Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and
burgh
A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...
in west
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. It is north-east of
Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
and north of the capital,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a
police burgh
A police burgh was a Scottish burgh which had adopted a "police system" for governing the town. They existed from 1833 to 1975.
The 1833 act
The first police burghs were created under the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1833 (3 & 4 Wm IV c.46). Thi ...
in 1890. According to a 2008 estimate, the town has a population of 14,081.
The wider civil parish of Beith has a population of 17,351 (in 2011).
[Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved March 2016. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930]
Toponymy
The first element of the town's name comes from the surname ''Colden'' or ''Cowden'', often indicated in early forms as a possessor by the addition of , for example ''Cowdennyes Baith''. ''Beath'', the name of the wider parish, is from the
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
, meaning
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
.
History
The earliest indication of human activity in the immediate vicinity of the current site of Cowdenbeath was provided by the discovery of late
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
vessels containing incinerated human remains, in 1928. An article by eminent archaeologist A.D. Lacaille F.S.A Scot details the find of a late bronze-age cemetery near Tollie Hill. One of the urns found contained fragments of processed Arran pitchstone, indicating some economic activity and commerce.
There is no evidence of a permanent settlement establishing itself around the current site of Cowdenbeath until the designation of the original Beath Kirk as a parish church in 1429-30 to act as a focal point to serve the surrounding area. The earliest written record of Beath (Beth) was found in a charter of
Inchcolm Abbey
Inchcolm Abbey is a medieval abbey located on the island of Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The Abbey, which is located at the centre of the island, was founded in the 12th century during the episcopate of Gregoir, Bishop of Dunkeld ...
, dated 6 March 1178. This charter makes reference to the Chapel of Beth. Although it is generally accepted that the word ''beath'' in Gaelic means ’birch’, P.W. Brown suggests that the word means ‘abode’ or ‘a settlement.’ In 1643 the Reverend
John Row
John Row (1568 – 26 June 1646) was a Scottish ecclesiastical historian and one of the Scottish Reformers. As minister of Carnock in Fife, he was a leading opponent of Episcopacy. Row's '' Historie of the Kirk of Scotland'' (1558–1637), ...
of Carnock, a leading opponent of
episcopacy
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, was instrumental in establishing the Parish of Beath as an entity in its own right by separating it from the parish of Dalgety Bay and Aberdour. This significant date followed the building of a new church in 1640 at Beath, to replace the ruins of a sanctuary, which had fallen into sad disrepair. The present church, visible today, was constructed in 1834–35 by James MacFarlane and was altered in 1884–1886.
![Hare and Burke drawing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Hare_and_Burke_drawing.jpg)
It is alleged that the infamous graverobbers
Burke and Hare
The Burke and Hare murders were a series of sixteen killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection ...
sourced some of their cadavers from Beath Cemetery, to supply to the Scottish surgeon
Robert Knox
Robert Knox (4 September 1791 – 20 December 1862) was a Scottish anatomist and ethnologist best known for his involvement in the Burke and Hare murders. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Knox eventually partnered with anatomist and former teach ...
for dissection.
Precautions were taken at Beath Cemetery to prevent body-snatching and for many years what were taken to be two iron coffins without lids dug up from the old churchyard lay near the old hearse house. These were not actually coffins, but old-time safes that were placed over the coffin to hinder the work of the body-snatchers. Another preventative measure adopted was the placing of a large flat stone on top of the grave. This stone was very heavy and was placed on the grave and removed by means of a trestle hoist, the rope going through the stone and fastened on the underside, and it remained there until the danger of "snatching" was past. The two "safes" have since disappeared, but the flat stone is still to be seen near the church.
The
Blaeu Atlas of Scotland , published in 1654 by eminent 17th-century Dutch cartographer
Joan Blaeu
Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu.
Life
In 1620, Blaeu became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635, they published ...
, refers to Cowden Beth in the current vicinity of Cowdenbeath.
![Blaeu - Atlas of Scotland 1654 - FIFÆ VICECOMITATUS - Fife](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Blaeu_-_Atlas_of_Scotland_1654_-_FIF%C3%86_VICECOMITATUS_-_Fife.jpg)
When the actual name of ''Cowdenbeath'' came into being is not known. In 1626, the area belonged to Willielmus Walker, a citizen of Dunfermline who owned the territory of ''BaitheMoubray alias Cowdounes - baithe'' meaning Cowdens part of Beath, where Beath meant
Birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
Trees.
However, it is thought to have originated when turnpike roads were first made and that it marked the spot of an inn and later of a tollhouse erected in the 17th century.
By 1790 the records show that the parish of Beath had about 100 families whose livelihood came mainly from the soil. The fact that Beath Church served a very large area led to the creation of many "kirke roads", roads that form rights-of-way even today. This church was replaced by the present church, built in 1832 and enlarged in 1886.
Cowdenbeath first came into prominence around 1820 as a stop on the north-bound coaching route to Perth. Indeed,
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
's entourage stopped at the Cowdenbeath Coaching Inn to change horses on her first trip to Scotland in 1842, en route for
Balmoral. The coaching inn, the Old Inn, was established at the junction of roads from North Queensferry, Perth, Dunfermline and Burntisland. When the new turnpike road from Queensferry to Perth was constructed, the inn gained more importance.
![Queen Victoria 1887](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Queen_Victoria_1887.jpg)
Before 1850, Cowdenbeath was just a collection of farms within the parish of Beath. The area was divided into four districts named after local farms: Kirkford, Foulford, White Threshes and Cowdenbeath farm, close to the present-day site of Central Park. Local inhabitants of these focal points of growth, which were merging into a single town, met to decide on a name for the emerging town. The eventual decision was narrowed down to either White Threshes or Cowdenbeath and Cowdenbeath was the chosen name. The arrival of the Oakley Iron Company around 1850 was to have a long-lasting impact upon Cowdenbeath and make the name synonymous with coal mining for almost 100 years. Shafts were sunk in the vicinity of the old Foulford Washer. It was in the mining for ore that the discoveries of the coal seams were made, and pits were sunk at every corner of the town. Before this, coal had been mined at Fordell for over a century, but the discovery of the coal seams at the depth they were found came as a pleasant surprise, considering the dip in the coal strata at Fordell, as it was previously thought that the seams at Cowdenbeath would be at such a depth as to be almost unworkable.
By 1850, the flourishing coal pits of Kelty, Lochgelly, Donibristle, Fordell and Hill of Beath surrounded the hamlet of Cowdenbeath. Within the greater area, which later became the Burgh of Cowdenbeath, there was little mining activity. Gibson, of Hill of Beath and the Symes, of Cartmore, had opened small pits in the vicinity of Jubilee Park at the southern border of the burgh, and other small pits appear to have been worked in the vicinity of Union Street. However, the situation was about to change when (contrary to earlier speculation) the Oakley Iron Company proved the area was rich in iron and coal. The opening of the Dunfermline–Thornton railway, via Cowdenbeath, in 1848, enhanced the prospects for mining and pits were sunk in every corner of the area, primarily for ironstone but, when this became uneconomic around the late 1870s, for coal alone.
The Forth Iron Company took over the Oakley Iron Company around 1860 then amalgamated with the Cowdenbeath Coal Company in 1872. When the
Fife Coal Company
The Fife Coal Company was formed in 1872 to acquire the small Beath and Blairadam Colliery with its pits in Kelty. Its head office was in Leven. In addition to coal, the company worked some ironstone. For the whole of its operating life, the co ...
subsequently took them over in 1896, the Cowdenbeath Coal Company's pits were listed as: Lumphinnans Nos. 1, 2, 7, and 11; Cowdenbeath Nos. 3, 7, and 9; Foulford No. 1 and Mossbeath. This effectively made the Fife Coal Company one of the largest coal-mining concerns in Scotland. Such was the upsurge in mining activity that the population of Cowdenbeath doubled (4,000–8,000) in the ten years between 1890 and 1900 and gave rise to the nickname "Chicago of Fife". This was a significant increase on the 1820 figure of 120.
Such was the extent of the importance of Cowdenbeath to coal mining at the turn of the century (circa 1900) that several institutions essential to mining became established there. The headquarters of the
Fife and Kinross Miners' Association
The Fife and Kinross Miners' Association was a coal miners' trade union based in Fife and Kinross-shire in Scotland.
History
The union was founded in 1869 or 1870, and proved immediately successful by achieving the eight-hour day for miners in t ...
were opened in Victoria Street on 8 October 1910, and the first mine rescue station opened at Cowdenbeath on 4 November 1910 on Stenhouse Street, opposite Beath High School. The Central Works, Cowdenbeath, (commonly referred to as "the Workshops") were built in 1924 by the Fife Coal Company Limited in order to centralise its supervisory staff and to cope with the greater amount of manufacturing and maintenance work caused by the intensive mechanisation programme which was being introduced in its mines.
Another significant mining-related building, which reflected Cowdenbeath's growing status at the forefront of mining technology, was the establishment of the Fife Mining School in 1895. The school had humble origins, operating out of two rooms in Broad Street School, until it was transferred to the basement of Beath High School on Stenhouse Street. It was not until 1936 that Fife Mining School acquired its own custom-built building on the site of the old Woodside House on Broad Street. The new Fife Mining School was erected at a cost of £22,500, and was opened on 22 March by
Ernest Brown, MP, then parliamentary secretary to the mines department. The school trained apprentices in all aspects of the mining trade; however, it did have a temporary change of use during both world wars, when it was used to train women working in the munitions industry. The mining school closed in 1976, reflecting the diminishing role of coal mining in the community.
Geography
Cowdenbeath lies in south-western Fife, near the larger town of
Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
. The town lies in a low, undulating, arable landscape to the south-east of the
Ochil Hills
The Ochil Hills (; gd, Monadh Ochail is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross, Auchterarder and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/ Gl ...
. Whilst for the main part Cowdenbeath is fairly level, significant portions of the town have succumbed to subsidence as a result of the network of mine shafts and tunnels underlying the town.
![Cowdenbeath Rail Bridge 4627](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Cowdenbeath_Rail_Bridge_4627.JPG)
Notably, photographs of Cowdenbeath High Street circa 1900 published in Stenlake Publications show a flat High Street in which it is possible to view its entire length from north to south under the overarching railway bridge. This is impossible today, as the subsidence on the High Street has been so great that the railway bridge now obscures the view from one end to the other.
The south and eastern boundaries of Cowdenbeath are circumscribed by the
A92 main road to
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...
, and beyond that the peat-bog.
![Mossmorran](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Mossmorran.jpg)
The western perimeter of Cowdenbeath merges into the neighbouring village of Hill of Beath, and is bound by the natural landscape of the gentle slopes of the hill itself, and by Loch Fitty. The proximity of the A92 to the south of Cowdenbeath, and to a lesser extent to the east, also serves to define its lower boundary.
The northern boundary of Cowdenbeath is characterised by a rural landscape, which merges into the Lochore Meadows Country Park ("The Meadies"). This formerly industrial/mining landscape, which was host to a number of pit-heads (including the Mary Pit, whose winding gear structure dominates the park as a monument to its mining legacy), is now a very picturesque area which provides leisure and recreational outdoor amenities.
Demography
According to the
United Kingdom Census 2011
A Census in the United Kingdom, census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Inter ...
, the
census locality of Cowdenbeath had a total resident population of 14,081, an increase of 21% on the 2001 census figure of 11,627. The proportional split of males to females at 48.5% to 51.5% is consistent with the proportional split by gender in both the Fife and Scottish populations.
The ethnic composition of the population of Cowdenbeath is predominantly "white", accounting for 98.7% of the total population of Cowdenbeath of 14,081. The remaining 1.3% of the Cowdenbeath population comprises Asian, African, Caribbean and others. In comparison to Scotland as a whole, Cowdenbeath has a lower proportion of people of Asian and African ethnicities. The population pyramid for Cowdenbeath, derived from 2011 UK Census data exhibits a typically mature house shape, where population only really begins to taper off above the age of 75. There is a noticeable anomaly where a bulge appears in the 40 - 49 age bracket, which is representative of the baby-boomers born in the 1960s.
Sport and leisure
![Downtown Cowdenbeath](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Downtown_Cowdenbeath._-_geograph.org.uk_-_42722.jpg)
Cowdenbeath Leisure Centre is in Pit Road, next to Central Park in the centre of the town and has a swimming pool, gym, indoor sports facilities and three all-weather pitches for tennis or football. A small skatepark is situated outside the leisure centre. There are a number of playing fields around the town.
![Cowdenbeath Public Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Cowdenbeath_Public_Park._-_geograph.org.uk_-_90645.jpg)
The expansive 'Public Park' is towards the north of the town. It was established in 1910, and formally opened in 1911. The venture was largely funded by the
Gothenburg Public House Society, which donated over £7,000 to the initiative.
![Cowdenbeath Public House - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Cowdenbeath_Public_House_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1562873.jpg)
In its prime the park boasted an ornate bandstand, a paddling pool, a putting course and swing park, and was a focal point for various leisure pursuits, and the venue for the annual "Store" (Co-operative Society) treat. Although most of these amenities have long since gone, the park is still tended by the local authority and provides a public open space for all to use.
Cowdenbeath also has a golf club, originally built as a nine-hole course on the old Dora Coal mine site. Work began in 1988 and the course was completed and ready for play in 1991. The length of the course was 3315 yards. The course was extended to eighteen holes and opened by Sir Michael Bonallack in 1996. The length of the course is now 6,207 yards, with a standard scratch score of 71. A new clubhouse was built and officially opened on 6 December 1998 by ex-provost James Cameron who had opened the first clubhouse. There had been a golf club at the northern end of the town before World War 2, resulting in one of the now-demolished houses being named Golf View.
![Golf course - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Golf_course_-_geograph.org.uk_-_478292.jpg)
![Central Park stand - geograph-477764](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Central_Park_stand_-_geograph-477764.jpg)
Central Park is a rather dilapidated stadium in the centre of Cowdenbeath. It is home to
Cowdenbeath F.C. and has a maximum capacity of 5,270 (1,620 covered seating). The stadium has a tarmac track encircling the football pitch, one of Britain's fastest, used for stock car racing. Central Park is the site of Britain's most northerly speedway track. The team based in Cowdenbeath were known as the Fife Lions and featured riders from Edinburgh Monarchs and Glasgow Tigers in a series of challenge matches against league teams and scratch sides. The speedway track, which staged eight meetings every year, including a world championship qualifying round, was unusual in that it featured a brick wall safety fence.
Other amenities
The medical practice is situated on Stenhouse Street. There is a
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
situated at the north end of the High Street. The
Police Station
A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...
moved to former Co-op buildings at Brunton House in 2012. There is a
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
near Brunton House at the south end of High Street. The red
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
Town House
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
building is situated towards the north end of the High Street. This sandstone is the same as that used to clad the original Beath High School (the basic structure of which was reinforced concrete) on Stenhouse street. Similar stone can be seen in the original school boundary wall, within which two minor school buildings remain and also the present care home which now occupies the site of the old high school proper.
Education
There are three primary schools in the town. Cowdenbeath Primary School serves the southern end of the town. Foulford Primary School serves the northern end of the town. St Bride's Primary School, the only Roman Catholic primary, serves both the town as well as Crossgates, Hill of Beath, and Lumphinnans. Some pupils in the north-east and south-west of the town attend Lumphinnans and Hill of Beath primary schools respectively.
![Beathhigh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Beathhigh.jpg)
Cowdenbeath is also served by one secondary school.
Beath High School
Beath High School is a non-denomational state secondary school in Cowdenbeath, Fife. The school is run by Fife Council and the current roll stands at around 1200 pupils aged from 11 to 18. It serves Cowdenbeath and Kelty and the villages of Cr ...
was founded in 1910 as a grammar school, mainly for the children of local mine executives. It was an imposing building built of red sandstone and stood on Stenhouse Street. The mineworks of the No.7 pit, whose original pit-head was in close proximity to the school, caused significant subsidence in latter years. A modern school was opened in 1964, built in Kirkford next to Kirk of Beath Church and cemetery. At this point the school was split, with the old building becoming the lower school, and subsequently commonly referred to as "Old Beath", whilst the modern school was referred to as "New Beath". The old building was demolished in the 1990s and in 2003 the "new" school itself was closed due to subsidence and a new
public–private partnership
A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...
school was built. It is maintained by
Sodexo
Sodexo (formerly Sodexho Alliance) is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. It has 412,088 employees as of 2021, operates in 55 countries and serves 100 million custome ...
.
On 25 March 1983, Jane Cosans of Cowdenbeath changed discipline in Scottish schools. She was awarded £11,846 by the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
, plus costs, as recompense for her son's suspension from Beath High School for refusing to be
belted. This significantly contributed to the banning of the use of the belt in Scottish schools.
Notable people
Notable people from Cowdenbeath (or who attended Beath High) include:
*
![James Black (pharmacologist)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/James_Black_%28pharmacologist%29.jpg)
Sir James Black
Sir James Whyte Black (14 June 1924 – 22 March 2010) was a Scottish physician and pharmacologist. Together with Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings, he shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988 for pioneering strategies for rational ...
(d. 2010) was a
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
winner, whose work is behind the drugs Cimetidine and
propranolol
Propranolol, sold under the brand name Inderal among others, is a medication of the beta blocker class. It is used to treat high blood pressure, a number of types of irregular heart rate, thyrotoxicosis, capillary hemangiomas, performance anx ...
. In an excerpt from his autobiography, Sir James is quoted as saying: "The imprinting mathematical influence was Dr Waterson at
Beath High School
Beath High School is a non-denomational state secondary school in Cowdenbeath, Fife. The school is run by Fife Council and the current roll stands at around 1200 pupils aged from 11 to 18. It serves Cowdenbeath and Kelty and the villages of Cr ...
, a brilliant and rumbustious teacher, who more or less man-handled me into sitting the competitive entrance examination for St. Andrews University."
*
Sir Hector Hetherington (21 July 1888 – 15 January 1965) was a Scottish philosopher, who was vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool from 1927 to 1936, and principal of the University of Glasgow until 1961.
*
Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge
Janet Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge, PC LLD HonFRA (3 November 1904 – 16 November 1988), known as Jennie Lee, was a Scottish politician. She was a Labour Member of Parliament from a by-election in 1929 until 1931 and then from 1945 to ...
, attended Beath High School. She graduated from Edinburgh University and worked as a teacher in Cowdenbeath before being adopted the ILP candidate for the North Lanarkshire constituency, which she won at a 1929 by-election, becoming the youngest member of the House of Commons. A member of Harold Wilson's government of 1964, she was influential in the creation of the
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
. Her father was manager of the Crown Hotel at the north end of the High Street, which was destroyed by fire on 13 May 2009. Her husband was Aneurin Bevan MP.
*
![Jim Baxter statue Hill Of Beath](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Jim_Baxter_statue_Hill_Of_Beath.jpg)
James Curran Baxter, or "Slim Jim" Baxter, was another noteworthy student of Beath High. He was one of Scotland's most prolific football players. A statue commemorating
Jim Baxter
James Curran Baxter (29 September 1939 – 14 April 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left half. He is generally regarded as one of the country's greatest ever players. He was born, educated and started his career i ...
can be found in adjacent
Hill of Beath
Hill of Beath (; sco, Hill o Beath) is a hill and a village in Fife, Scotland, just outside Dunfermline and joined to Cowdenbeath.
On 16 June 1670 the Hill of Beath was the location of a celebrated meeting of the Covenanters at which preachers ...
, his home village, outside the working men's club.
*
![IanRankin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/IanRankin.jpg)
Ian Rankin
Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels.
Early life
Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a schoo ...
, the author of the ''Inspector Rebus'' novels, also attended Beath High School.
*
Dennis Canavan
Dennis Andrew Canavan (born 8 August 1942) is a Scottish politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West from 1974 to 2000 (known as West Stirlingshire from 1974 to 1983), first as a member of the Labour Party, and then as an I ...
, the Scottish politician and Member of Parliament for
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
West, was born in Cowdenbeath in 1942 and attended St Brides Primary School.
*
Tom Gourdie
Tom Gourdie MBE, DA, FSSI (18 May 1913 – 6 January 2005) was a prominent Scottish calligrapher, artist and teacher. He also was the author of several books, mainly on subject matter related to calligraphy.
Early life and initiation into call ...
MBE, 1913–2005, calligrapher and artist, was born and raised in Cowdenbeath.
*
Harry Ewing, Baron Ewing of Kirkford
Harry Ewing, Baron Ewing of Kirkford, (20 January 1931 – 9 June 2007) was a Labour politician in Scotland. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 21 years, from a by-election in 1971 until the 1992 general election, when he became a ...
, was born in Cowdenbeath in 1931. The son of miner William Ewing, Harry served as a Member of Parliament for 21 years before being made a life peer.
*
Donald Findlay QC, born in Cowdenbeath on 17 March 1951, is a well-known senior advocate and Queen's Counsel in Scotland. He has also held positions as a vice-chairman of Rangers Football Club and was twice rector of the University of St Andrews. He is now the chairman of Cowdenbeath FC.
*
![3-Scott Brown](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/3-Scott_Brown.jpg)
Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to:
Sportsmen
*Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State
* Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds
*Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...
attended Beath High School. He was born in
Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
on 25 June 1985 and has played for
Hibernian,
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
,
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
and
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
*
Tom Kellichan
Tom Kellichan (born c. 1954) was the original drummer of The Skids, from 1977 to 1979.
Biography
From Cowdenbeath, and a former van driver, he completed the line-up of The Skids after answering their ad for a drummer. During his tenure the band ...
, drummer of
punk rock band
The Skids
Skids are a Scottish punk rock and new wave band, formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jo ...
from 1977 to 1980, lived there.
*
William McLaren (1923–1987), illustrator, whose works appeared in ''Radio Times'' and ''The Listener'', amongst other publications, attended Beath High School.
*
Mary Docherty, an organizer with the
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...
, was from Cowdenbeath.
*Alistair Campbell Murray
MC FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...
FFA (1895-1957) Director of
Scottish Equitable
Aegon UK (Aegon) is an Edinburgh based financial services provider specialising in pensions, investments and insurance.
Aegon is the brand name for Scottish Equitable plc and it is a subsidiary of Aegon N.V., a multi-national life insurance, pe ...
.
Transport
The
A92 Fife Regional Road is a motorway-standard
dual carriageway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
road running from the
M90 motorway
The M90 is a motorway in Scotland. It runs from Junction 1A of the M9 motorway, south of the Queensferry Crossing, to Perth. It is the northernmost motorway in the United Kingdom. The northern point goes to the western suburbs of Perth at ...
(which runs from
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
to
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
) in
Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
to
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...
(and further to
Glenrothes
Glenrothes (; , ; sco, Glenrothes; gd, Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making i ...
,
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
and
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
). The A92 bypasses the east of the town with a junction at Bridge Street.
![Cowdenbeath Rail Station 4624](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Cowdenbeath_Rail_Station_4624.JPG)
Cowdenbeath railway station
Cowdenbeath railway station is a railway station in the town of Cowdenbeath, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line, north of .
The station can be accessed via two steep ramps from either the east sid ...
is just off the High Street, via a steep ramp to/from each platform. It is on the
Fife Circle Line
The Fife Circle Line is the local rail service north from Edinburgh. It links towns of south Fife and the coastal towns along the Firth of Forth before heading to Edinburgh. Operationally, the service is not strictly a circle route, but, rat ...
with a half-hourly service to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
(Monday to Saturday daytimes).
The nearby Halbeath Park & Ride, opened in 2014, allows for onward travel to Edinburgh,
Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport is an airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2019, handling over 14.7 million passengers. It was also the sixth-busiest airport in the United Kingdom by t ...
, and
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
.
Bus services
References
External links
Cowdenbeath on FifeDirect
{{Authority control
Towns in Fife
Burghs
Parishes in Fife
Mining communities in Fife