge of the village of Aberdour where we could see the Island of Inchcolm and the St Colm`s Abbey the former home of an Augustinian religious community linked with St Colm or St Columba. This is Scotland's most complete surviving monastic house and in former times due to its dedication to Columba, it was nicknamed the ‘Iona of the East'. We arrived at the the scenic harbour of Aberdour and then over the bridge where the River Dour which gives the village its name also flows into the harbour. This small harbour is has sadly lost its small fishing fleet and is mainly used today by sailing yachts. From the harbour we left the sea and passed through the quiet streets of the village where we enjoyed a passing glimpse of some interesting shops which were unfortunately for the ladies closed on Sunday.  We left the village via the edge of the golf course. We followed this track past the end of the golf course until it joined the road down to Braefoot Bay Gas Terminal where the North Sea pipeline gas products of Propane and Butane from Mossmorran refinery are exported from the sea terminal. After a short distance on the gas terminal road we veered off westwards for approximately a half a mile and then headed down hill to meet the sea again at Dalgety Bay. At this point in the middle of the bay was the original village of Dalgety, but the ruins of the 12th century St. Bridget's Kirk are all that now mark this site. We were close to the end of the walk now and the remaining distance to the end of the bay was soon covered and we were all well satisfied after our interesting and varied walk. The social hour was enjoyed by the walkers in Dalgety Bay before returning by Coach to East Kilbride.