30th
July 2018 (Monday)
.... 09.30 The garden is wet after overnight
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| The 'Royal Burgh' this morning. |
rain; much needed rain I might add....
and, I have been for my morning walk.... up to Chapel Green, and home by way of
the beach. This morning I remembered to
take the car key with me so that I could start her, and turn the wheels. I met Julie, who was out jogging.... and
also met, and talked, to a few holiday makers out for their morning walk. It is a nice morning for being out, and the
forecast for ‘today’ is reasonable;
mostly dry, with sunny spells, but we could get a few light showers
later.
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| Earlsferry High Street. |
15.00 The Dundee Courier has an interesting
article (by Craig Smith) about ‘second homes’ in Fife. Let’s clarify a few points, and I am
writing about Elie and The Royal Burgh of Earlsferry. There are ‘second homes’, where the family
lives out with the villages most of the time,
but uses the ‘second home’ on a regular basis (most of my neighbours are
‘second home’ owners .... i.e. they have an interest in the villages); there are ‘holiday homes’ which are bought to
be let out as holiday lets, with the owner have little or no interest in the
villages at all, and finally there are the most important group of all in the
villages .... the forgotten ‘few’.... the ‘permanent residents’; who have either lived in the villages most of
their lives, or have chosen to retire to the villages, and contribute to the
community of village life How long do
you need to live in the villages to qualify as a ‘permanent resident?’ Welll.... according to the agreement with
the Golf House Club, to be classified as a permanent resident of Earlsferry,
and thus qualify for all the Rights and Privileges of a citizen of Earlsferry
you had to live for ‘six months and a day, per year’, in the village. This rule was brought in when houses in
‘The Royal Burgh’ were being purchased as ‘holiday homes’ in an increasing
number. Up until 1960’s, Hotels,
Boarding Houses, and letting out the ‘big house’, with the ‘resident’ family
moving into a small building at the bottom of the garden for the summer, was a
major part of the Earlsferry, and Elie, holiday season. The Forth Road Bridge, opened in 1964, was
the death knell of
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| Kincraig Cliffs - Earlsferry. |
that, old fashioned, way of life. The Courier article did come up with a few
statistics, but did not say how many ‘permanent residents’ there are in Elie
and Earlsferry at present; this would be
an interesting statistic. The answer to the ‘holiday home’
problem?..... building more holiday homes isn’t! The answer i.e. Affordable housing? .... they are probably
building affordable houses .... but still not charging prices that those at the
bottom of the ladder can afford. Hey I
enjoyed that little ‘moan’: I feel
better now.
21.00 We’ve had a lovely, wet, evening: lovely because I don’t have to water the
roses. This rain is forecast to peter out soon, and
we’re to have a drier, and sunnier, day tomorrow.
I
did bike up to Elie this morning; and
had coffee in Harbour House. I’d missed
Jim, who was ‘out on the town’ early.
Golf Club Lane was ‘Closed’ to cars when I came along to Elie, but had,
thankfully, been ‘opened’ by the time I was going home. Drivers making for the golf course/Pavilion
etc. were having to park on the street.
The ‘Pony Field’ is being used as a temporary Car Park.
