MY DUTCH COURAGE

Gayle Ritchie faces her fears of spiders and all things arachnid as she gets exclusive access to Craigtoun Country Park’s island village by campaigners on a mission to save the once popular Fife attraction from ruin

I’m torn. On one hand, I’m desperate to shimmy up the narrow spiral staircase to explore the wee tower room at the top. On the other, I’m scared of what I might find.

I’ve just brushed past some of the thickest cobwebs I’ve ever encountered, and judging by the size of the spider corpses cocooned inside them, I don’t want to see the alive-and-kicking versions. I’ve been invited inside the Dutch Village, a bizarre island with ornate buildings in the middle of a boating lake in Craigtoun Country Park that’s been closed to the public for two decades.

I’m filled with anticipation as campaigners, hoping to revive the once-thriving St Andrews attraction to its former glory, unlock the doors to various padlocked rooms, including the boat house, summer house, ice cream booth, cafe and kitchen. There’s space to flee scuttling arachnids in most, but the tiny turreted tower room could prove problematic for those with a fear of the beasts.

The miniature Dutch Village was built in the 1920s by acclaimed architect Paul W Whitehouse and was a huge draw for many decades, with families enjoying ice cream, afternoon tea dances and boating on the pond. The unique design comprised a gatehouse, summerhouse and loggia, boathouse and pavilion – and the white harling and red pantiles led to it being named the Dutch Village.

But according to the community group that manages Craigtoun Park and its various attractions, including the village, things have deteriorated over the last 20 to 30 years.

Doug Stephen, chairman of the Friends of Craigtoun Park, claims that without significant investment the village may soon be unrecoverable. That’s despite the council pledging £250,000 for urgent repairs in February.

Doug and funding manager Henry Paul claim this money is a drop in the ocean, but a very welcome start. Their hope is a patron might come forward to inject cash into the project to upgrade the village and allow their dreams of once again opening it to the public to come to fruition.

Plans show the first phase of work to regenerate it would provide accessibility for all, with an extended cafe and amphitheatre and possibly even turning it into a wedding

venue. The village is on Historic Environment Scotland’s Buildings At Risk Register and, prior to the February funding announcement, there were concerns it wouldn’t survive the winter.

While the Friends group runs the park on a 25-year lease, the village remains the local authority’s responsibility.

“It used to be the centrepiece of the park,” laments Henry. “The lake was a huge draw for generations of visitors and the island village with its mish-mash of continental-style architecture is still a focal point.

“It had a small cafe, a dancefloor and an ice cream parlour which you could row up to from the outside.

“Unfortunately, it started to deteriorate and from about 2000 onwards, Fife Council stopped maintaining it. It had to be closed around 2004 so it’s been shut for 20 years.

“They did one bit of maintenance in 2016 when they refurbished the boat shed.

“But since then they’ve never cleaned the gutters, so they’re full of leaves and debris. Water pours into the building as a result.”

The Friends have been campaigning to restore the St Andrews landmark to its former glory since they took over the management of the park in 2012. They have already made great strides in reinvigorating the park, which was at risk of closing in 2012.

“If the council keeps ignoring the village, it’ll just be a romantic ruin,” scowls Henry, as he unlocks the main doors to the gate house.

The central area – which used to house a marble dancefloor – is covered in weeds and rubble. The perimeter wall, meanwhile, has a giant crack in it, thanks to a tree growing from it. Yet, despite this neglect, the magic of the place has not been lost.

It’s a bizarre spot that brings a smile – and the hope that life could be injected into it once again. It’s not hard to imagine families enjoying ice cream and lazy lunches, couples dancing, and kids playing in pedalos. It seems a crying shame this no longer happens.

“Four years ago the council withdrew the permanent gardeners from Craigtoun Park and instead the gardening is done by a squad,” Henry tells me.

“We get a lot of saplings growing in the (island) wall and one was allowed to grow to 30ft, causing a huge, four-inch crack on the perimeter wall. The whole corner has gone.

“The lake will need to be drained and the whole wall taken down and rebuilt once the roots have been taken out.

“When there were full-time gardeners, they’d go round on a regular basis and pull the saplings out, so they’d never establish.”

The group conducted a feasibility study in 2021 and commissioned an architect to come up with a plan to develop the site.

“We want to raise the entrance so anyone with mobility issues can get in,” explains Henry.

What of the continental influence in the design, I wonder?

“It is a hotchpotch of styles,” nods Henry.

“It’s not meant to be any one thing so you’ve got stepped gables, and it looks a bit Dutch because of the pantiles. But there’s German and Italian influence here too.”

Henry and Doug take me on a tour, starting with the veranda. “This is a loggia, or a veranda to you and me, from the Italian influence,” explains Henry. “It was somewhere to sit and have afternoon tea.

“The little room on the side is a kitchen, and next to it was a cafe. You could go up to a window to get ice cream to take away, or you could sit in the loggia and get table service.

“In the round tower at the top is a room, with no windows. It’s a calm room, maybe a yoga room, a wellness room, or somewhere to sit reading or contemplating.

“We don’t know what it is really but it’s in good condition. That’s the Italian influence.”

It’s this room that I’m somewhat reluctant and yet desperate to get into. Putting aside my fear of spiders I make it up to the top. And boy am I glad I’ve made the effort.

It’s a cool wee room, with the strangest of acoustics. I hear myself echo as I speak.

I wonder if someone kept a wee piano up here in days gone by? The room, albeit very dusty and cobwebby, is in great nick.

We also explore the former ice cream parlour and kitchen, and peek into the boat house, which has room for two rowing boats.

Henry explains the lakes in the park were installed for insurance purposes.

“When the big house caught fire previously there was no mains water, so they built this ornamental lake close by – so they could run pump water in the event of fire,” he says.

Henry and Doug are appalled at the state of the village, which is a listed building under the ownership of Fife Council.

Doug says: “The potential here is huge. This could be a major attraction. It could be phenomenal.”

A survey the group paid for four years ago estimated it would cost between £800,000 to £1 million to maintain and fix all the issues – and a further £3m to £6m to bring the village back to life and secure its future.

But where might that money come from?

“The best hope we’ve got is either Lottery funding or Levelling Up,” says Henry.

“However, both of these need Fife Council to put something in to start. The good news is that the council has recently shown a willingness to work in partnership with us to examine possible ways forward for funding.”

Since the Friends took over the running of the park in 2012, footfall has risen, says Doug.

When The Courier contacted Fife Council for a response, head of property services Alan Paul said: “The council is assessing the condition of the Dutch Village, working in partnership with the Friends of Craigtoun to help with its restoration as a centrepiece of the popular park. We anticipate starting the next phase of remedial work to the Dutch Village in the autumn.”

Originally created as a formal landscaped garden on Mount Melville Estate in the 1860s, the 47-acre Craigtoun Country Park, first owned by the Younger family, was bought by Fife Council in 1947 for £25,000.

It welcomed its first visitors in 1948 and was at its peak in the mid-1960s as a tourist attraction. But the park had become a shadow of itself by the late 2000s after years of neglect and declining visitor numbers.

While there are many old photos of families enjoying the village, the Friends are on the hunt for cine film from visitors.

They plan to make a 3D virtual tour which generations will be able to “walk through”.

As I leave the village, I find a stray spider web on my shoulder and shudder.

It would be nice to return to find it cobweb-free and full of life, with people enjoying the enchanting space as they would have done all those decades ago.

THE LAKE WAS A HUGE DRAW. IT HAD A SMALL CAFE, A DANCEFLOOR AND AN ICE CREAM PARLOUR YOU COULD ROW UP TO FROM OUTSIDE

LAKE WOEBEGONE: The village is falling into disrepair. Photos by Mhairi Edwards.

Rowing boats on the Dutch Village lake in better days, long before the crumbling buildings witnessed by Gayle Ritchie.