The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
LIFE ON THE FIFE RIVIERA
A popular Fife holiday park is the subject of a new BBC Scotland series uncovering the stories and anecdotes from regular holidaymakers over four decades. Michael Alexander spoke to one of the stars
It’s been a busy few months for the owners of Pettycur Bay Holiday Park in Fife. A week before Christmas, it was confirmed that the Wallace family have bought the 23-bedroom four-star Old Manor Hotel in Lundin Links for £1.2 million. The former 19th-Century mansion house, which overlooks the Lundin Links golf course, became a hotel in 1994. The takeover is being spearheaded by Steven Wallace, the third generation of the Wallace family to run the caravan park.
His grandfather Thomas Wallace purchased Pettycur Bay Holiday Park with his two sons Alan and Tommy about 40 years ago.
However, while Steven hopes news of the hotel takeover is a welcome boost to the industry as it continues to battle through the pandemic, he is also looking forward to the public gaining a wider behind-the-scenes insight into life at Pettycur Bay through a new BBC Scotland series.
The eight-part series, Life On The Bay, which starts on Sunday January 9, follows the fortunes of the holiday park last summer.
The series, narrated by East Neuk-raised broadcaster Edith Bowman, goes behind the scenes as the family mucks in.
The staff who help them, meanwhile, are like extended family – from the bars and restaurant manager to the maintenance team.
Also putting in an appearance are some of the hundreds of caravan owners who have made the bay their second home, enjoying the views from Kinghorn across the Firth of Forth on the “Fife Riviera”.
In the first episode, members of the Wallace family – including 82-year-old owner and manager Thomas, and his grandson, Steven – help install a new caravan on the steep hillside in blazing sunshine.
Over 40 years the Wallaces have built up the business to 600 caravans and a hotel complex. In episode one, the park’s newest residents get the keys to their new holiday home, and Billy and Gibby from the maintenance team have the task of keeping the 47-acre site shipshape.
There’s also an introduction to some of the many residents who’ve made the caravan park their second home, including Victoria, a writer of Gothic stories and semi-retired college lecturer from the United States.
Viewers also meet Andrew and John, who