Every now and again we take a wander along to Dysart which is an old Royal Burgh just a couple of miles north, along the coast from Kirkcaldy. The schoolkids have made a new sign for it apparently. I have no idea how they made it but it looks quite snazzy I think.
This is a photo of Pan Ha’ and St. Serf’s Tower, the buildings are of traditional east coast design, with the red pan tiles on the roofs coming originally from Holland as ballast in ships. Dysart was a very busy port at one time.
The town tolbooth, the ground floor of which would have been used as a prison. I imagine it would have been quite well used as there would have been plenty of sailors around, getting drunk and having fights.
We walked alongh the coastal path for quite a while but bits of it have been roped off as the cliffs are in a dangerous state at the moment. It’s that ever present coastal erosion, the island of Britain is shrinking all the time it seems, and the sea is coming to get us. Do we ever gain any land I wonder?
You can see the old winching gear of Frances Colliery which closed down years ago, when Maggie Thatcher killed the coal mining industry of Britain, along with a lot of communities.
If you’re interested you can see an older Dysart post of mine here.
Yesterday further north along the coast, some 15 or 20 miles or so, between Pittenweem and Anstruther it was ‘all go’ as a pod of whales beached themselves for some reason. It was early in the morning and by the time rescuers reached them 10 had already died. After huge efforts 16 whales were encouraged back to deeper water but unfortunately since then one has died at Leith and it’s feared that the others will come to grief too as they are just swimming around near the Forth Bridges. They’re pilot whales and shouldn’t be anywhere near this coast, but this happens every now and again for some unknown reason. It’s such a shame.
nice job on the sign! I like it.
Peggy Ann,
It’s not at all bad is it, I’ve no idea what the letters are made from though.
So horrible about the whales! Poor things.
Dysart sounds like it would have a lot of stories to tell if it could talk. I really like the red pan tiles.
Anbolyn,
It certainly would, it’s a quiet wee place now – during the day anyway. I’ve heard it can be a bit rough at night! I haven’t heard anything else about the surviving whales, they might still be swimming back and forth in the Forth as I type!
I work with school children to make original artworks for their schools and surroundings. The idea for the Dysart piece came from brainstorming sessions with children from Dysart Primary School. The children then made actual size clay models of the buildings which were then sent to the casting foundry to make the final sculptures. The letters are made of fused glass which the children helped me to cut from sheet glass. I believe in the children having a totally hands on experience while they work with me and I am constantly amazed at the sophistication of their ideas.
Liz Rowley,
Thanks for taking the time to explain how the letters were made, they look really stylish and the artwork is so much better than those which have been done by adult artists in the vicinity. The children are really lucky to be given the opportunity to use their artistic talents, it certainly beats the raffia place mats which I had to make at school.