All in a row

These wee rowing boats formed a disorderly queue in Dysart harbour today. They are used by the owners of boats moored in the deep water part of the harbour to ferry themselves to their pride and joy. I don't know how some of them get where they want to go without any oars, and the ones with only one oar must end up in ever decreasing circles - but the owner of the capsized one on the far left is really going to be upset. Sea-Shanty seems to be the only one that's got its act together.

Dysart is now a suburb of Kirkcaldy but it used to be a town and a royal burgh in its own right and the first record of it dates back to the early thirteenth century. As a port it dates back to 1450, exporting coal and salt. A man- made harbour was eventually built and in 1829-31 it was extensively re-built. In 1920 pressure was put on the town council by the owners of the harbour, Earl of Rossyln's Coal Company, to deepen the harbour for use by larger ships. The council agreed but was plunged into financial ruin after the coal company refused to pay for the work in excess of £500. Combined with the closure of uneconomic pits and ships using other harbours along the coast, where they were turned around more quickly, this meant Dysart's harbour lost revenue which eventually forced the cash-strapped town to merge with Kirkcaldy under a private act of parliament in 1930.

The whole of Dysart was designated a conservation area in May 1978 by the former Kirkcaldy District Council. It would seem that the conservation designation does not cover oars for rowing boats.