Issue 34 - February 2015

If you are bothered by the odour from the heap of sewerage sludge west of Saline, here is the phone number to ring: 0800 807060. It is SEPA’s 24 hour pollution line. If the call doesn’t get through, you can ring 03000 996699; that is their 24-hour customer line. Finally, the number of the Stirling office that is dealing with the case is 01786 452595.

The description of the location is west of Saline adjacent to the B913 on Aiky Hill. It’s best to ask for your call to be registered and to ask for a follow up call by the case officer if you only get the out of hours crew. They are likely to ask what you can smell and if there is smoke arising from the heap.

The Editor reserves the right to refuse, edit or factually correct all items submitted for publication. All views expressed in this Bulletin are purely those of the author of the item concerned and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Communications Group as a whole.

Saline and Steelend Community Development Trust have just learned that they are to receive £3000 from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust towards their Friends and Neighbours project. With money from the Colton and Comrie Colliery Trusts and from Fife Council, this brings the amount raised up to their target of £8000.

It is hoped that the first stage of the project, led by local artists Liz Harvey and Marylla Ferguson, will commence soon. Their intention is to work with children in Saline Primary School to explore the theme of Friends and Neighbours and create artworks and objects from natural materials such as clay and willow that represent and celebrate these ideas. The artworks will placed at key places across Saline and Steelend.

Further stages of the project will be carried out with other local groups and will involve re-establishing and creating pathways through and around our villages, and providing information and interpretation boards and seating.

Paths User Group

Several people have now come forward to support the Community Development Trust's initiative to develop and maintain the paths network. The Trust will be applying for money from the Big Lottery Fund to implement the Saline to Oakley path project which had to be postponed in 2013 because of access difficulties over Forestry Commission land. The role of the User Group will be to explore ideas for new routes in and around Saline and Steelend and to liaise with other West Fife villages to create the continuous String of Pearls route from Kincardine to Kelty. The User Group and others who walk the area regularly will be asked to report where paths are overgrown or blocked or where improvements could be made. The funding obtained by the Trust for the Friends and Neighbours initiative includes money for heavy duty path clearing and strimming machinery. If the User Group is something you would like to be involved in please contact sscdtmembers@btinternet.com or visit the community website at www.salinesteelend.org.

Community Police Contacts

At the recent Community Council meeting the police representative requested that we publicise the contact details of the police officers responsible for our area.

These are:

PC Kirsty Orrock: kirsty.orrock@scotland.pnn.police.uk

PC Kev Chandler: kevin.chandler@scotland.pnn.police.uk

To contact either by telephone, please call 101 and ask to speak to them.

Saline and District Heritage Society

Winter Meetings

In January 45 hardy souls braved the snow and blizzards to come to hear Jane Roxburgh tell of her years spent as a crofter on the Isle of Lewis. She explained the nature of the land, its peoples and their way of life and the various jobs she undertook: hand milking two cows every day, peat cutting, turning hay by hand etc.

Our next meeting is on 29 February when Hugh Hoffman will tell us about living among Kelty miners. Do join us - you'll be made very welcome. Tea/coffee and blethers 7pm. Speaker starts at 7.30 pm.

Forthcoming Events

Tea Dance:

You are invited to a Tea Dance to be held in the Golf Club on 18 April from 2 to 5 pm. This follows on from our museum exhibition which commemorated WW1. A band will be playing music of WW1 and WW2. If you can manage, you are asked to dress in the fashion of these times. Tea, coffee and cakes will be served - and it is FREE! If you wish to attend, please register with Linda Moyes on 852817.

Graveyard Open Day:

The renovation of the graveyard is almost complete and, to celebrate this, there will be an open day on 27 June. More details later. Meantime, if you want to visit on your own, you will see the newly installed information boards giving details of history, wildlife etc.

116th Fife Scout Group

The Scout Christmas Post deliveries were all completed in the week before Christmas. The Group handled approx. 2000 cards, with our customers saving over the post office cost and raising a useful sum of money towards our fund raising. Our thanks are due to all our customers and also our helpers who collected, sorted and delivered the post.

All the Sections enjoyed their Christmas outings, the Beavers and the Cubs at the pantomime Sleeping Beauty and the Scouts and Explorers at the 10 Pin Bowling followed by a snack at McDonalds.

All Section meetings are now back in full swing with some new members joining the Beavers and Cubs. The Scouts held their first camp of the year at Fordell Firs from Friday 23 to Saturday 24 January where all enjoyed themselves especially the Zip Wire aerial runway. Some of the Scouts took part in the annual Scout/Guide Quiz in Dunfermline but unfortunately, despite enjoying themselves, were knocked out of the competition at an early stage.

Before Christmas the Explorers joined with another Group for an all-night session at Laser Quest, returning home very tired but happy.

Peter Philp, Group Scout Leader

01383 852612

Saline Steelend and District WRI

The WRI, the Women’s Rural Institute, the Rural, call it what you will, I’m sure everyone has heard of it, but what do you know of it?

I did know about ’the Rural’, coming from a family where many of the ladies were members. However, a very busy working life made no time for me to join. Now I am a fairly new member of Saline Steelend and District WRI and I would like to encourage more folks to think about joining. Come along and listen to interesting talks, take part in lots of activities, be creative, ‘have a go’. There are quiz nights, competitions and at the end of every meeting a cuppa and a chat.

Traditionally the WRI was only for women and focussed mainly on homecrafts. Now that ain’t necessarily so. Come along and see what happens. You don’t have to commit to joining until you have come to two meetings. We meet on the first Wednesday of the month (excluding January, July and August) at 7.15pm in the Community Centre. Look out for notices round the village nearer the time.

4 March: Make a Lavender Bag

14 March: Daffodil Tea (Fund Raiser)

1 April: Talk on Kilts and Kiltmaking

6 May: Demo on Hanging Baskets

2 September: Four Craft Corners with local crafters

It would be good to see you!

For more information, phone Cathy Hall on 852423, Elsie Park on 852356 or Frances Stephen on 851106.

Saline First Responders

Your First Responder Team are still working hard to provide emergency support for our community. As we are entirely dependent on donations, we would like to say thank you for the money we received over Christmas 2014.

Zumba Fitness from Oakley donated £100 for our funds which was very kind and generous and Dunfermline Art Club donated £85.00 which was generously given due to training which our team members provided to the club in Wellwood.

We have Heartstart Trainers on the team and a First Aid Instructor and we will gladly attend groups and update knowledge and skills on their chosen subjects.

Saline Golf Club now has its own Public Access Defibrillator and we are very keen to provide some Defibrillator Awareness sessions for anyone who uses the Golf Club, lives nearby or just passes through Saline regularly. This will be provided at no cost but will ensure that everyone in our community has enough confidence to use the defibrillator whenever necessary. The most important thing that everyone needs to know is – YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE TRAINED TO USE IT!

Saline First Responders now has its own Facebook page which we would love people to benefit from. It’s an easy way to ask about any first aid issues and keep an eye on what’s going on with the team. Please like our page – it makes us feel wanted! And of course, we are still looking for more volunteers; don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like to join our team!

Hilary Warnock

Co-ordinator Saline First Responders

Email: responder@salfru.co.uk

Saline & Blairingone Parish Church

CHURCH NEWS

Thanks to all who made donations during the Christmas services; as a result, the sum of £357 was sent to the Bethany Christian Trust for the services they are providing in this area for those who are homeless. We have also received grateful acknowledgement from Blythswood Care for the 36 shoeboxes filled locally for distribution at Christmas in parts of Eastern Europe where they undertake relief work. Many people have also taken advantage of using the recycling facility for clothes etc in the church grounds – again, Blythswood Care welcome these donations.

The congregation in Saline and Blairingone, linked with Carnock and Oakley, are still in the position of seeking a full time minister to serve the linked parishes but are very appreciative of the continued services of our Interim Moderator, the Rev Christine Sime from Dalgety Bay who oversees matters and our locum minister the Rev Tom Johnston who conducts the weekly worship with the help of various readers and retired ministers, and who looks after pastoral matters with help of members of the congregations.

Regular activities have all started after the Christmas break. The coffee morning continues every Wednesday from 10 am till 12 noon and the Craft Group on alternate Tuesday afternoons (Tuesday 17 February will be the next one). The Walking Group have planned a series of fortnightly outings for the year; contact Peter Philp for further details (852612). The Church Guild will be hearing about 'Living with Dementia' from a speaker from Alzheimer Scotland at their meeting on Monday 9 February. This is a topic which affects many in our community and anyone who is interested in learning more about it and the support available will be very welcome at the meeting held in the Church Hall at 7.30pm.

A ceilidh has been organised for Saturday 7 February at 7.30 pm in the Community Centre. Tickets are priced £7.50 including supper and entertainment by the Crossford Music Group and are available from Ada Cooper (852209). Proceeds will go towards the Church Restoration Fund.

World Day of Prayer: This annual ecumenical service will be held on Friday 6 March 2015 in the Church of the Holy Name in Oakley when we will be joining our friends in Oakley and Carnock. The theme this year is Jesus said to them 'Do you know what I have done to you?' and was compiled by a group of Christian women in the Bahamas. Further information will be available in due course.

Saline and District Heritage Society

Museum 2015: Shops and Houses of the Area

Happy New Year to everyone and thank you for all your help in making Museum 2014 so interesting. We had a wide range of documents and artefacts donated or lent to us for the duration of the museum’s opening. I think the thing which I liked the best was when I found a set of dog tags in the pocket of the tunic lent by the Buchanans. No-one knew they were there, but they had survived through the war plus nearly another 100 years!

Our theme for Museum 2015 is Shops and Houses of the Area. We hope that people will look out old photos of houses (and inhabitants) and of local shops.

Although we only have one general store today I’ve been reliably informed that the village had quite a number of businesses and shops at one time. I have been given a lovely photo of the Meiklejohn’s shop at the corner of North Road and Bridge Street and I can lay claim to remembering Dodd’s shop on the Main Street along with its fire.

A number of the houses in Saline and Steelend have been around a while and there must be some interesting stories to tell. Some of the newer houses also have a history which is as important so everybody can have a look at where they live and start to pull together a little history of their house for donating to the museum.

As with all the stories and photos we gather about Saline, Steelend and district it contributes to the local history which we can then keep for future generations. For those of you who have not yet experienced the fun of delving into your family’s past here is a challenge for you this year! Find out who lived in your house before you and what they did for a living…

A short crib sheet is available to help you record the information- get started now!

If you would like to get started but need some help please contact me on tinachapman1@msn.com

Interested in Well-being, Art & Nature?

Then you may be happy to know of a local group called Friends of Well-being, Art and Nature offering activities and events by people that we can personally recommend centred around the three themes in a tranquil and relaxing space that is www.cherrytreelodge.net

The activities and events are for those wanting to explore their inner and outer landscapes and be nourished in mind, body and soul. Events such as meditation, creative writing, stained glass, yoga, mindfulness, sketching, raising a barn, tree care, community building, photography, storytelling, clowning, building wildlife habitats, massage, growing your own food, painting and the list goes on...

We can personally vouch for the individuals offering events by having either attended their workshops or by having a close association with them. Are you a workshop facilitator? - We would love to hear about any workshops linked to the three themes you could offer the group.

You can join the group (it’s free) online at http://www.meetup.com/Friends-wellbeing-art-nature.

We look forward to exploring with you.

Mark & Till

Telephone: 851059

Bodies Required…

Space is available at Tuesday’s Highland Dancing class and adult bodies are needed at all badminton groups!

Church Hall Craft Group

Just a reminder that the craft group meets every second Tuesday (next one 17 February) from 2.00- 4.00pm in the Church Hall and it is not solely for church members. Anyone in the village can come and do their craft and have a blether.

Chicken Chat

Keeping chickens in the garden was once commonplace and now it seems quite a few people are returning to this practice and setting up an ark with a few hens in their gardens.

Keeping a few hens can be very rewarding and does not take up too much time. Like most animals, if they have access to clean water, food and shelter they will look after themselves and should reward you with some eggs each day. We started more than 20 years ago with five or six garden hens and ended up with eggs to spare so we occasionally sold a few. A holiday in Cornwall was the catalyst for change. We stayed on a small farm that had some free range hens – quite a few if I recall - and they sold the eggs by an honesty box at the gate. It got me thinking. As a result our flock increased from six to 75 and now we are up to between 150 and 200 free range laying hens at any time. It goes without saying that these are no longer in the garden!

Hens start to lay eggs at about 22 weeks of age and they will then lay eggs for about 12 months. After the initial 12-month period of laying eggs they will moult (grow new feathers). While they are moulting they cannot lay eggs, because they cannot produce enough calcium for eggs shells and new feathers at the same time, so egg production stops. Once the hen has a new set of feathers it will start laying again for another 12 months or so. Hens can live into their teens but egg production drops off after the first two years of laying.Eggs in the second laying season tend to be larger.

Eggs are laid with our without a cockerel being present; having a cockerel simply means the eggs could be fertile and so could be incubated which would result in fluffy little chicks. Eggs keep quite a long time and don’t need to be in a fridge. To tell if an egg is okay to eat, place it in a basin of water; if its stays on the bottom on its side it’s fine. If it floats or looks like it might be close to floating then it’s probably off. Take care not to break it otherwise your nose will be subjected to a rather nasty whiff.

Hens need 14-15 hours of daylight to produce eggs which means in the winter you may not get any eggs from you garden hens. We give our hens some additional light to make up the fifteen hours per day and so we get eggs all year round. A hen is born with a finite number of egg cells (about 1000) so this is the maximum number of eggs a hen can lay in its life time. Of course it might not lay all those but as far as has been determined hens don’t have the ability to create new egg cells once born.

Hens must have access to clean water at all times and a good feed ration to ensure they are kept in good condition; propriety hen feeds (pellets or mash) contain all the nutrients required. Access to fresh grass and or green vegetables will make them very happy and is a good way to keep the grass short. Hens can make a mess of a lawn very quickly as they scratch about so being able to move you hen house or their run is very important. Moving them about also stops the build-up of pests.

The colour of the egg shell is determined by the variety of chicken; the inside is the same irrespective of the shell colour so brown eggs don’t taste any different to white ones, for example.

If you read any books on poultry keeping, there is normally a section on illness and disease etc. It’s best to source your hens from a good supplier as they should then come vaccinated against the nasty things. If you keep or plan to keep just a few hens and can move them about so their run has a chance to recover and they have access to clean water and good feed, you should not have any problems with illness.

The real threat to all our hens is foxes and great care should be taken to protect your hens from foxes. Foxes will easily climb fences four feet high or will dig or push under them. To protect your hens lock them up at night or have them in a run with high fences and bury the fence netting in the ground to prevent digging. Better still, use an electric fence system. If a fox strikes it will probably kill lots of hens in one go and leave most of them lying about dead. Any survivors will probably suffer stress and stop laying eggs for a while. Having lost many hens over the years to foxes we share this information from a position of real experience. Our fencing is now six feet high with a low level electric wire to stop digging and prevent any climbing attempt. It seems to work.

If you like the ideal of local fresh eggs but don’t have the inclination, space or time to keep your own hens you can always get them from us. We aim to have fresh eggs all year round at competitive prices. Grey Craig Cottage - 1 mile up Bridge Street (just over the bridge on the left) and look out for the Free Range Eggs sign.

Happy hen-keeping!

The West Fife Villages 2015 Exhibition of Art, Photography & Craft

A further meeting of the Art Exhibition Committee was held on 27 January in the Saline Community Centre, John Crane taking the chair. Those in attendance were Marylla Ferguson (Exhibition Manager), Liz Harvey, Derek Fudge, Jim Hensman, Austin Clark, Marie Crane and John Crane. Apologies for absence were received from Dave Hatton, Fiona Aitken, Dave Quinney and Donald Murdoch.

The normal procedure for setting up the hall for the exhibition is to bring the display boards into the hall on the Thursday evening and make them up and put in position. As the General Election will take place on this particular Thursday, 7 May, we have had to change our plans. We can possibly bring the boards into the small hall on the Thursday evening and erect most of the boards and then complete the task in both halls on the following Friday morning ready for the arrival of exhibits on Friday afternoon from 2 pm. We will, however, have to confirm that we can be permitted to use a separate part of the hall during the election. We will require a number of able-bodied people to help with the tasks. John Crane said he would endeavour to acquire sufficient volunteers.

Concerning publicity, details of the exhibition have been placed on two local websites, these being www.westfifevillages.co.uk and www.salinesteelend.org. Press releases had also been sent to the Dunfermline Press and the Courier but had not yet been printed. Posters and flyers are in hand; Derek Fudge and John Crane are to action. An article about the exhibition is being prepared for the February Community Bulletin. The Facebook page is being reconstructed by Dorella Brodie. Local radio has in the past helped with advertising closer to the event. Liz Harvey said she would be prepared to be interviewed. We will look into this at a later meeting. Dave Quinney is to be contacted as he had some dealings with local radio previously.

Marylla Ferguson has been busy spreading the word to our regular exhibitors. She said, however, that she was having some problems with outgoing emails but hoped to solve the problem.We briefly talked about who should open the exhibition. Several names were mentioned but it was decided to carry this matter over to the next meeting.Workshops were discussed. Liz Harvey suggested that a display of the Development Trust's Tile Project being undertaken by Marylla Ferguson and herself, would be extremely appropriate. Everyone agreed. Concerning visits to all West Fife Village primary schools and to Queen Anne High School, Marylla Ferguson and Jim Hensman said that they were arranging to undertake these visits.

It was agreed the next meeting will be held on Tuesday 24 February at 7 pm in the Saline Community Centre.

Dalmation Puppy Lost on Saline Road

Can You help? One of the Staff at Cafe des Fleurs in Dollar lost her brand new Dalmation puppy on the B914 Saline road last night. There is no sign and they are worried sick. The puppy could be anywhere between Saline - Forest Mill - Dollar but he likes to run so he could have got quite far. Thank you so much x

01259 743699

Forthcoming Meetings & Events:

Steelend Miners’ Club

Zumba: Mondays, 7.00pm-8.00pm

Zumba Toning: Wednesdays, 7.00pm-7.45pm

Sambangra Drumming Group: Tuesdays, 7.00pm-8.30pm, £2

Friday 6 March, 8.00pm: Star Artist: Marilyn Childs Duncan

Saline Golf Club

First Saturday of each month: Family Night, 5-7pm

Tuesdays: Bingo Night, 7.30pm

Thursdays: Quiz Night, 8.30pm, entry £1/person

Sky TV and free wi-fi. Associate membership £10 per annum, £4 concessions

Q’zine Catering: also available for all functions. Catering opening hours are Wednesday 4.30-9pm, Thursday 11am-8pm, Friday 11am-5pm.

Valentine's Night Disco

Saturday 14 February at 7.30pm, tickets £1

Includes a Mr & Mrs competition!

Brownies

Every Thursday 6.00pm-7.30pm

Saline Church Hall

116th Fife Scout Group

Beaver Colony

Every Friday, 6.00pm-7.30pm

Cub Pack

Every Thursday, 6.30pm-8.00pm

Scout Troop

Every Thursday, 7.30pm-9.00pm

Explorer Unit

Every Thursday, 7.30pm-9.00pm

The Group meets in Carnock Community Centre, Camps Road, Carnock. Open to both boys & girls

Highland Dancing Classes

Tuesdays 4.00pm-5.00pm

Thursdays 6.30pm-8.00pm

Saline Church Session Room

Adult Badminton

Mondays 7.45pm

Wednesday 1.30pm and 7.30pm

Saline Community Centre

Beginners welcome

Saline Smilers (Toddler Group)

Tuesdays 9.30am-11.30am during school terms

Saline Community Centre

Craft and Chatter

Thursdays 10.00am-12.00noon

Last Friday of month 7.00pm-9.00pm

Shieldbank Coffee Shop

Sambangra Drumming Group

Tuesdays, 7.00pm-8.30pm, £2

Steelend Club

Line Dance Classes

Monday 10.00am - 11.00am

Friday 10.00am - 11.00am

Saline Community Centre

Saline & Blairingone Parish Church

Church Guild: Living with Dementia

9 February, 7.30pm, Saline Church Hall

Ceilidh

7 February, 7.30pm, Saline Community Centre

Tickets £7.50, including supper

Afternoon Craft Group

Every second Tuesday from 17 February

2pm-4pm, Saline Church Hall

Scottish Country Dancing

Every second Monday from 16 February

7.30pm-9pm Saline Community Centre

Saline & District Heritage Society

Living Among Kelty Miners: Hugh Hoffman

Wednesday 29 February

7.00 for 7.30pm, Saline Church Hall

Saline, Steelend & District SWRI

Make a lavender bag

4 March at 7:15, Saline Community Centre

New members always welcome

This Community Bulletin is produced by Saline and Steelend Communications Group