Dunfermline Weekly ⏰ 30 March 2025
Clocks spring forward, seven fires set in one day, 3600 ESL students, and more
⏰ Clocks went forward one hour and we’re now on British Summer Time until late October. Time to hunt down that one kitchen appliance that doesn’t adjust the clock on its own!
🔥 Firefighters had to put out seven deliberate fires in one day. Fires were started in Duloch Park in Dunfermline and in Dalbeath Marsh in Hill of Beath, and bins were set on fire in Rosyth and in Rex Park in Dunfermline. Further incidents took place in Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes. (Courier)
📺 Sky is will be cutting jobs at the Dunfermline call centre, while three other call centres in England are to shut entirely. Roughly 2000 jobs, or 7% of the company’s workforce, are at risk. At the same time more investment will be directed into Sky’s campus in Livingston, as the company stresses more and more customers interact with it purely online. (STV)
🪦 There’s a talk on history and symbolism of Scottish gravestones at the Dunfermline Abbey on Thursday 3 April. £5 tickets and more details on the Eventbrite page.
🎷 Outwith Festival is coming back between 3-7 September this year. This will be the seventh edition of the Dunfermline festival. (Courier)
👄 There’s now nearly 3600 English as second language pupils in Fife schools. These students come from a wild variety of backgrounds; from already established Eastern European and South Asian families who often speak English fluently, and very new Afghan and Ukrainian refugees. (Fife Council)
🔋 Previously mentioned household battery recycling trial has been postponed. The scheme was to start tomorrow, 31 March, but the council is doing a late review of boxes that are to be used to transport and store batteries deposited by the public. (Fife Council)
🍕 Fife Leisure Park branch is amongst Pizza Hut restaurants accused by trade unions of breaking the law through wage theft and break denial, amongst other claims of punitive and unfair treatments of staff. As most fast food venues are franchises, treatment of stuff tends to vary to an extent; Pizza Hut stores involved in this dispute are all run by the same franchisee, Glenshire Group. (Dunfermline Press)
🛍️ WH Smith in Dunfermline High St is to be sold and eventually rebranded as TG Jones as a result of takeover by Hobbycraft owners. (Dunfermline Press)
🏙️ The Courier has a brief feature considering whether and how city status has changed Dunfermline. The Dunfermline MSP criticises lack of coordination and points to lack of visible changes, while Fife Council leader claims progress takes a long time and lists numerous initiatives already in place.
🏘️ Fife Council housing list has over 13000 people on it, an increase of 1400 over the previous two years (Dunfermline Press). In the meantime, the council has been showcasing improvements planned for 2000 homes in the area at a trade show this week (Fife Council).
🐕 A dog fell unwell and died after visiting St Ninian’s, leading to worries that the site may still have dangerous substances scattered around. (Central Fife Times)
→ Site owners are looking to start soil improvement works this month, in order to start planting native woodland later on. (Dunfermline Press)
Place names of Fife
🗺️ Today we are covering the western coastal villages from Culross to Limekilns.
Culross - Gaelic cuileann ‘holly’ and ros ‘promontory’, a ‘holly point’.
Valleyfield - while Bluther Burn does flow down a valley in this area, there’s another very credible explanation. Bluther Burn is recorded as Valay-burn, and the settlement’s name has been recorded as Valayfeild and Walafield. That valay would be shared with Devilla, from Gaelic baile ‘farm’.
Torry - from Gaelic tòrr ‘conical hill’, almost certainly referencing Shaw Hill north of Torry House.
Crombie - historically Abercrombie, shortened increasingly often from 1500s onward. Aber is Pictish for ‘river mouth’; Cromb or Crombie is likely from Gaelic crom ‘bent one’, describing a twisty watercourse of Lyne Burn in this area just before it exits into the Forth. The old parish church of Crumbie was located to the east of the modern settlement, much closer to the burn in question.
Charlestown - named after Charles, 5th Earl of Elgin, who built the village in 1750s for his lime and coal workers. The site of the current village was originally called Whalebank, and an older settlement existed nearby or even at the same site, known as Turnershill.
Limekilns - very much named after the coastal lime kilns, described as long defunct by 1790s.
Transport
🚌 The council is again funding free bus travel today for Mother’s Day within Stagecoach’s Dunfermline Zone specifically.
⭕ Just like a few weeks ago M90 J3 Halbeath will see all-weekend lane closures and a full closure of Sanderling Way. Lane closures will continue overnight only after the weekend until works’ planned completion on 8 April. (Amey).
💦 Emergency water works are taking place on Townhill Road at the junction with Arthur St. There is no vehicle access to Arthur St at this time. Works are planned to finish by 17 April. (Dunfermline Press)