Fife Pilgrim Way
The Fife Pilgrim Way follows a medieval pilgrim trail across Fife. Modern day walkers can enjoy this 64 mile route, starting at North Queensferry and Culross and finishing in St Andrews.
ExploreThe Fife Coast and Countryside Trust is an independent charity working with partners for a healthy environment that supports wellbeing and sustains the balance between people and nature.
Spread across more than 70 sites, FCCT maintains the Fife Coastal Path, Fife Pilgrim Way, the Lomond Hills Regional Park, local nature reserves, and award-winning beaches. The organisation has its headquarters at Harbourmaster’s House in Dysart where it manages a coastal visitor centre.
Mission Statement
Connecting Environment and People
Vision
We lead in the care of Fife’s outdoors. Working together with you, we create a healthier environment that supports wellbeing and sustains the balance between people and the natural world.
Friday, September 11 Sep 2026
An ambitious partnership project to restore the Back Burn to its more natural state in..
FCCT offer a range of events, activities, conservation activities, guided walks and family friendly events to encourage the younger generation to develop a love of the environment.
This section includes an extensive range of downloadable resources, including themed walks
and information leaflets, which are sure to enhance any visit to Fife.
🌱 It`s Seed Gathering Season! These young oaks were grown by one of our Fife Tree Wardens from acorns collected at Lochore Meadows. Proof that a walk in the woods can grow the next generation of trees.
Fancy having a go yourself? A few simple rules:
- Always ask the landowner`s permission before collecting
- Only take seed from healthy-looking trees
- Note where and when collected (species & location matter)
- Leave plenty for the birds and squirrels - they need it more!
We`re especially keen for: oak, hazel, rowan, hawthorn, Scots pine and alder for community planting. Community tree tables are popping up across Fife, giving anyone the chance to grow trees from seed, meaning no garden required.
Growing space is currently available at:
- Pitcairn Centre, Glenrothes with Fife Coast & Countryside Trust
- EATS Rosyth
- CLEAR Buckhaven and Methil
Not sure how to turn a berry or acorn into a growing seed? The Tree Council`s Tree Growers Guide covers everything from de-fleshing berries to stratifying seed for germination.
https://treegrowersguide.org.uk/tgg/
@eatsrosyth @clear.buckhaven.methil @lochoremeadows @thetreecouncil #SeedGatheringSeason #FifeTreeWardens #GrowYourOwnTree #TreeCouncil #FifeClimateForest #trees #oaks #fromlittleacornsbigoaksgrow #getintouch #thankyou
🌷Do you live in the KY2 area? Interested in tree planting, development of public gardens, green spaces around housing developments and how some of the larger green areas around Templehall are used?
Why not meet the people from Templehall Horticulture Group at the Community Hub this Wednesday, 4pm - 6pm.
Meet like-minded people and join a conversation that gets people working on green spaces, improving the environment, living a healthy lifestyle and contributing to the community.
#FifeClimateForest #community #horticulture #greenspaces #getinvolved #Templehall #Kirkcaldy
🌳 Tree for babies 🌳
It`s Scotland`s Climate Week and Fife Climate Forest is offering a free tree for babies. If you have welcomed a new arrival, have an early years child in the family or would like to remember a lost child, please contact Climate Action Fife for more details. You need to live in Fife and have room for at least a small tree to grow in your garden.
https://www.climateactionfife.org.uk/projects/community-tree-planting-and-natural-environment-enhancement/trees-for-babies/
@nhsfife @thetreecouncil #FifeClimateForest #trees #plantatree #treesforbabies #climateaction #loveFife #FifeTreeWardens
People have enjoyed the Back Burn for many generations - but human presence has taken a toll. The watercourse has a poor ecological status, according to SEPA’s Water Classification Hub. This is largely driven by man-made changes in the landscape.
💧 Modifying and straightening the river for farming has disconnected the river from its floodplain and prevented it from flowing and shifting naturally.
💧 Physical changes like weirs, dams and concrete banking have further constrained its morphology and affected migratory fish.
💧 The burn’s water quality has also declined for multiple reasons, like industry, farming and human habitation.
💧 Meanwhile, the distribution of Invasive Non-Native Species has spread. Plants such as Himalayan Balsam and Giant Hogweed use the watercourse as a highway to spread their seeds, crowding out native plants that naturally grow alongside the burn.
The Back Burn is not alone in its plight - unfortunately a similar story could be told for many rivers in Scotland.
But the fantastic news is that over the last few years, the Back Burn Restoration project has been giving the river a helping hand.
Read on tomorrow to find out more about the exciting developments there.
https://fifecoastandcountrysidetrust.co.uk/.../river.../
📸 Pictures before the river restoration project at Coul Den last year.
#riverrestoration #CoulDen #habitat #naturerestoration #climateaction #fish #wildlife #streams #burns #loveFife #WorldRiversDay
Continuing our deep dive into the Back Burn for #WorldRiversDay...
People have lived near the Back Burn for thousands of years. Neolithic artefacts have been found in the Balfarg area dating up to 4,900 years old, and there were hillfort communities living on the Lomond hills (where the burn originates) during the Iron Age.
During these times, people may have used the burn for water and food, and it may have been important to their sense of place, identity and spirituality.
The land surrounding the burn was very marshy (the local place name ‘Balbirnie’ means ‘farm of the damp place’), so eventually people started draining land and shifting watercourses into straighter lines to create more space for farming.
The earliest Ordnance Survey maps show sections of the burn that are already altered and unnaturally straight. This suggests these modifications for farming (for water and to drain rainfall) may have taken place centuries ago.
Other local industries also used the burn for water, like the John Haig & Co whisky distillery. Coul Reservoir was built around 1900, and sluice gates and weirs were installed to control the flow of water to the distillery. The blue sluice gate above the reservoir can still be seen, a remnant of these operations (see our before and after river restoration pictures).
In the 18th and 19th century, Balbirnie estate parkland was re-designed and the burn modified to provide picturesque views. The addition of weirs created waterfall features, and hard banking was added to contain the water within its channel. The burn provided scenic value to visitors and continues to do so today.
#Markinch #CoulReservoir #BackBurn #riverrestoration #nature #wildlife #history #heritage #industry #whisky #loveFife
