Glenrothes

For other uses, see Glenrothes (disambiguation).

Glenrothes Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Rathais
Population	38,927
OS grid reference	NO281015
• Edinburgh	32 miles
• London	444 miles
Council area	Fife
Lieutenancy area	Fife
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLENROTHES
Postcode district	KY6-KY7
Dialling code	01592
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Glenrothes
Scottish Parliament	Central Fife Mid Scotland and Fife

Glenrothes is a town situated in the centre of Fife, in east central Scotland. It is approximately equidistant between Edinburgh and Dundee and is the largest town in Fife,by area, covering 2,229 hectares of land (5508 acres).

Glenrothes was the second new town to be designated in Scotland under the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1946. It was established in 1948 and was created to attract new employment and population to mid-Fife with the creation of the Rothes Colliery, a major coal mine. The pit closed in 1961, only 4 years into production because of unstemmable flooding problems and a decline in coal requirements nationwide. However other industries were attracted to the town and it became an economic growth point for central Scotland establishing itself as an important Silicon Glen centre.

Today Glenrothes has a population of 38,927 people based on recent population projections, is the administrative centre for Fife and has been successful in attracting employment to Fife, in particular a high number of modern industrial companies.

According to the 2001 census, just 0.28% (Approx. 108) of Glenrothes' residents can speak Gaelic.

The town has well-tended parks and landscaping, a plethora of sculptures and artworks and one of Scotland's largest single level indoor shopping malls. The town also has a variety of religious and educational institutions and has good transport links with the rest of Scotland.

History

Background

Housing at Woodside, built pre-Glenrothes

Glenrothes was designated in 1948 under the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1946 as Scotland's second post-war new town. The original town plan was to build a new settlement for a population of 32,000-35,000 people. The land where Glenrothes now sits was largely agricultural and once contained a number of small rural communities. Originally the new town was going to be centred on Markinch, however the village's infrastructure was deemed unable to withstand the substantial growth required to realise a new town. Leslie and Thornton were also considered but as a consequence an area of 5,370 acres (2,229 hectares) that sits between all of these villages was chosen. The land taken was previously an area of great natural beauty. The policies of Balbirnie House, Leslie House, Balgeddie House falling under the land ownerships of the Balfour, Rothes, Aytoun and Balgonie estates were all incorporated in the Glenrothes designated area. The land was sub-divided into areas or "precincts" which were named after the hamlets already established (e.g. Woodside, Cadham), the farms which once occupied the land (e.g. Rimbleton, Caskieberran, Collydean) or historical stately homes in the area (e.g. Balgeddie, Balbirnie, Leslie Parks).

The name Rothes comes from the association with the north-east Scotland Earl of Rothes, family name Leslie. The Leslie family owned much of the land historically. Glen (Scottish for valley) was added to prevent confusion with Rothes in Moray, and because the town lies on the Leven valley.

Cadham Village, built pre-Glenrothes

The primary reason for the designation of Glenrothes was to house miners who where to work at a new super coal mine. This was to be the most modern of the day and was built west of Thornton, an established village south of Glenrothes. The Super Pit was named the Rothes Colliery and it was officially opened by the Queen in 1957. About 5,000 miners were to be required to produce 5,000 tonnes of coal per day, and huge railway yards were established. The pit was to have a working life of 100 years. The planned long-term benefits were to be huge, and the driver for economic regeneration for central Fife. At its peak the Rothes Colliery employed over 1,500 miners. In 1961, 4 years after opening, the huge investment was written off and the mine closed as a result of un-stemmable flooding and geological problems. Ironically, miners who'd worked in older deep pits in the area had fore-warned against the development of the Rothes Pit for this very reason. The closure of the state-of-the art facility left the huge enclosed concrete wheel-towers standing at Thornton for many years as a forlorn symbol of what could have been.

Originally the main industry in the Glenrothes area was paper-making (Tullis-Russell and the other mills along the Leven Valley) and coal mining. Unlike East Kilbride, Cumbernauld or Livingston Glenrothes was not originally to be a Glasgow overspill new town, although it did later take this role. It was however populated in the early 1950s in large part by mining families moving from the West of Scotland, particularly the Glasgow area, though many re-settled from the declining Lothian coalfields too.

Fife Council Chambers and HQ buildings, Glenrothes Town Centre

The pit's closure was devastating and further development of Glenrothes was almost stopped. The pit's closure did help change the fortunes of the town for the better. Central Government changed the town's role and appointed Glenrothes as one of the economic focal points for Central Scotland. The Glenrothes Development Corporation were successful in attracting a plethora of modern electronics factories to the town. The first big overseas electronic investor was Beckmans Industries in 1959 followed by Hughes Industries in early 1960s. A number of other important companies followed establishing Glenrothes as a major hub in Scotland's Silicon Glen.

A further boost to the town during the 1970s saw it become the centre of Fife Council's operations. This took the role from Cupar which was formally the County Town of Fife. Fife House (the headquarters of Fife Council) and other Fife Council buildings are situated in Glenrothes' town centre. Fife Constabulary and Scottish Enterprise Fife also have their headquarters in the town. Today Glenrothes is the administrative centre for Fife.

Glenrothes Development Corporation

The planning, development, management and promotion of Glenrothes was the responsibility of the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC), a quango appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland. Fife Council were responsible for implementing the infrastructure in the town such as schools, parks and roads.

The GDC was wound up in 1995, and was asked to undertake any last major works required in the town with the aid of a grant. The Leven Bridge crossing Riverside Park and the Kingdom Centre Phase 4, including the Rothes Halls were some of the last major projects undertaken. Property and assets of the town were either sold off to private companies or passed onto the responsibility of Fife Council. The winding up of the GDC meant that Glenrothes was no longer designated a new town. Development and management of the town would now be undertaken by Fife Council. The development corporation left its lasting legacy on the town by overseeing the development of 15,378 houses, 480,692 square metres of industrial floorspace, 68,328 square metres of office floorspace and 53,603 square metres of shopping floorspace by 31 December 1995.

Glenrothes Today

At the ripe old age of 60 Glenrothes is today considered a clean, generally well maintained and quietly successful modern town. While much of the townscape consists of unexceptional 20th century developments, Glenrothes has many surprises. Early residential areas of Glenrothes present some of the best examples of post war social housing, two of which won Saltire Society Awards. Three of the towns earliest churches, St. Margaret's, St. Paul's and St. Columba's, are now listed buildings.

Balbirnie House Hotel, Balbirnie Park, Glenrothes

The historical stately homes, Balbirnie House, Leslie House and Balgeddie House are all located in Glenrothes. Balbirnie House, former home of the Balfour family, was occupied by the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC) between 1981 until its wind up in 1996. The grounds of the mansion house were bought and developed in 1969 by the GDC to become Balbirnie Park and golf course. The former stable block of the house has been developed as the Balbirnie craft centre and Balbirnie House itself is now a luxury hotel. Balgeddie House, located in the northwest of the town, has also been converted into a high quality hotel.

Leslie House, former home of the Rothes family, was once an eventide home owned by the Church of Scotland and most recently is set to become luxury apartments. Much of the former grounds of Leslie House have been used to create Riverside Park. Collydean precinct hosts a ruin of a 17th-century laird's house called Pitcairn House.

Marching Hippos, Riverside Park

Glenrothes was the first Scottish new town to appoint a town artist in 1968. Today, as a result, there is a large variety of artworks and sculptures scattered throughout the town (around 132) made from a variety of materials such as bronze, fibre glass, bricks, sandstone and concrete. The sculptures range from giant flowers, giant hands, a dinosaur, toadstools, the Good Samaritan, a horse & chariot, dancing children, a seated old couple, crocodiles and marching Hippos.

Landscaping in Glenrothes often leaves the impression that many of the housing areas have been built in parkland. The town has won the "Best Kept Town & Village Competition" in Fife for the second time as a result of the high standards of landscaping. Housing has generally been built to high standards, especially when compared to other social housing areas in Scotland. Glenrothes is undoubtably modern however old buildings still exist and have been carefully integrated into the modern fabric of the town. It has been described as leaving the impression of pleasant modernity.

Glenrothes serves a wider area as both a service, employment and retail centre. There are a number of attractive villages surrounding the town each unique in their own respect. The surrounding villages are Markinch, Leslie, Thornton, Coaltown of Balgonie, Star of Markinch, Milton of Balgonie (with Balgonie Castle) and Kinglassie. Slightly further afield are Falkland, Freuchie, Windygates, Kennoway, Muirhead, Auchmuirbridge and Scotlandwell.

Geography

Glenrothes lies in mid-Fife between the agricultural Howe of Fife in the north and east and Fife's industrial heartland in the south and west. It is located approximately equidistant between the cities of Edinburgh (32 miles (51 km)) and Dundee (27 miles (43 km)). Its OS Grid reference is NO281015.

The northern parts of the town lie upland on the southern fringes of the Lomond Hills Regional Park. The central parts of the town lie on land between the southern lip of the River Leven Valley, a green lung which passes east west through the town, and the Warout Ridge. Southern parts of Glenrothes are largely industrial and lie on land which gently slopes south towards the Lochty Burn and the village of Thornton.

Temperatures in Glenrothes, like the rest of Scotland, are relatively moderate given its northern latitude. Fife is a peninsula, located between the Firth of Tay in the north, the Firth of Forth in the south and the North Sea in the east. Summers are relatively cool and the warming of the water over the summer results in warm winters. Average annual temperatures in Glenrothes range from a max of 18°C to a min of 9°C.

Glenrothes seen from East Lomond (Falkland) Hill.

Built environment

Glenrothes' layout was based on an irregular grid. The first town masterplan set out self-contained residential precincts with their own primary schools, local shops and community facilities. Separating industry as far as possible from housing areas in planned industrial estates was a key element of the plan. This was a step change from the unplanned and polluted industrial towns and cities of the previous centuries where cramped housing and dirty industry were built in close proximity to one another. The idea for Glenrothes was to provide a clean and healthy environment for the town's residents regardless of their social background. "Through traffic" would bypass housing precincts by distributor roads which would connect each precinct to a purposely designed town centre and to the industrial estates. Another element that was adopted was the use of roundabouts at junctions instead of traffic lights allowing traffic to flow freely.

At first Glenrothes developed in a linear fashion starting at Woodside in the east and progressing westwards. Housing was a mixture of low-rise mixed housing and flats. The first masterplan was implemented as far as South Parks and Rimbleton housing precincts.

Early Glenrothes precincts, developed under the first masterplan, were based on Ebenezer Howard's Garden City principles and this is reflected in their housing styles and layouts.

A second town masterplan was designed in the 1960s following Glenrothes' change of role and was to accommodate an increased population target of 50,000-70,000. New areas of land in the north and south of the designated area were brought into production for new development. The irregular grid layout was retained however housing precincts were to become less self-contained and would share local facilities in a new neighbourhood centre format. The road network was to be upgraded to deal with projected increases in car ownership. New housing estates were developed in the west, south and then northern parts of the town. The precincts of the 1960s and 70's, developed under the second masterplan, were based on principles of Radburn, separating as far as possible footpaths from roads. The townscape changed with a mixture of higher densities and new architectural styles.

Housing precincts from the 1980s onwards have largely been developed by the private sector and more reflect today's aspirations of low density suburban living. Most of this housing was developed in the northern parts of the town.

Large portions of land in the south of the town were developed for industrial purposes, largely as a result of the proximity to the proposed East Fife Regional Road (A92) which was developed in 1989 giving dual carriageway access to the main central Scotland road network. The second master plan was used until the wind-up of the Development Corporation in 1995.

Glenrothes came late into high rise development and as a result it has only a single tower block, which is located adjacent to other tall buildings in the town centre. The townscape is largely low rise until the town centre is reached where flats and clusters of taller buildings have been used.

Housing Precincts

The Housing precincts in Glenrothes are as follows;

Glenrothes War Memorial and The Dream sculpture, Auchmuty

Alburne Park is in east Glenrothes in close proximity to Markinch. It was built as the first private estate in the town and housed many of the senior GDC staff. Alburne Park is home to the Glenrothes Art Club and the Balbirnie Gym. The former Preston School (now demolished) was located at the southern entrance to the estate. This site is now to be developed into a large care home.

Auchmuty was the second precinct to be designed and built by the GDC in Glenrothes in the 1950's. It is located to the south and east of Glenrothes town centre. The precinct has its own schools and newsagents. It is well linked with Glenrothes town centre. St. Paul's Church, and St Lukes Church are also located in the precinct and the Glenrothes war memorial, built in 2007, sits adjacent to the latter church. Warout stadium and park is located to the north of the area and is host to a number of outdoor annual events including the bonfire held every November and the Glenrothes Gala.

Housing at Balbirnie and Prestonhall is located in the east and northeast of Glenrothes, adjacent to Markinch. Properties in both estates have been built by the private sector and are often associated with nearby Markinch rather than Glenrothes with local children attending primary school in Markinch. An extension of the housing to the northeast of Balbirnie is currently underway and will see development of over 100 new homes. Land to the south of Prestonhall, on land formally occupied by a papermill, is also being developed for new housing. The Grade-A Listed Balbirnie house hotel and the Balbirnie craft centre, park and golf course are in close proximity to these housing areas. The remains of the neolithic Balbirnie Stone Circle lie at the northeast of the Balbirnie estate.

Low rise private suburban housing, Balgeddie

Balfarg is located in the northeast of Glenrothes. There is a mix of private and public sector housing on the estate built between the 1970's and 2007. Gilvenbank hotel is located to the north and Gilvenbank park to the west. Local children attend Pitcoudie Primary School. At the centre of the estate is the remains of the Balfarg Henge, an ancient stone circle dating back to 2900 BC.

Balgeddie is located in the northwest of Glenrothes and consists largely of private housing built between the 1970's to date. At the centre of the estate is the Grade-C(S) Listed Balgeddie House Hotel. Over 100 new houses are being developed to the northwest of the precinct by a private developer. Local children attend Collydean Primary School, a short distance to the northeast.

Bankhead is a private housing area, built in the 1990's, located in the south of Glenrothes. It lies adjacent to the Westwood Park employment area and is in close proximity to the village of Thornton. Local children attend Thornton or Pitteuchar West Primary School. Stenton Pond lies a short distance to the west of the estate.

Cadham is located in the north of Glenrothes and was designed and built in the 1970's by the GDC. Cadham village, a former hamlet, is located to the southeast of the estate. This is now a conservation area and contains a number of pre-war houses, built for workers of nearby Tullis Russell papermill.

Cadham is distinguishable by its unusual housing and layout. Housing has been clustered into horseshoe shaped staggered terraces with segregated footpaths and generous landscaped areas. Another distinguishing feature is that the housing has been designed with monopitched roofs and livingrooms are located on the first floor of properties in order to take advantage of the prominent views to the south. Cadham is served by a neighbourhood centre which contains a parade of shops, a pub, a church, offices and other community facilities. Glenrothes fire station sits adjacent to the Cadham Centre to the south. Local children attend nearby Pitcoudie Primary School.

Dinosaur Sculpture, Caskieberran

Caskieberran is located in west Glenrothes and was built in the 1960's and 1970's. It has its own Primary School, local shop and community hall. Much of the housing in Caskieberran was built by the GDC, with a small area of private housing built to the west, adjacent to Glenrothes Golf Course. Caskieberran contains a number of urban artworks including sculptures of a dinosaur, a giant cobra, hippos, a horse and chariot and toadstools.

Collydean - Main article Collydean

Compact housing and segregated pedestrian path, Collydean

Coul is a small private estate located on the northern boundary of Glenrothes. It sits in close proximity to the Coul Reservoir and the Lomond Hills Regional Park. The estate was built in the late 1990's and early part of the 2000's. Local children attend Collydean Primary School, a short distance to the southeast. Coul House, a restored georgian property with steading lies to the east of the estate.

Finglassie is a large private estate built in the early 1990's and is located in the south of Glenrothes. It contains its own parade shops and a restaurant to the east. Stenton Pond is located adjacent to the southeast of the estate. Local children attend Pitteuchar West Primary School. Southfield Industrial Estate lies a short distance to the west of the precinct.

Formonthills is an upmarket private housing estate located in the northwest of Glenrothes. It has prominant views over the town to the south. It sits immediately south of the Lomond Hills Regional Park. Local children attend nearby Collydean Primary School.

Forresters Lodge and Leslie Parks are private housing estates located to the north of Riverside Park. Housing has been built between the 1970's up until 2006. Glenrothes Hospital lies between both estates. Local children attend Pitcoudie Primary School.

Macedonia is a public housing area largely designed and built by the GDC in the late 1950's early 1960's. It is located in west Glenrothes and contains the Glenwood neighbourhood centre, which contains a parade of shops, a pub and other community facilities. Glenwood High School is located to the west of Macedonia. The precinct also contains its own Primary School and local shop. The area is distinguishable due to the majority of the housing being flat roofed- a major architectural departure from the earlier housing precincts. Riverside Park lies to the north of the estate.

Newcastle is located at the western extent of Glenrothes. The precinct was designed and built in the late 1960's early 1970's and contains a mix of public and private sector housing. The area contains its own primary school, local shop and community hall. Glenrothes Golf Course is located immediately to the south of the estate. Streets adjacent to the golf course have been named after well-known Scottish golf courses.

Pitcairn is a large private estate built in the 1990's and is located in north Glenrothes. The area contains a small parade of shops in the northwest and a bridge link in the south linking it to Gilvenbank Park. Local children attend Collydean Primary School to the west.

Crocodiles Sculpture, Pitcoudie

Pitcoudie was designed and built in the late 1960's early 1970's by the GDC. It is located in north Glenrothes, adjacent to the Cadham neighbourhood centre. It has its own primary school and contains a number of interesting urban artworks, including scultures of Crocodiles and a TV & Chairs. Footpaths and roads have been segregated and the area is well landscaped. Gilvenbank House, a traditional property lies in the south of the estate. A number of private residences have also been built here.

Pitteuchar is a large housing precinct located in south Glenrothes and was largely built in the 1970's. Much of the housing was designed and built by the GDC, however 1980's private housing has been built in the south of the estate and in the northeast more modern housing has been developed. Pitteuchar contains the Glamis neighbourhood centre which contains a parade of shops, a pub, a church, offices and other community facilities. The precinct also contains two primary schools and a number of urban artworks including giant toadstools, marching hippos and a modern stone circle. The Fife Sports Institute (FIPRE) and the Adam Smith College's main Glenrothes campus is located to the west of the precinct.

Rimbleton is located in central Glenrothes to the northwest of the town centre. Much of the housing was designed and built by the GDC in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The area contains its own primary schools, local shop and community hall. The Glenrothes Snooker Club, the Salvation Army Hall, a pub and other facilities are located in the northwest of the estate. The Saltire Retail Park and Pentland office park are located to the south of the estate.

Semi-detached GDC housing and mature landscaping, South Parks

South Parks is located in central Glenrothes to the west of the town centre. Much of the housing was designed and built by the GDC in the late 1950's and early 1960's, with more upmarket semi-detached and detached housing built to the north of the estate. The area benifits from its proximity to Riverside Park, located adjacent to the north. The area contains its own primary school, local shop and community hall. Glenrothes High School is located in the northwest of the estate and Glenrothes Police Station is located adjacent to the town centre in the northeast of the precinct. The former South Parks farmhouse, barn and steading, located west of the primary school, has been converted for use as a halfway house, scout hall and private residences. South Parks also contains Raeburn Heights, Glenrothes' only high rise housing development.

Stenton is located in south Glenrothes and was designed and built by the GDC in the 1970's. A modern public housing development was built in the south of the estate in the 1990's. The area contains the Stenton Jubilee Centre, a barn conversion undertaken by the GDC providing the area with a community hall. Stenton also contains a number of public artworks including sculptures of flying saucers and the great wall of china.

Tanshall is located in west Glenrothes and was designed and built by the GDC in the 1960's. The area contains its own primary school and the St. Ninian's Church. The Glenwood Centre is located adjacent to the northeast of the precinct providing shopping and community facilities. Tanshall is currently undergoing regeneration with the demolition of a number of the areas infamous maisonette flats.

Whinnyknowe is a private housing estate located in northwest Glenrothes adjacent to the village of Leslie. It has largely been constructed between the 1980's and 1990's. Local children attend Leslie, South Parks or Collydean Primary Schools. The Fettikill Fox pub/restuarant and a hotel are located to the southeast of the estate at Leslie Roundabout.

Woodside was the first precinct to by designed and built by the GDC in the late 1940's early 1950's and is located in the east of the town. The precinct has been designed on the pre-war principles of Garden Cities. The area contains a wide variety of facilities including two parades of shops, two pubs, St. Margaret's Church , its own primary and nursery schools, the Lomond Community Centre, Carleton Park, the Glenrothes Rugby Club and other community facilities. Woodside existed as a hamlet before the inception of Glenrothes, largely housing workers of nearby papermills and agricultural workings. Woodside Way contains a number of traditional stone built properties dating back to the early 20th Century. Eastfield Industrial Estate is located a short distance to the south of the estate.

Demographics

Scotland's Census 2001 showed that Glenrothes has a population of 38,679. The demographic make-up of the population is much in line with the rest of Scotland, with 30-44 year olds forming the largest portion of the population (23%). Despite the aging population in Scotland, Glenrothes has 2% fewer pensioners than the Scottish average.

Recent population estimates show the population of Glenrothes in 2006 to be 38,927. The wider Glenrothes Area including the adjacent villages supports an estimated population of 50,167.

Over 29% of the population in Glenrothes are in lower managerial and professional occupations which is a substantially higher proportion of people than both the Fife and Scottish averages.

Government and Politics

Glenrothes is covered by 4 tiers of Government from European to local level. At European level Glenrothes is represented as part of Scotland within The Mid-Scotland & Fife constituency. The town is represented at the British Government level as the Glenrothes UK parliamentary constituency. At the Scottish level Glenrothes falls within both the Central Fife and Mid Scotland and Fife constituencies. Glenrothes is located within the unitary authority of Fife, one of the 32 Unitary Authorities of Scotland. At the Local level the Glenrothes Area is divided into 3 multi-member wards.

Economy

Glenrothes' economy is currently strong with unemployment levels in line with the Scottish average. Glenrothes provides the highest number of jobs (approx 36,000) of any single settlement in Fife This situation is particularly evident when compared to the more deprived towns in the travel to work area, Kirkcaldy and Levenmouth. Employment in Glenrothes is largely concentrated in the town centre and in the industrial estates.

Fife Constabulary HQ, Viewfield

Fife's prominent local authority headquarters building is located at North Street in the town centre. Many of the other council departments are contained in a number of the town centre's office blocks. Fife Constabulary have established their modern headquarters at a site on Detroit Road in Viewfield. Scottish Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland share a local office at the Pentland Park, the Inland Revenue also have an office in this business park.

Town Centre and Shopping

Glenrothes town centre is located on the southern lip of the Leven Valley. It is bounded by a ring road, has been purposely planned, contains no residential element and is largely enclosed. These are all factors which distinguish it from Fife's other town centres.

File:Kingdom Centre.JPG

Unicorn Way, Kingdom Centre

The Kingdom Centre forms the main shopping element of the town centre. The shopping mall currently contains over 100 shops as well as a variety of cafes, the town's central library, the Rothes Halls- the town's theatre and a ten pin bowling alley. The town's main bus station is located adjacent to the southeast end of the mall.

Shopping in Glenrothes is to be significantly enhanced in the near future with major expansion of the Kingdom Centre proposed at North Street. A Sainsbury's superstore (one of the largest stores proposed in Scotland) along with non-food shopping and a new multi-storey car park are proposed as part of the development. Proposals have also been put forward to regenerate older phases of the mall at Albany Gate and a further retail extension is proposed at Marchmont Gate.

A variety of other premises including a bingo hall, a night club, offices, pubs, bars, restaurants, churches, a hotel, a post office, a vet, dentists, banks and building societies surround the outside of the Kingdom Centre.

The town centre has also been extended at Queensway where retail and leisure outlets have been developed, replacing what was once industry. Land to the north of Queensway is to be developed into a new shopping park which is to be anchored by ASDA's first Scottish eco-store.

An out of centre retail park has also been built at the Saltire Centre with large bulky goods and out-of-town retailers. Planning permission has been granted for the redevelopment of the Saltire Centre. This will include new roundabout access, increased retail floorspace and a new drive-thru restaurant.

Glenrothes also has a number of neighbourhood shopping centres located at strategic points throughout the town. These contain parades of small shops and a variety of public facilities. The first of these to be built was the Woodside Centre. The Glenwood Centre, the Glamis Centre and the Cadham Centre followed as the town developed.

Industry

Boundary Marker, Viewfield

Glenrothes employment premises are largely modern and are located in a number of attractive, well landscaped industrial and employment sites, all of which are well connected with the Central Scotland road network. The entrance to each estate is clearly defined with the use of obelisk boundary markers.

Employment sites in Glenrothes are concentrated in the south of the town and at sites around the town centre. Each estate has been named, these are: Bankhead, Westwood Park, Eastfield, Fife Airport, Pentland Park, Queensway, Southfield, Viewfield and Whitehill. These estates are largely managed by Fife Council and Scottish Enterprise Fife.

The highest proportion of jobs in Glenrothes are in the manufacturing and the public administration sectors. Traditional industries are still existent in the area, with paper manufacturing being one of the town's largest employers. The Tullis Russell plant is the last operational paper manufacturer in Glenrothes following the closure of two smaller plants in the area. The plant is currently in the process of selling its surrounding land to developers in order to fund a biomass powerstation.

Manufacturing accounts for around 20% of employment in Glenrothes and a Silicon Glen background continues to play an important role in Glenrothes' economy. A number of high tech industrial companies are located in Glenrothes largely specialised in electronics and engineering manufacturing.

Amazon Warehouse, Glenrothes

Semefab, based in Eastfield, is the UK's Primary Centre for the development of Micro Electric Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Nanotechnology. This is expected to contribute £53 million to the Scottish Economy.

Raytheon are global leaders in the hi-tech and defence markets and a recent project will see the company's Queensway branch supply products to the aerospace and telecommunications industries.

Other major companies in Glenrothes include Brand Rex (fibre optics manufacturing), Velux (roof windows manufacturing), BI Technologies (electronics manufacturing), Compugraphics (photomask development), CRC Group (technology repair services), Bosch Rexroth (hydraulics manufacturing), Phoenix Precision (precision engineering), Micronas (semi-conductor manufacturing), Virgin Media (call centre), Cullen Building Products (construction suppliers), and Amazon.co.uk (online retailer). The latter is the most recent company to locate in Glenrothes and take advantage of it as an employment base.

There are signs now however that the town's economy is beginning to diversify to service sector and other forms of employment in line with national trends. This is evident with new office developments at Viewfield and Pentland Park and the mix of uses emerging at Queensway and Bankhead.

Landmarks

The River Leven Bridge towering over Riverside Park

Landmarks in Glenrothes vary from buildings and bridges to hills, sculptures, churches and henges. The most prominent landmarks in the town include the Leven Bridge which towers over Riverside Park, the Tullis Russell factory chimneys towering in the east of the town and Raeburn Heights and Fife House which both sit at the western corners of the town centre. These are the most recognisable tall structures in Glenrothes which can be seen from afar.

The Lomond Hills form a natural backdrop to the town when looking north and can be seen from as far away as Edinburgh and the Lothians in the south, and Tayside in the north.

Glenrothes is home to the remains of ancient stone circles which can be seen at Balbirnie and Balfarg in the northeast of the town.

A number of Glenrothes' artworks and sculptures act as landmarks at major gateways into the town, such as the Giant Irises at Leslie Roundabout, and the Glenrothes Gateway Totum at Bankhead Roundabout.

Giant Irises, Leslie Roundabout

St. Columba's Church, designed by architects Wheeler & Sproson, is an A-listed structure of architectural significance. It also marks an important gateway to the town centre at St. Columba's Roundabout.

There are two other gateway landmarks, located just outside Glenrothes. The B-listed Markinch Railway Viaduct marks the town gateway from Levenmouth in the east. This structure spans the River Leven Valley carrying the main East Coast rail line.

To the west of Glenrothes is the B-listed Cabbagehall Railway Viaduct, which once carried a branch line connecting Leslie to Markinch over the River Leven Valley. This marks a main gateway entrance to Glenrothes from Leslie and now carries a major cycle/footpath, Böblingen Way, connecting Leslie with Glenrothes.

Culture

Sports and recreation

Riverside Park

Glenrothes has a number of well maintained parks at Riverside, Balbirnie, Warout, Gilvenbank, Tanshall, Dovecot, Carleton and Stenton. Around one third of land in Glenrothes has been devoted to the provision of open space. The town boasts good sports facilities with two golf courses (Glenrothes and Balbirnie), a football stadium at Warout and a main sports complex at the Fife Institute (FIPRE). There is also a planned new floodlit skatepark which is to be constructed on the site of the existing skateboard ramps in Riverside Park.

The local football club is the Glenrothes F.C., a junior side who play at Warout Park. Glenrothes also has a rugby club based at Carleton Park and a cricket club who play at Riverside Park.

There are plans to build a new multi-million pound sports centre on the site of the existing Fife Institute by early 2009. The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is exploring the possibility of creating a "community hub" for football at the Fife Institute as part of the sports funding package. This would provide high quality football pitches for Central and East Fife.

Theatre and Civic Centre

The Rothes Halls complex acts as the civic heart of Glenrothes. It is located in the Kingdom Centre and is used as the town's theatre and its exhibition, conference and civic centre. The theatre has capacity for over 1,000 people split between 2 main halls. The flexible nature of the complex means it can cater for a large variety of events. The Stereophonics, Ocean Colour Scene, and Ken Dodd are among some of the well-known acts to have performed there. Plays, an annual beer festival, model railway exhibitions and acts from a number of tribute bands are also some of the many events hosted at Rothes Halls. The town's central library and a cafe also form part of the Rothes Halls complex.

Rothes Halls, Glenrothes Town Centre

Media

Glenrothes has a weekly newspaper, the "Glenrothes Gazette" which is operated by the Fife Free Press group, and which is published every Wednesday.

The Courier, a daily newspaper operated by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, covers news in the Fife and Tayside area including Glenrothes.

Kingdom FM operates on 95.2 and 96.1 MHz. This station broadcasts from the former Haig factory in the village of Markinch located immediately east of Glenrothes and operates as a local radio network.

Forth One broadcasts from Edinburgh and covers the south Fife area, including Glenrothes. It operates on a wave length of 97.3 MHz(FM). Forth 2 sister station to Forth One operates on a wave length of 1548 kHz (Medium Wave).

Tay FM broadcasts from Dundee and primarily covers the north Fife area, including Glenrothes. It operates on a wave length of 102.8 MHz(FM). Tay AM also broadcasts from Dundee and operates on 1161 kHz (AM)

These two latter radio stations operate on a regional basis covering most of East Central Scotland.

Famous people

Famous people include the trumpeter John Wallace, the actor Dougray Scott and Henry McLeish, the former First Minister of Scotland who lived there, having been brought up in neighbouring Kennoway. Glenrothes town centre is home to the building involved in the notorious "Officegate" scandal, which led to McLeish's resignation as First Minister in 2001.

Twin town

Glenrothes is twinned with Böblingen, a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen District.

Glenrothes High School has operated a successful school exchange with the Albert Einstein Gymnasium in Böblingen for a number of years.

Transport

Road

Glenrothes Bus Station

Glenrothes has direct dual-carriageway access to the M90 via the A92 Trunk Road. The A92 passes north/south through the town and connects Glenrothes with Dundee in the north and Edinburgh in the south. The A911 road passes east/west through the town and connects it with Levenmouth in the east and Milnathort and the M90 in the west.

Bus

A central bus station is located in Glenrothes Town Centre where Stagecoach operate regular services to adjacent towns and cities.

Train

The Glenrothes Area contains two train stations. Glenrothes with Thornton railway station is located in the village of Thornton to the south of Glenrothes. It lies on the Fife Circle Line. Markinch railway station is the nearest station to Glenrothes Town Centre (approx 1.5 miles (2 km)). It lies on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line and also has connections to Perth and the Highland Main Line to Inverness. The station has recently been upgraded with a new station building, longer platforms, and park and ride facilities. Regular bus services link the station with Glenrothes and Leven Town Centres.

Fife Airport, Glenrothes

Airports

Edinburgh Airport is the nearest major airport to Glenrothes. It is within a 45-minute drive of the town and has regular flights to London, other UK destinations and beyond. Dundee Airport also, to a lesser extent, operates daily flights to London and is within 40 minutes drive of the town.

Glenrothes is also home to an airfield, Fife Airport (ICAO code EGPJ), which is used by Tayside Aviation to train pilots. The airport is able to accommodate private light aircraft and also contains a small restaurant.

It was originally intended that the airport would serve the industrial areas of the town for transport of key employees to and from Glenrothes and would potentially support flights to London.

Ferry

Within 20–25 minutes drive is a ferry terminal at Rosyth which has daily links to Zeebrugge, Belgium in mainland Europe.

Education

Primary

Glenrothes has 12 non-denominational primary schools. Early precincts are served by their own primary schools and the first of these to be built was Carleton Primary School in Woodside. Warout Primary School was built in Auchmuty and as development of the town progressed west Rimbleton Primary School, South Parks Primary School, Southwood Primary School in Macedonia, Caskieberran Primary School, Tanshall Primary School and Newcastle Primary School were built to serve the central, and western precincts. As development progressed south Pitteuchar West Primary School and later Pitteuchar East Primary School were built to serve the southern precincts. Pitcoudie Primary School and Collydean Primary School were built to serve the northern precincts. St. Pauls Primary School in Rimbelton was built to serve catholic pupils in Glenrothes.

The John Fergus School, adjacent to Warout Primary, serves children with learning difficulties.

Secondary

Glenrothes High School

The town also has 3 non-denominational High Schools. The earliest of these is Auchmuty High School which was built in 1957 as a junior secondary school. To continue "Higher" examinations older pupils were required to attend schools in neighbouring towns. Glenwood High School was second to be built in 1962, serving the western precincts of Glenrothes. It too was only built as junior secondary school. It was not until 1966 that Glenrothes High School was opened to accommodate pupils at "Higher" level. However, in the 1970's both Auchmuty and Glenwood were both extended and raised to High School status. Catholic pupils in Glenrothes are served by St. Andrews High School in Kirkcaldy.

Further

Glenrothes also has its own college campus at Stenton Road adjacent to the Fife Institute. Formally Glenrothes College it has recently merged with Fife College in Kirkcaldy to become the Adam Smith College. This is now Scotland's third largest college and has particular strengths in the creative arts and industries, applied technologies and media. The Glenrothes campus is set to be improved in the near future with a new campus being proposed to replace the existing one.

St.Andrews, Scotland's oldest university, is within 30 minutes drive of the town. Glenrothes is also within commuting distance of the universities in Dundee, Edinburgh and Stirling.

Places of Worship

Glenrothes is home to a number of churches. The three earliest are now listed buildings. These are St. Margaret's Church in Woodside (Grade-C listed), St. Paul's RC Church in Auchmuty (Grade-B listed), and St. Columba's Church on Church Street (Grade-A listed) in the town centre. St. Paul's RC was designed by architects Gillespie, Kidd and Coia and has been described as "as the most significant piece of modern church architecture north of the English Channel". In 1993 it was listed as one of sixty key monuments of post-war architecture by the international conservation organisation DoCoMoMo. St. Columba's has recently received lottery funding for its restoration.

St. Paul's RC Church, Auchmuty

Other churches in the town are;

• Collydean Baptist Church
• St. Lukes Church, Auchmuty
• St. Ninians Church, Tanshall
• Christs Kirk, Pitteuchar
• Christs Kirk on the Hill, Pitcoudie/Cadham
• The Glenrothes Baptist Church, Town Centre
• The Salvation Army, Caskieberran

The town also has places of worship for Jehovah's Witnesses and for Muslims.

Pictures

• 
  The Leven Bridge soars over Riverside Park
• 
  Leslie House, former home of the Rothes family
• 
  Giant hands sculpture, Collydean
• 
  The Good Samaritan sculpture, Riverside Park

References

Primary sources

• Ferguson, K (1982) A History of Glenrothes (Glenrothes Development Corporation)
• Ferguson, K (1996) A New Town's Heritage: Glenrothes 1948-1995 (Glenrothes Development Corporation)
• Cowling, D (1997) An Essay for Today: Scottish New Towns 1947-1997 (Rutland Press, Edinburgh)
• Links Media (2005)&(2006) Glenrothes and surrounding villages (Cupar)

External links

• Film- New Day, Glenrothes
• Scotland on Film new town archive
• Film- New Towns in Scotland
• Glenrothes on FifeDirect
• Glenrothes on Undiscovered Scotland
• Fife News
• Glenrothes Spoon - community site
• Kingdom Shopping Centre, Glenrothes
• Rothes Halls, Glenrothes
• Glenrothes Economic Profile
• Adopted Glenrothes Area Local Plan 2003
• Central Fife Parliamentary Constituency Economic Profile
• Glenrothes Twinning Association
• Collydean Baptist Church
• Salvation Army, Glenrothes

Further interest

Rothes Colliery

• RCAHMS website section- Scottish Collieries: an inventory of the Scottish Coal Industry in the Nationalised Era

Town Rivalry, Glenrothes Vs Kirkcaldy

• "Glenrothes Could Become Top Town"
• "Town Wars: The Gloves Are Off!"
• "The Future - A Merged Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy"
• "Kirkcaldy Hits Back in Furious Row"

New Towns

• "The Dissappointing New Towns of Great Britain
• "New Towns: Can They Be Given New Life?"
• "Building Towns for the future"
• "Glasgow Overspill"

Town Art

• "Town Artist: An Interview with David Harding"
• "Former Glenrothes Town Artist- Malcolm Robertson"

Glenrothes Meteorite

• Fernlea Meteorites UK
• UK & Ireland Meteorite Page

Glenrothes Whisky

• Speyside Distillery Whisky with same name as town

See also

• List of places in Fife