Glenrothes - Culture and Community

Culture and Community

In 1968 Glenrothes was the first town in the UK to appoint a town artist. This is now recognised as playing a significant role, both in a Scottish and in an international context, in helping to create the idea of art being a key factor in creating a sense of place. Two town artists, David Harding (1968–78) and Malcolm Roberston (1978–91), were employed in the lifetime of the GDC. Both artists, supported by a number of assistants, created a large variety of artworks and sculptures that are scattered throughout the town. Other artists have also contributed to the creation of the town's artworks. The first sculpture erected in Glenrothes was "Ex Terra", created by Benno Schotz. "The Good Samaritan" sculpture in Riverside Park was produced by Edinburgh based sculptor, Ronald Rae, who was commissioned by the GDC to produce a piece of art work in celebration of the town's 40th anniversary in 1988. In the same year, town artist Malcolm Robertson produced the "Giant Irises" sculpture as Glenrothes' contribution to the Glasgow Garden Festival. The sculpture was the winner of the John Brown Clydebank award for the "Most Original and Amusing Artifact". Following the festival, it was re-erected at Leslie Roundabout.

The town has won numerous awards locally and nationally for the quality of its landscaping; something that is promoted by the "Take a Pride in Glenrothes" (TAPIG) group. The Glenrothes Development Corporation devoted around one third of land in Glenrothes to the provision of open space. As a consequence the town has numerous parks, the largest being Balbirnie Park, Carleton Park, Gilvenbank Park, Riverside Park, and Warout Park. The Lomond Hills Regional Park borders and enters the town to the north and east.

Glenrothes does not have a museum, however there is an aspiration for a permanent heritage centre to be formally established in the town following a successful trial. The establishment of a formal heritage centre would provide a record of the history of Glenrothes and its surrounding communities from the early 19th century to the late 20th century when the new town's development corporation was wound up.

A war memorial was constructed in Glenrothes in 2007 following the deaths of two local Black Watch soldiers in Iraq. Prior to this Glenrothes was in the unusual position of not being able to host its own Remembrance Sunday commemorations. Unlike traditional memorials, the Glenrothes war memorial consists of two interlinking rings of standing stones.

The Rothes Halls complex is the town's main theatre, exhibition, conference and civic centre venue. The facility caters for a large variety of regional and local events including theatrical and musical performances, as well as arts and crafts exhibitions. The town's central library and a cafe also form part of the complex and a community cinema has been operating on a monthly basis. The community cinema has had a number of positive benefits on Glenrothes with the town hosting its first film festival in October 2010. The 2010 festival was held in the Rothes Halls and presented a series of short film competition entries and celebrated the film industry. The success of the community cinema also generated private sector interest which resulted in a commercial cinema opening in Glenrothes in 2010 giving the local population access to the latest film releases.

There are a number of social clubs and organisations operating within Glenrothes which contribute to the cultural and community offerings of the town. These include an art club, various youth clubs, a floral art club, amateur theatre groups, a choral society and a variety of sports clubs. Glenrothes hosts an annual gala which is held at Warout Park and has a variety of family activities including a dog show, highland dancing and a fun fair with stalls. Markinch and Thornton each host an annual Highland Games and the other surrounding villages host their own annual gala days and festivals.

The town has a large variety of established sports facilities including two 18-hole golf courses (Glenrothes and Balbirnie), a football stadium at Warout and a major sports complex, the Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education (FIPRE). The local football club is the Glenrothes F.C., a junior side who play at Warout Park. Glenrothes also has a rugby club based at Carleton Park and a cricket club who play at Riverside Park. A new £21 million pound replacement regional sports centre on the site of the existing Fife Institute is scheduled for completion in April 2013. The new centre will be named after the late SNP Councillor Michael Woods in a controversial decision taken by the Glenrothes Area Committee. The Road Running Festival in Glenrothes is the largest annual sporting event in the town with over 1500 people of all ages and levels of fitness taking part and has been held annually since 1983.

Glenrothes has a twin-town link with Böblingen, a city in Baden-Württemberg in Germany since 1971. As early as 1962 a local councillor had suggested that the town might "twin" with a town on the Continent. Some years later a friendship grew up between teachers at Glenrothes High School and the 'Gymnasium' in Böblingen which eventually led to the twinning of the towns. Since then there have been a number of exchanges on official, club and personal levels.

Famous people associated with the town include the actor Dougray Scott who grew up in Glenrothes and attended Auchmuty High School. Douglas Mason, known as one of the engineers of the "Thatcher revolution" and the "father of the poll tax" set up home in Glenrothes in the 1960s and spent most of his adult life living there. John Wallace, who became Principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) in 2002 and is a famous trumpeter, played in the town's Tullis Russell Mills Band. Henry McLeish, the former First Minister of Scotland lived in Glenrothes, having been brought up in nearby Kennoway. Glenrothes town centre is home to the building involved in the notorious Officegate scandal, which ultimately led to McLeish's resignation as First Minister in 2001.