Sometimes
I go and have a wander around a place just because I’ve seen it named on a map
and have liked the name. And that was the main reason I decided to go
for a walk around this bit of the Burntisland coastline, I mean how could I
resist a name like ‘Tickleness Point’? Why it bares that name I have no idea, but it
brought back childhood memories of the Mr Men books and Mr Tickle. Hmmm, do you think in this day and age that particular
Mr Man would be written into existence, what with his proclivity for the
inappropriate touching, or tickling, of random people? Probably not.
Only
a short walk from the railway station, Tickleness Point is part of the Lammerlaws,
on a peninsular that sticks out from the coast at Burntisland.
I
made my way along a path that curved up and around the hill at Tickleness
Point. Nearing the top, the earth was
exposed and crumbling under the charred branches of burnt gorse. Blackened branches that looked like they had
been clawing their way out of the ground in a futile attempt to escape the
flames.
At
the top of the hill were some ditches and mounds which are all that remains of
a fort which once stood there. The fort
was believed to have been built by Oliver Cromwell’s men in the early 1650s,
during the Third Civil War. And, given
the view over the Forth I could see why they would have built a fort there.
The
military history of Tickleness Point did not end with Cromwell, as during World
War II it was in use again, and a concrete pill box from that time still stands
above some steep rocks overlooking the sea.
Near
to where Cromwell’s fort stood are the remains of some lime kilns. Lime kilns were used in the production of
quicklime (Calcium Oxide), a product which had, and still has many uses. It is used in the manufacture of cement and
mortar, as a fertilizer, and was once used to mask the stench of rotting
corpses. Something that would have been quite
important in the overcrowded graveyards of old.
Nothing
much is known of the history of the lime kilns, but they do make a nice
landmark.
I
left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk around Tickleness Point in
a gap in the crumbling cement of the lime kilns.
The
coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –
Latitude
56.057339
Longitude
-3.223469
what3words:
spray.distracts.fats
I
used the following sources for information on Tickleness Point –
Canmore – Tickleness Point
Canmore - Tickleness
Point, Burntisland
The
History of Burntisland
by
Andrew Young
1913
For anyone unfamiliar with Mr Tickle, a
narrated cartoon of the book is available on –
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