Balmullo; Proud to be Included

Balmullo is a small village located in the North Eastern area of Fife, although small, it’s growing quickly and is a tight knit community. It contains several key components such as the village hall, the local shop, the surgery and more noticeable, the quarry, the pub and even it‘s own Primary School. The village also has 2 parks, the biggest of which has 2 football pitches used by the pub’s football team on a weekly basis until they unfortunately folded. Yearly, the village plays host to the Balmullo Gala in which two pupils from the school are picked to be the Gala Queen and her Herald. The event is held at the park and includes sporting activities, demonstrations by fire services and small attractions such as the classic coconut stall!

Main features;

On my arrival at Balmullo, the local shop was under the name of ‘Londis’, now it’s part of the ‘Spar’ chain. With the village being 10 miles away from the nearest town (there are bus routes including the F1 and F2), the local shop is important to the community of Balmullo. Situated on the main road it also attracts traffic from places such as Cupar. The shop provides the residents with sales of essentials and common items, such as;
Newspapers
Bread
Milk
Fresh fruit and vegetables
Lottery
DVD rental services

The village hall is situated around the newest extension to the village, noticed by it’s green roof! The hall is central in the activities of the village, being used for Sunday services, Scout and Brownie groups and yearly events such as the New Year party where the entire village is involved with the traditional ‘Auld Lang Syne’ at the end of the night. The hall is kept under the watchful eye of Lynn Murphy, who commented that the hall is ‘Well used’ and that the most common comment made to her is the ‘Impressive size’, this is perhaps one reason why the hall is in such high demand that Lynn now has to work 7 days a week to comply with her position.
The hall was originally suggested in 1995 but the construction wasn’t started until the Winter of 1998/99 and continued right up to May 1999. This was made possible by many different contributions; 2 ¼ acres of land were given to the cause by Pat Melville, a local farmer. On top of this, a fund raising team was organised by David and Marjorie Pasley, many parties were involved including Fife Council (1996/97). In 2004 a move was made to extend the building by adding a sector on the end designed for sports, although several grants were applied for they weren’t given and Fife Council began to doubt the future of such a move due to the economic viability of the extension. Despite this, Richard Hynd (Hall Treasurer) commented that Fife Council were ‘Instrumental’ in the creation of the hall and it would’ve been impossible otherwise.

The Balmullo Scouts meet in the village hall once a week to get involved in many different activities, from playing sports to learning knots and fire safety for which they are rewarded merit badges. These badges are then sewed onto their uniforms to show their dedication. On a slightly rarer occasion, the Scout leaders also organise camps, this gives the young Scouts a chance to make friends and take part in woodland games and experience the outdoors. I know from my own time in the Balmullo Scout group that these camps are great fun until you have to go hiking!

The village Primary School is located at the centre of the village, headed up by Sarah Else. The school grounds are filled with playground games painted on the ground, flowers and picnic benches. Although the school is small, it has a young thriving football team.
The school is known for it’s strong eco-attitude!

In close proximity to the village is St.Andrews, ‘The Home of Golf’. With such a famous attraction nearby, the young golfers who live in the Balmullo area have access to amazing opportunities. St.Andrews is also the closest town (10 miles) and allows for a 15 – 20 minute bus journey in order to access shops such as Tesco, Morrisons, Argos, Clintons and Subway. After Primary School, the pupils move onto Ballaxter in Cupar, although many choose instead, to go to Madras College in St.Andrews.

Every Year in Balmullo, the playing fields are set-up for an annual event, the Balmullo Gala Day! This wondrous occasion provides a family day out and allows the locals to partake in sporting competitions, get involved with demonstrations from the fire service, police, army and even a mountain rescue team. Each year, a young girl from the school becomes the Gala queen, with a young boy standing as her Herald. Visitors to the Gala can take turns in stalls such as the; coconut challenge, you must hit the coconuts off the poles with a maximum of 3 balls, donkey rider – you have to stay on the bucking donkey and several food and drink stalls, most popular of which is the ever so healthy burger stall! The Gala has been running for years and would be sorely missed.

As you’ve seen, Balmullo is small, but full of life and containing plenty of community activities! So why not drive through on your way to Cupar? Balmullo, proud to be included.

www.morbidskies.com

Liam Hayman
http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/balmullo-proud-to-be-included-736326.html

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