Spotlight on Balmullo

Balmullo, in Fife, is largely a dormitory settlement but it was once a weaving village.

The quarry at Balmullo extracts orange-pink felsite (red pathway chippings) and lies to the west of the village.

Children of the local primary school said in a project: “You can see Balmullo from miles away because of a very distinctive feature. The village nestles at the foot of a hill and one side of that hill is bright orange! That is because it is the site of a roadstone quarry.

“Every now and then we hear a series of explosions and we know that the quarry is being blasted to allow the quarry-men to obtain more rock.”

The present quarry is worked by a company which was registered in 1925 but quarrying was done there before then. It is thought that some of the buildings in the village, including the old school and schoolhouse, were built from stone quarried there.

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Balmullo roundabout roadworks being created at the Cupar end of the village in February 1999.

In July 1988, Fife Girl Guides were gifted their own cottage. It was left to them by the late Mr J. Carmichael. Pictured are the guides at their own front door in Balmullo.

Balmullo Youth Club girls BP Grizzly Challenge team, front, with the Lomond Centre team, back. Front, from left, Michelle Parker, Dawn Blackwood, Julie Morrison and Cara Noble. The picture was taken in February 1994.

A view of the village as it looked in 1934. The schoolhouse is on the right.

with Terry MacCallum Traces through time