Buckhaven

I was born in Buckhaven, in Randolph Street, then moved to Methilhill prior to moving again to spend most of my childhood in Cellardyke in the East Neuk of Fife.

For most of its history Buckhaven was primarily a fishing village; which once boasted the second largest fishing fleet of any town in Scotland. However since WW1 the fishing industry has withered away almost to nothing although much of the independent, almost clannish attitudes of a typical fishing village still remain. From the early 1900's fishing was replaced by coal mining, and many of the inhabitants over the age of 50 would have worked in the local pits (mainly the Wellesley, Earlseat, Wellsgreen and Lochhead) or in some related industry such as the railways.

The area now defined as Levenmouth is a relatively new creation. The towns and villages of Buckhaven, Methil, Leven, Methilhill, East Wemyss, Kennoway and Windygates were once completely independent of each other with very different histories and communities. Periods of housing development during the end of the last century, the 1920s and again in the 1950s caused many of these villages to swell and merge into each other until today it is difficult to say where one town stops and the other begins. However, visitors beware! Strong community identities still exist.