Balmullo
Encyclopedia
Balmullo is a village in Fife
, Scotland
. It is 7 miles (11.3 km) from the town of St Andrews
and near to the villages of Lucklawhill
, Guardbridge
, Dairsie
and Leuchars
. Royal Air Force
base RAF Leuchars
is also nearby.
In 2002, the town appeared in news articles after a black panther
was allegedly spotted nearby.
, it was once a weaving village. Balmullo was the home of the picture postcard cartoonist Martin Anderson ('Cynicus') whose red sandstone
Cynicus Castle was demolished in 1939 seven years after his death.
Balmullo derives from Celtic
bāile "village" with an unknown second element. The village name was recorded as Beilmullhoh in 1282.
. It also has a unisex hairdressers, a beauty parlour, and the pleasant Balmullo Inn public house
.
The Balmullo Primary School is located in the heart the village. A village newsletter is also published online.
(red pathway chippings), and lies to the west of the village. Minerals found here include azurite
, baryte, malachite
, metatorbernite
, and pseudomalachite
.
Balmullo Farm is located on the edge of the village. Formerly owned by HW Melville and Sons.
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 7 miles (11.3 km) from the town of St Andrews
St Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
and near to the villages of Lucklawhill
Lucklawhill
Lucklawhill is a hamlet located one mile northwest of the village of Balmullo in Fife, Scotland. Historically, Lucklawhill belonged to the Logie parish....
, Guardbridge
Guardbridge
Guardbridge is a village in north-east Fife, Scotland.It is approximately 3 miles north-west of St. Andrews, and is situated on the estuary of the River Eden. It stands at the junction of the A91 St...
, Dairsie
Dairsie
Dairsie, or Osnaburgh, is a village in north-east Fife, Scotland. It is south-southwest of Leuchars Junction, and east-northeast of Cupar on the A91 Stirling to St Andrews road. The village grew out of two smaller settlements , and developed principally around the industry of weaving...
and Leuchars
Leuchars
Leuchars is a small town near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland.The town is nearly to the north of the village of Guardbridge, which lies on the north bank of the River Eden where it widens to the Edenmouth estuary before joining the North Sea at St Andrews Bay. Leuchars is north-east of...
. Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
base RAF Leuchars
RAF Leuchars
RAF Leuchars is the most northerly air defence station in the United Kingdom. It is located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, near to the university town of St Andrews.-Operations:...
is also nearby.
In 2002, the town appeared in news articles after a black panther
Black panther
A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...
was allegedly spotted nearby.
History
Now largely a dormitory settlementCommuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
, it was once a weaving village. Balmullo was the home of the picture postcard cartoonist Martin Anderson ('Cynicus') whose red sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
Cynicus Castle was demolished in 1939 seven years after his death.
Balmullo derives from Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
bāile "village" with an unknown second element. The village name was recorded as Beilmullhoh in 1282.
Balmullo today
Balmullo benefits from a Spar grocery store which also doubles as a Post OfficePost office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
. It also has a unisex hairdressers, a beauty parlour, and the pleasant Balmullo Inn public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
.
The Balmullo Primary School is located in the heart the village. A village newsletter is also published online.
Industry
The quarry at Balmullo extracts orange-pink felsiteFelsite
Felsite is a very fine grained volcanic rock that may or may not contain larger crystals. Felsite is a field term for a light colored rock that typically requires petrographic examination or chemical analysis for more precise definition...
(red pathway chippings), and lies to the west of the village. Minerals found here include azurite
Azurite
Azurite is a soft, deep blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. It is also known as Chessylite after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France...
, baryte, malachite
Malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate mineral, with the formula Cu2CO32. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms...
, metatorbernite
Metatorbernite
Metatorbernite is a radioactive phosphate mineral, and is a dehydration pseudomorph of torbernite. Chemically, it is a copper uranyl phosphate and usually occurs in the form of green platy deposits...
, and pseudomalachite
Pseudomalachite
Pseudomalachite is a phosphate of copper with hydroxyl, named from the Greek for “false” and “malachite”, because of its similarity in appearance to the carbonate mineral malachite, Cu22. Both are green coloured secondary minerals found in oxidised zones of copper deposits, often associated with...
.
Balmullo Farm is located on the edge of the village. Formerly owned by HW Melville and Sons.
Transport
Nearby travel links are:- Leuchars rail station, 1.6 miles (2.6 km) 1.6 miles
- CuparCuparCupar is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town is situated between Dundee and the New Town of Glenrothes.According to a recent population estimate , Cupar had a population around 8,980 making the town the ninth largest settlement in Fife.-History:The town is believed to have...
rail station, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) 5.8 miles - DundeeDundeeDundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
airport, 10 miles (16.1 km) 9.5 miles