Milnathort A Genteel Place

A Memory of Milnathort.

My sister and I were invited to spend holidays at the home of a very kind lady in Milnathort. Church of Scotland ministers were asking members of their congregations to look after children from 'homes' during the school holidays and the kind lady rose to the challenge. The first time we holidayed there (I think was 1965) and Milnathort thereafter became our second home. We got to know quite a number of the locals not just in Milnathort but in Kinross and Glenfarg. When we arrived for our first holiday we went for a walk in Bluebell Woods. This was a breath of clean air as we were living in Edinburgh then; I was six years old. My sister and I were welcomed most warmly by the local people and as a thankyou, we staged little home shows singing and dancing for a bit of light entertainment. We had a number of things iin common with 'our guardian',which became important enjoyments such as music and reading. Each evening we would go for long walks to Burleigh Castle where we would see the cows after which we would visit the fish & chip shop for a haggis supper. 'Edwards', (I believe) was the local grocer in North Street where we got ham and frozen packets of birds eye 100% beef burgers which were very popular then. At the top of the garden over the wall, there was a cow field where we could sit and view the whole village. We would often visit Hollyhock Cottage which lay in a little turning behind North Street. Arthur and Alan owned the house then and on hot summer days they erected a little striped tent in the garden (our first marquee). They loved cats and Alan would wave goodbye to us saying 'ta ta the noo'. Alan later in his life worked in the hardware shop in the main street in Milnathort; it was a lovely shop where they also sold mugs with 'Milnathort' on them. I used to take my hamster on holiday to Milnathort in a basket and I think my sister brought her tortoise. Sometimes at night we would shine a light on the back garden and see a family of hedgehogs taking a walk. One christmas day we stepped out of the house to a very hushed North Street; the snow was falling and had muffled everything. That is one of the quietest moments I have experienced. Sometimes we went for car drives at night to nearby famous landmarks. We always had a full itinerary when we were stayed there but we liked wandering around Milnathort when we had a free day. Sometimes during our stay we swam in the pool at the Green Inn in Kinross. Once we walked from Milnathort to Kinrossshire I was thinking of rollerskating it but regretfully I didn't. We loved swimming and swam in Loch Leven when the weather was very hot it was very salty and clean. There were a lot of local musicians and my sister and I played an instrument each so we had 'musical evenings' around the piano. The lady we stayed with knew many people so we were always visiting in Kinrossshire or Glenfarg. On most Sundays we would lunch in Glenfarg at the home of some dear friends. They had one of the first lava lamps (orange) which was an interesting colour with their deep red tartan carpets. After our meal which consisted of watercress soup and fresh fish caught that morning from the river? or so we were told, we played board games or cycled at top speed down the steep hill of course there were fewer cars then to spoil our ride. There was a lovely attic in the house where many victorian chests and lace pieces were stored and as we had turned the attic into a playroom these items added to its fascination. We liked shopping in the town for yoghurts which were just becoming popular and gigot chops which we had never heard of. I think both items were bought from the butchers.
Reading what I have written I realise my time spent in Milnathort really centres on its inhabitants and the welcome they always gave us. The stories I read there and especially what we ate. Milnathort always felt like a very good genteel place a reflection of the very kind lady who invited us there time after time.

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