The Guildhall and Linen Exchange Visited

Photos

Local Area

Visited as part of walking part of the Fife Coastal Path from Kincardine to Culross with my mate Les. Passed through Valleyfield on the 8A bus heading to Dunfermline where Stuart Adamson from The Skids went "into the valley" (Valleyfield is an area near Dunfermline with a rival gang, 'into the valley' was about the gang rivalry according to folks from Dunfermline, though Jobson, the skids lead singer, later claimed the song was about the army?). Stuart Adamson then went onto Big Country and released the album Steeltown, a nod to the Scots who moved to Corby along with all the steel works! In Dunfermline we visited Dunfermline Abbey where King Robert The Bruce is laid to rest.

The Pub

The Guildhall & Linen Exchange is on Dunfermline High Street right on the corner with Guildhall Street beside the Mercat Cross. It is a Category A listed neoclassical building designed by the Edinburgh architect Archibald Elliot. The foundation stone was laid in 1807; the main structure went up around 1809 and the distinctive tiered spire (a local landmark, roughly 40 m / 130 ft) was added in 1811, funded by public subscription. It was originally built as a guildhall and linen exchange. Dunfermline was once a major centre for fine table linen and damask weaving, which employed a large part of the population. The exchange was intended to give local merchants a proper place to trade the cloth produced in the surrounding mills. The building’s later uses were varied: By 1816–17 it had already become the Spire Inn, In 1850 it was converted into the County Buildings and housed the Dunfermline Sheriff Court for well over a century (until the court moved in 1983), It then operated as pubs under other names (including Shenanigans and Whiskey Joes), served as a job centre from 1993, and stood empty for a period before Wetherspoons took it on and opened it in July 2012 after a full refurbishment. The interior mixes modern and art-deco elements with local-history pictures; the original grand ceiling panels that once decorated the assembly hall are now in the Carnegie Museum of Art collection. It is a typical busy, multi-level Wetherspoons with the standard long food and drinks offering, real ales (it has appeared in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide), free Wi-Fi, outdoor seating, and a 19-room hotel upstairs (doubles, twins and family rooms). Opening hours are generally 7 am until midnight (1 am Fridays and Saturdays). Staff ok...

Football Team

Dunfermline football club are nicknamed The Pars, this may be an acronym for Plymouth Argyle Rosyth Supporters club, where workers from the Rosyth shipyard near Dunfermline went to work at Plymouth shipyard and workers from Plymouth worked at Rosyth and created a Dunfermline supporters club - this is contested by some Dunfermline fans who claim they are called the Pars because they are always paralytic with the drink 😂😂😂

Travel

Busses there: First Glasgow 77, Stagecoach X27, Stagecoach 8A Busses back: Stagecoach X27, First 77

Beers

Schiehallion Craft Lager. £1.99 a pint, score 4/5. Harviestoun Brewery is an independent Scottish brewery located in Alva at the foot of the Ochil Hills, founded in 1983. Water Source: Uses soft water drawn directly from the nearby Ochil Hills, which gives their beers a clean, smooth finish. Schiehallion is usually served as a cold keg lager, its cask-conditioned real ale version is a rare crossover style: a real-ale, cask-conditioned lager. When served on cask (hand-pumped at traditional cellar temperature rather than chilled and force-carbonated), it behaves like a crisp, cold-fermented Pilsner-Style blonde Ale (4.8% ABV). Tasting Notes; pours a pale straw-gold. The cask conditioning brings out soft, floral aromas, fresh-cut grass, and grapefruity citrus notes over a light, biscuity malt body. It has a smoother, creamier mouthfeel than keg lager, ending with a dry, lingering finish. Food Pairings; Light Seafood, Mild Curries and Creamy Cheeses.