Halbeath

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Halbeath
Fife

Main Street, Halbeath
Location
Grid reference: NT123883
Location: 56°4’49"N, 3°24’36"W
Data
Postcode: KY11
Local Government
Council: Fife

Halbeath is a village just north-east of Dunfermline in Fife. It derives its name from the Gaelic choil beath, which means "wood of birches", and began as a colliery village. In the summer of 1789, a coal pit was sunk at Halbeath, two and a half miles northeast of Dunfermline, and by 1821, 841 people were reported to be living in the village.[1]

Schools

A school was built in Halbeath in 1875 under the School Board of the Parish of Dunfermline but was closed in 1966.[2] A new primary school, Carnegie Primary, opened in Halbeath in August 2011. It was previously a virtual school which shared its campus with Inverkeithing Primary School.[3]

Lauder Technical College was founded by Andrew Carnegie's uncle, George Lauder, Sr., father of George Lauder, Andrew's cousin and business partner, in 1899.[4] The original campus was situated in the centre of Dunfermline before moving to Halbeath in 1970.[5] The name was changed to Carnegie College in 2007.[4] Carnegie College came together with Adam Smith College in August 2013 to form Fife College.[6]

Transport

The A92 road was extended in 1997, linking the roundabout at Carnegie College to the M90 motorway. This removed 22,000 vehicles a day from Main Street and Sandybank, the two busiest streets in Halbeath and greatly reduced congestion in the village.[7]

A park & ride was built here in 2013: Halbeath Park & Ride was intended to reduce congestion problems during the construction of the Queensferry Crossing, to provide alternative routes to Edinburgh and Glasgow and to reduce traffic in Dunfermline town centre.[8] There have been calls to build a new railway station at the Park & Ride with the same aims as the Park & Ride.

References

  1. Pitcairn 2000, p.443
  2. Pitcairn 2000, p.444
  3. "Welcome to Carnegie Primary School". http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/carnegieps/. Retrieved 7 September 2016. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Founder of Lauder College remembered with series of 200th anniversary events in Dunfermline". http://m.dunfermlinepress.com/news/13784389.Historic_walking_tour_helps_celebrate_200th_birthday_of_college_founder/. Retrieved 7 September 2016. 
  5. McEwan, Bert (2004). Dunfermline: The Post-War Years. Derby: The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-78091-299-8. 
  6. "Four merged 'super colleges' launch". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23524047. Retrieved 7 September 2016. 
  7. Pitcairn 2000, p.446
  8. "About Halbeath Park & Ride". http://www.halbeath.org/htmlpages/about.html. Retrieved 7 September 2016. 
  • Pitcairn, Sheila (2000). History of the Old "Fitpaths" and Streets of Dunfermline, Then and Now, Also Crossford, Halbeath, Rosyth, Townhill & Wellwood. Dunfermline: Pitcairn Publications.