One of the great things about cycling is that it gives you time to notice things that would be mere blurs when travelling by car. I am fascinated by the little pieces of history that can be found just off our highways. I hope that you will find this self-indulgent drivel interesting...

Kinross

Benarty Grave

The castle, built in the 15th century has seen its share of misfortune. I'll quote from Nan Walkers Historical Guide to Kinross....

Robert, The 5th Lord Balfour, had a wild and tragic career. While still the young Master of Burleigh, he was sent abroad by his parents to forget a love affair with a local maiden; on his return he found her married to the schoolmaster of lnverkeithing whom he killed in a fit of jealousy. He was sentenced to prison at the High Court in Edinburgh but soon escaped by exchanging clothes with his sister. For some time he hid in an old tree near the castle (called Burleigh's hole) until he escaped to the Continent. He returned to take part in the ill-fated rising of 1715, and died leaving no heirs.

The castle ground are open to the public, a key is required to enter the buildings, there is no charge for entry.

Surveyors mark

Noticed this one on the road between the B9097 and Kinross, on the right after the junction for Hatchbank Road, carved onto an old stone gate post.

This is the benchmark symbol made by the Ordinance Survey surveyors in the days before GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) and aerial mapping.

The distances, angles and elevations would be measured on the ground and the information entered onto a map. The survey points would be marked with a benchmark symbol so the surveyors could use consistent points for their measurements.

These symbols can be found in all manner of places — one can be seen on the wall of the old Kinross County Buildings, opposite the Kirklands Garage. That one has an unusual lead and more precise horizontal datum mark.

The surveyors mark on the gatepost

The mark

Drinking fountains have gone out of fashion these days and it is refreshing to see an old one restored to its former glory. The restoration was part of a"Best kept village" initiative.

The Cleish Cross.

A Fragment of a stone cross was discovered near the village. The cross has been mounted on a steel frame and is displayed in the parish churchyard.

"The stone formed the centre piece of a free standing 13-14th century cross, found at Cleish in 1980 and may have had links with the Cleish chapel, which came under the care of Dunfermline Abbey in 1208."

A set of lamps on the gates to the church bears an inscription that they were switched on by the then MP for Kinross-shire, (Sir) Alec Douglas-Home (1903-1995). Followers of Modern History will realise that "old chalky" became Prime Minister in 1963 after the fall of the MacMillan Government and a life peer in 1974.(Isn't MS Encarta wonderful?)

The centre boss of the Celtic cross.

Wartime road block

This next wee bit is about religion. Very few people actually stand up for what they believe in, with your job, your stipend (income), your house and your beliefs on the line. What happened in Scotland was unique, both ministers and congregations rebelled against their own church and the "God given" right of a land owner to appoint a minister of their choice

Quoting from "A Historical Guide to the County of Kinross."

"Some 3 miles south of Kinross on the B.966 road is an obelisk erected in 1883 to commemorate the formation in 1733 of the first Secession Church. Its members, who met in an inn or cottage close by, wanted to have the right to appoint their own ministers instead of having to accept the nominees of the local patrons or Lairds. Soldiers had been brought to Kinross Kirk to force the congregation to open up the church for the induction of the Patron's nominee. The Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, a famous preacher and freethinker, who had been minister at Portmoak Parish, came from Stirling to meet the protesters here at Gairneybridge, and together they formed the first Secession congregation. The Secession Movement for freedom in worship spread throughout Scotland, and by 1765 there were 120 churches with 100,000 members altogether."

The Gairney Bridge monument

Michael Bruce taught school here

A "modern day" surveyors mark

In 1975, the old county of Kinross was assimilated into Tayside Region, and forever losing its identity as the second smallest county in Scotland, becoming part of a bigger embarrassment!

This is the last of the old Kinross county road signs welcoming you into the county, in this instance as you crossed the bridge from Kelty (Fife) into Keltybridge.

The last County of Kinross signpost

The Old Merkit Cross

The Old Merkit (or Market) Cross used to stand in the middle of the road outside what is the town hall. The coming of the motor car necessitated it being moved and if memory serves me right, it was rediscovered in a quarry near Milnathort.

The cross was placed in Sandgate Park, beside the old A90(now the B996), Great North Road, and mounted on a plinth. The old town "jougs" hung from the cross, the iron collar fell off and only the chain remains.

The Old Merkit Cross

This building was was once the old tollbooth until it was improved in 1771 when Robert Adam, the famous architect and M.P. for Kinross-shire decorated the front at his own expense.
The building continued in use as a jail until 1826, when the new County Buildings were built further along the High Street.

The last Provost of Kinross was the late Mr. McBain, whose house still carries the traditional street lamp with the Kinross coat of arms painted onto he glass.

Mary Queen of Scots, slept here! Indeed she was imprisoned here, until she was smuggled across the loch in the dead of night.

This was probably the biggest single thing that has ever happened in the town in its entire history.

You can visit the Castle, (Easter to the end of September) by catching the ferry from the Fishery Centre. The charge for the ferry is included in the entrance fee for the castle.

Drinking Fountain

Been passing through the hamlet for years and I have just noticed the remains of a drinking fountain with an unusual inscription. All the plumbing has been stripped out of the fountain and flowers planted instead.

The Maryburgh fountain

You would not know it to look at it now, but there was an important railway junction here at Mawcarse. The railway lines came into Kinross from Crook of Devon and Kelty, united for a short spell and split to go to Ladybank and Perth at Mawcarse Junction.

This wartime pill box guarded the approach by road from the east, which was where the German advance was expected to come from.... the lessons of the Maginot Line were quickly forgotten!

The entrance is on the western side of the pillbox, shielded by a brick wall. There should be a concrete roof, presumably this was removed as it could have been a danger to traffic.

One name on a war memorial...

"13707000 Flight Sergeant George Thomson RAF Volunteer Reserve, 9 Squadron, Bomber Command (Deceased).

"This morning was the Wireless Operator on a Lancaster aircraft which attacked the Dortmund - Ems Canal in daylight on 1st January 1945. The bombs had just been released when a heavy shell hit the aircraft in front of the mid-upper turret. Fire broke out and dense smoke filled the fuselage. The nose of the aircraft was then hit an in rush of air, clearing the smoke, revealed a scene of utter devastation.

Most of the perspex screen of the nose compartment had been shot away, gaping holes had been torn in the canopy above the pilots head, the inter-com. wiring had been severed, and there was a large hole in the floor of the aircraft. Bedding and other equipment were badly damaged or alight; one engine on fire.

"F/S Thomson saw that the gunner in the blazing mid-upper turret was unconscious. Without hesitation he went down the fuselage into the fire and exploding ammunition. He pulled the gunner from his turret and edging his way round the hole in the floor, carried him away from the flames. With his bare hands he extinguished the gunners burning clothing. He himself sustained serious burns on his face, hands and legs.
"F/S Thomson then noticed that the rear gunners' turret was also on fire. Despite his own severe injuries he moved painfully to the rear of the fuselage where he found the rear gunner with his clothing alight overcome by fumes and flames. A second time F/S Thomson braved the flames. With great difficulty he extracted the helpless gunner and carried him clear. Again, he used his bare hands, already burnt, to beat out flames on a comrades clothing.

"F/S Thomson by now almost exhausted , felt that his duty was not yet done. He must report the fate of the crew to the captain. He made the perilous journey back through the burning fuselage, clinging to the sides with his burnt hands to get across the hole in the floor. The flow of cold air caused him intense pain and frost bite developed. So pitiful was his condition that his captain failed to recognise him.

Still his only concern was for the two gunners he had left in the rear of the aircraft. He was given such attention as was possible until a landing was made some 40 minutes later.

"When the aircraft was hit F/S Thomson might have devoted his efforts to quelling the fire and so have contributed to his own safety. He preferred to go through the fire and succour his comrades. He knew that he would then be in no position to hear or heed any order which might be given to abandon the aircraft. He hazarded his own life in order to save the lives of others. Young in years and experience, his actions were those of a veteran.

"Three weeks later F/S Thomson died of his injuries. One of the gunners unfortunately died, but the other owes his life to the superb gallantry of F/S Thomson whose single courage and self sacrifice will ever be an inspiration to the service."

NB. This information is copied from the records in the Public Record Office, Kew, London. I can not explain the difference in the spelling of his surname.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission — George Thompson VC.

Long before the advent of public water supplies the towns people drew their water from the nearest source, the people of Milnathort drew theirs from the Queich Burn, which runs through the town on its way to Loch Leven.

Tucked in beside the North Street bridge is a set of well-worn steps down to the burn providing a rare insight into this long forgotten daily ritual.

The steps down to the Queich

These two standing stones sit in a field near Orwell Farm on the Milnathort to Kinnesswood Road.

Cremated human remains were found under the stone on the left when it fell down in the 1970s. One source dated the remains to be around 2000 BC. No mention is made of the existence of other stones or if they ever formed a circle.

This monument, is on a back road between the B996 Kinross to Kelty Road (the former Great North Road & A90) and Ballingry. At first glance it is a strange place to site a memorial except that it was situated on what was the main route north from Edinburgh before road improvements in the late 1800s and it also "improved the view" from nearby Blairadam House, home of the Adam Family a very notable dynasty of Scottish architects.

The queen and her entourage were on their way north from Edinburgh, they crossed from the port of Leith by ferry, landing at Kinghorn, then as usual made their way inland to turn north, to go through Kinross and Glenfarg to Perth. The Earl of Rothes intended on capturing the Queen, to presumably make her see his kind of sense, however she was warned in advance and missed the trap.

During the "Enlightenment" when it was the vogue to romanticise about history, the Adam family erected this monument in the form of a land-bridge, panels on the bridge depict the incident in verse. Today, the transcription of the event can be read from two plaques under the archway, as the original stone inscriptions are badly eroded.

The Paren Well, from which this monument takes it name can be found a short distance down the farm track opposite the monument, on the left hand side before the old railway. I was prevented from taking a picture of the well due to the high grass and cow pats.

The monument.

The Well

The waters from this well are reputed to have curative properties, King Robert the Bruce is said to have been cured of Leprosy by drinking the water from this well.

At one time Scotlandwell was an important monastic centre, the monks ran a hospital from which the patients were administered the spring water as part of their treatment. The Dryside Road was an important highway for the monks and pilgrims, linking Scotlandwell with St. Andrews. Today the Dryside Road prematurely ends at Wester Balgeddie and nothing remains of the monastery.

The natural spring water can be seen bubbling up from the ground, indeed it must have some properties as the coins in the water do not tarnish... I wonder if it any good for curing punctures?

Beside the Well is the "steamie" or communal wash house, which still has the brick works for holding the cauldron for boiling up the laundry. It is not open to the public, nor was it coin-operated.

Michel Bruce, the local poet was born in Portmoak Parish and is buried in the churchyard of the Portmoak Parish Church.

The well at Scotlandwell

The drinking fountain, 1858 style

This stone marks the site of an ancient Culdee place of worship and of an hospital and chapel erected by Bishop Malvcism and consecrated by Bishop De Bernham, 2nd October 1244 as the Egglisia hospitalis de fonte scote.

In this burial ground, Mr Ebineezer Erskine laid the remains of his mother, wife and four children while minister of Portmoak from 1703 to 1731.

Ebineezer Erskine went on to become a founder of the Secession Church.

What remains of the old parish church of Tulibole lies almost forgotten amongst the bracken. The foundations, a handful of gravestones and a monument are all that remain of this church.

The parish of Tulibole is reputed to be the oldest in Scotland. The church and the parish's demise came when it was amalgamated with the nearby Fossoway Parish.

In the background is the remains of the church.