Blebo Craigs
| Blebo Craigs | |
|---|---|
 Blebo Craigs
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| Blebo Craigs shown within Fife | |
| Population | 50 |
| OS grid reference | NO430152 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CUPAR |
| Postcode district | KY15 |
| Dialling code | 01334 |
| Police | Scottish |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Blebo Craigs is a small village in the heart of rural Fife, Scotland. The village contains around one hundred houses located on the south facing slope of the hill. Blebo Craigs is around five miles from the famous golfing town of St Andrews. The village has a great community and often village events are run in the village hall. Events include everything from small productions by local children, talks on a wide range of subjects and such social events as quiz nights and Burns suppers. There is also a yearly open gardens event in which many visitors come to Blebo Craigs to wander round the many gardens.
The village backs onto a wood which is free for everyone to walk in and enjoy at their leisure for all sorts activities including horse riding, walking and biking. Among other notable things in the village it has a very prominent red telephone box located at the top of the main road into the village. This phone box has become somewhat of an icon and is a frequently used landmark for directions. The area of forest between the two hamlets, known as Kemback Woods, is one of the most popular mountain biking destinations in Fife.
The village has several historical features, "Craig" is a Scots word meaning rocky promontory. Two large quarries (one for sandstone - still visible, one for roof slate - whose galleries slowly shrunk under the weight of 8 metres of overhanging rock) which can be found in the woods, from which stone was used to build many of the sandstone buildings in the area, and shipped along the high road to St Andrews during the Victorian era.
Most of the village plan is based on two industrial developments. The straight road east of the postbox was built along the north border of Blebo House estate lands, over Clatto Hill, then (almost) straight to Strathkinness to take the products of the Blebo Mills to Guardbridge, Dundee and St Andrews, bypassing the toll fees at Dairsie, and on the main Cupar to St Andrews roads. As the sandstone and slate quarries operations were expanded into a year-round activity, (rather than transient and seasonal since Medieval times) houses and schools were built for the quarry workers along the road after the 1830s.
The architectural, and other land use history, of the village is dominated by the houses of the estates of Clatto, Blebo, and Kemback, each with their own histories going back hundreds of years. All three have fine buildings and have had various well known owners. Three in particular have been the Lairds of Kemback;- an important Roman Catholic family after the Reformation, D.C Thompson of D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd publishers of newspapers, and children's weekly comics such as The Beano, and William Low owner of the food retailer of the same name.
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Wikipedia