Lochgelly
Encyclopedia
Lochgelly is a town in Fife
, Scotland
. It is located between Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath
by the village of Lumphinnans
. According to the 2007 population estimate, the town has a population of 6,834.
Lochgelly is also the home of the most reputed firm, John Dick (Saddlers), that produced tawse
s and was hence a synonym for that typically Scottish device for corporal punishment
.
Lochgelly, as part of the old parliamentary constituency of West Fife, was known as "Little Moscow
" up to the 1950s owing to its Communist political leanings.
An area of Lochgelly was known as the Happy Lands and is referenced in the Scottish folk song 'The Kelty Clippie'.
The town is served by Lochgelly railway station
on the line between Edinburgh and Markinch.
The loch was once a very popular spot for the local community and was used on a regular basis for water skiing
up until the early 90s. Since then the loch has not been used for water sports.
The town is also entertained by Lochgelly Town Hall, which is now establishing itself as a venue for live music. Rubber Stamp Promotions hold regular events at the venue, with bands such as The Vivians and Sergeant
playing there in 2009.
football
club Lochgelly Albert F.C
. Former clubs include Lochgelly United F.C.
who played in the senior leagues between 1890 and 1928 and Lochgelly Violet.
have been given funding monies to distribute locally via community based groups such as social enterprises, charities and voluntary groups.
The Lochgelly Community Council holds monthly meetings to discuss issues affecting Lochgelly, from planning issues to general issues representative of the local community. All meetings are open to the public, and provide the local citizens an opportunity to represent their views to the local council. The Community Council is made up of local members of the Lochgelly Community and also include local politicians in attendance from the SNP (Ian Chisolm) and Labour (Mark Hood). Monthly minutes from the meetings are available in the Lochgelly Library.
Meeting of the Community Council are held on every 2nd Wednesday of the month and are open to the members of the public to come along and ask questions or raise any issues, as the Community Council is there to serve the needs of the local community.
The Lochgelly Community Development Forum (LCDF), until early 2011 known as the Lochgelly Community Regeneration Forum, is a voluntary group representing the interests of the local community and providing a forum for raising local issues with Fife Council. The LCDF publish a 2 sided glossy newsletter, The Voice, which is delivered to every home in Lochgelly. This replaced a full magazine, designed for free by a locally based not-for-profit Social Enterprise (Subliminal Directions), now closed.
Mooth O the Yooth, is a local non-profit group, managed by and for local youths, with support from Fife Council workers, community wardens and community police officers. The 'Moothies' aim to provide and set up activities for other youths in the area. Activities and successes include arranging the 'Bairns Ball' (a youth disco), which is held on a monthly basis in Lochgelly. The Moothies obtained a Youth Shelter (an open steel construction, similar to a bus shelter, with a seating area and roof to provide some shelter), located at the bottom of Lochgelly Public Park.
In January 2010 'Loch of Shining Waters', an online not-for-profit community platform, was launched. It allows members of the local community to publish articles about Lochgelly, raise issues of concern and find out more about local issues. The aim is to release all material under a Creative Commons Licence, provide information about Lochgelly and the issues affecting the town and provide tutorials covering a wide range of technologies, such as using open source
scripts for gaining a web presence, as well as articles on computer and online safety.
in Scotland to be led by the local authority.
The Charrette process has identified areas in need of regeneration within the town centre and aims to improve the central area of Lochgelly by regenerating existing walkways and buildings. It included a review of all design based policies, simplifying the mechanisms to achieve good design for planning zones, cross departmental working with the transportation services so proposals can work towards the Scottish Government policy statement 'Designing for Streets'.
There has been much local criticism of the Lochgelly Charrette. It received criticisms from the Community Council and the Lochgelly Development Forum for ignoring them on specific issues. There were objections to the halting of plans for a supermarket with petrol station in favour of plans for a smaller store objected. There was also criticism of the removal of Lochgelly Golf Course and other green areas for housing developments.
Further plans include completely redeveloping the town centre to improve access and better integrate walkways. The plan will take until 2066 to be fully realised.
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is located between Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is 5 miles north-east of Dunfermline and 18 miles north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a Police Burgh in 1890...
by the village of Lumphinnans
Lumphinnans
Lumphinnans is a small village, placed between the larger towns of Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly in central Fife.Lumphinnans is a small community, consisting of no more than half a dozen streets. There are few amenities including a pub, a shop, and a Chinese takeaway...
. According to the 2007 population estimate, the town has a population of 6,834.
History
From the 1830s until the 1960s Lochgelly was a mining town. With the industry now dead the town has slipped into economic and social deprivation as with other former mining towns. Lochgelly is now classed as town in need of regeneration "economically and socially" and has the cheapest average home price in Britain.Lochgelly is also the home of the most reputed firm, John Dick (Saddlers), that produced tawse
Tawse
The tawse, sometimes formerly spelled taws is an implement used for corporal punishment...
s and was hence a synonym for that typically Scottish device for corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
.
Lochgelly, as part of the old parliamentary constituency of West Fife, was known as "Little Moscow
Little Moscow
Little Moscow was a term used to describe towns and villages in capitalist societies whose population appeared to hold extreme left-wing political values or communist views...
" up to the 1950s owing to its Communist political leanings.
An area of Lochgelly was known as the Happy Lands and is referenced in the Scottish folk song 'The Kelty Clippie'.
The town is served by Lochgelly railway station
Lochgelly railway station
Lochgelly railway station is a railway station in Lochgelly, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line, north of .Lochgelly station is on the end of the town towards Ballingry....
on the line between Edinburgh and Markinch.
Gelly Loch
The town derives its name from the nearby body of water, Loch Gelly. The name comes from the Gaelic Loch Gheallaidh which, loosely translated, means ‘Shining Waters’ or ‘Loch of Brightness’. Land around the loch is owned by Wemyss 1952 Trustees.The loch was once a very popular spot for the local community and was used on a regular basis for water skiing
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
up until the early 90s. Since then the loch has not been used for water sports.
Entertainment
Lochgelly used to be served in the entertainment sector by the Lochgelly Centre, which had a 424-seat theatre that was ideal for community theatre groups, dance groups and music events. However the Lochgelly Centre is now closed in 2010 for remodelling/refurbishment work, leaving Lochgelly without any access to children's facilities, elderly facilities, community access to various events and classes.The town is also entertained by Lochgelly Town Hall, which is now establishing itself as a venue for live music. Rubber Stamp Promotions hold regular events at the venue, with bands such as The Vivians and Sergeant
Sergeant (band)
Sergeant are a 4-piece indie rock band from Glenrothes in Fife, Scotland. In 2007 they signed a contract with Mercury Records. The band played both 2007 T in the Park and Glastonbury festivals and have attracted a fanbase and media attention extending well outside their Scottish base. Xfm...
playing there in 2009.
Football
Lochgelly is home to the juniorScottish Junior Football Association
The Scottish Junior Football Association is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the Junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "Junior" refers to the level of football played...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club Lochgelly Albert F.C
Lochgelly Albert F.C.
Lochgelly Albert J.F.C. are a Scottish football club based in Lochgelly, Fife. Their home ground is Gardiners Park. Founded in 1926 as an amateur side, the club stepped up to the Junior grade in 1933...
. Former clubs include Lochgelly United F.C.
Lochgelly United F.C.
Lochgelly United were a Scottish football club based at Lochgelly's Schools Park and Reids Park , before moving to the Recreation Ground in nearby Cowdenbeath...
who played in the senior leagues between 1890 and 1928 and Lochgelly Violet.
Community organisations
To tackle issues of multiple deprivation in the town various organisations such as the Coalfields Regeneration TrustCoalfields Regeneration Trust
The Coalfields Regeneration Trust is an independent grant-making organisation that was established in 1999 to improve the quality of life in Britain’s coalfield communities...
have been given funding monies to distribute locally via community based groups such as social enterprises, charities and voluntary groups.
The Lochgelly Community Council holds monthly meetings to discuss issues affecting Lochgelly, from planning issues to general issues representative of the local community. All meetings are open to the public, and provide the local citizens an opportunity to represent their views to the local council. The Community Council is made up of local members of the Lochgelly Community and also include local politicians in attendance from the SNP (Ian Chisolm) and Labour (Mark Hood). Monthly minutes from the meetings are available in the Lochgelly Library.
Meeting of the Community Council are held on every 2nd Wednesday of the month and are open to the members of the public to come along and ask questions or raise any issues, as the Community Council is there to serve the needs of the local community.
The Lochgelly Community Development Forum (LCDF), until early 2011 known as the Lochgelly Community Regeneration Forum, is a voluntary group representing the interests of the local community and providing a forum for raising local issues with Fife Council. The LCDF publish a 2 sided glossy newsletter, The Voice, which is delivered to every home in Lochgelly. This replaced a full magazine, designed for free by a locally based not-for-profit Social Enterprise (Subliminal Directions), now closed.
Mooth O the Yooth, is a local non-profit group, managed by and for local youths, with support from Fife Council workers, community wardens and community police officers. The 'Moothies' aim to provide and set up activities for other youths in the area. Activities and successes include arranging the 'Bairns Ball' (a youth disco), which is held on a monthly basis in Lochgelly. The Moothies obtained a Youth Shelter (an open steel construction, similar to a bus shelter, with a seating area and roof to provide some shelter), located at the bottom of Lochgelly Public Park.
In January 2010 'Loch of Shining Waters', an online not-for-profit community platform, was launched. It allows members of the local community to publish articles about Lochgelly, raise issues of concern and find out more about local issues. The aim is to release all material under a Creative Commons Licence, provide information about Lochgelly and the issues affecting the town and provide tutorials covering a wide range of technologies, such as using open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
scripts for gaining a web presence, as well as articles on computer and online safety.
Future Development
In 2010 Lochgelly participated in the Lochgelly Charrette, led by designer Andrés Duany. The Lochgelly Charrette was the only charretteCharrette
A charrette , is often Anglicized to charette and sometimes called a design charrette. It consists of an intense period of design activity.-Charrettes in general:...
in Scotland to be led by the local authority.
The Charrette process has identified areas in need of regeneration within the town centre and aims to improve the central area of Lochgelly by regenerating existing walkways and buildings. It included a review of all design based policies, simplifying the mechanisms to achieve good design for planning zones, cross departmental working with the transportation services so proposals can work towards the Scottish Government policy statement 'Designing for Streets'.
There has been much local criticism of the Lochgelly Charrette. It received criticisms from the Community Council and the Lochgelly Development Forum for ignoring them on specific issues. There were objections to the halting of plans for a supermarket with petrol station in favour of plans for a smaller store objected. There was also criticism of the removal of Lochgelly Golf Course and other green areas for housing developments.
Further plans include completely redeveloping the town centre to improve access and better integrate walkways. The plan will take until 2066 to be fully realised.