The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Work to begin to restore Pittenweem’s tidal pool
RESTORATION: £270k scheme will bring building back to use after lying derelict for decades
Pittenweem’s old tidal sea pool will soon be returned to its former glory.
Funds are in place for the £270,000 scheme and it is hoped work will start on the first phase of the restoration in April or May.
The once-popular sea-filled pool has lain derelict for decades like many across Scotland, but bathers could be able to take a dip there once more by the end of this summer season.
It is hoped the pool’s return to use by the West Braes Project team will boost tourism and prompt a resurgence of outdoor bathing across the country.
Trustee and local councillor Bill Porteous said: “Old photographs show that hundreds of people would have gone to the pool on a sunny summer’s day.
“This project has been a marvellous effort by a small group of volunteers who have had to overcome many obstacles. “It is now, as they say, spade ready.” Tenders for the work have been invited and the project team were due to meet with architects again yesterday.
As the group awaited the final go-ahead from Marine Scotland, it welcomed more than 80 architecture students from Glasgow who will draw up plans for a building nearby which could house a heritage centre, toilet and shower facilities and a community café.
Students from the Glasgow School of Art were challenged to create proposals for a sustainable building, taking into account climate change and accessibility.
Leader Kathy Li said: “For our students this offers the chance to learn more about the social history of these coastal structures in general and to create designs that envisage a future for Pittenweem tidal pool, especially one that opens up access for as many people as possible.”
Nicola Thomson, of the West Braes Project, said: “We at the West Braes Project team are delighted to be involved in a collaboration with the Glasgow School of Art in this exciting and challenging restoration project.
“We look forward to their fresh ideas and innovative designs for environmental and sustainability to provide an exciting educational facility and community hub in Pittenweem,” she said.
One student, Jack Garvin, spent his childhood holidays in Pittenweem.
He said: “This project feels very personal to me.
“I can’t wait to start working on creating a space for the community that I very much feel a part of, in the context of my favourite place in the world.”
The students’ designs are to go on show in Pittenweem later this year.
It is unlikely many readers found themselves thinking longingly about the prospect of outdoor swimming over the weekend. The bracing temperatures and driving rain made the prospect of a dip in the sea particularly unappealing.
Yet the news that Pittenweem’s old tidal sea pool will soon be returned to its former glory after decades of neglect is still very much to be welcomed.
All we need now is an equally dramatic improvement in the weather.