Published: Friday, 3rd October, 2008 08:30
Dunfermline, City of Exciting Changes
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I live in Texas but try to return home to Dunfermline at least once a year to see family and press my forehead to my native soil. I always like to stroll around the town to examine what changes have occurred since my last visit. As I was home in May and returned in August the transformations were not very radical this time. However even in the space of a few months changes had occurred in Dunfermline’s appearance.
First , I noticed that many of the town’s the roads are even more hopelessly over-engineered than before, and covered in psychedelic splashes of white paint that no doubt mean something to someone, but not me. I suppose that it’s nice that whoever’s in charge of the roads has a hobby and I look forward to seeing ever more bollards, roundabouts, jaggy lines, bumps, traffic lights etc sprayed at random across our streets. All we need now are some small holes and we’ll all be able to play crazy golf.
Second, I noticed that the Broomhead flats were in even worse condition than they had been a few months earlier. In the past, the council used to paint the iron railings and balconies, mow the grass and generally look after the place. Now the buildings are crumbling and bleak security cameras give the place the look of a penal establishment in some grim future dystopia. I remember a few years back some guy barricaded himself with a gun. I understand how he felt.
Third, the building boom seems to have ground to a halt, at least in some areas of the town. The mega-exciting luxury development that was to have been built on the site of the old Roadhouse has been cancelled leaving an abandoned wasteland that I suspect will lie unoccupied for years now. I do like driving out to the eastern expansion however, especially to see the buildings resembling fortresses that face the poor houses across the road, keeping watch for any plebs who might be insolent enough to attempt to cross over into the Promised Land.
Fourth, the Kingsgate extension is now complete. I was lucky enough to be in town on the day of the grand opening. Admittedly it contains very few shops, there is only one toilet on the ground floor, the old Kingsgate took approximately 20 years to reach full capacity, and the British economy has just taken a nosedive, so the signs are not particularly good. On the other hand, it does contain a Pound Land, and a few doors down in the old Kingsgate there’s a Pound Mania. This could be a great opportunity to witness capitalism in action. I am hoping for a price war between the two stores- will Pound Mania start selling its coasters for 99p? And will Pound Land retaliate by slashing the price of a box of Maltesers to 98p?? I will look forward to finding out on my next visit home.
It was also interesting to see a Waterstone’s had opened in the new Kingsgate. Ever since McPherson’s closed down, Dunfermline has lacked a good bookshop, and those few bold individuals who have tried to open them, such as that chap with the beard who briefly ran a shop on the Maygate back in the mid 90s, and whoever it was that ran ‘Escape’ across from the City Chambers have met with crushing business failure. I will therefore be interested to see when I return next year to check up on how well Waterstone’s is doing. It’s a big chain with deep pockets, so it stands a better chance than the independent booksellers ever did- at the same time, I don’t know why anyone bothers shopping there as there’s a far wider selection available for less money online at Amazon.com or Abebooks.
Finally, I noticed that the black paint job on Andrew Carnegie’s head is coming off, exposing the metal beneath. I never understood why the council had him painted black in the first place, but their neglect is showing. Someone needs to remember to attend to our town’s most famous son.
www.danielkalder.com
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