Anstruther

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is also a P. G. Wodehouse character named Mr. Anstruther.

Anstruther seafront.

Anstruther (Enster in Scots, Eanstar in Scottish Gaelic and also meaning Little Stream) is a small town in Fife, Scotland. The two Anstruthers are divided by a small stream called Dreel Burn. Anstruther lies 9 miles south-southeast of St Andrews. It is the largest community on the stretch of north-shore coastline of the Firth of Forth known as the East Neuk, with a population of about 3,500 people. The village of Cellardyke forms an easterly extension of Anstruther.

It was originally a fishing village, and is home to the Scottish Fisheries Museum, but its main industry is now tourism, although other small scale manufacturing and service industries continue. Pleasure craft now moor in the harbour, and there is a golf course. The Waid Academy, the local state comprehensive school, is often a focus of the community and through its secondary role as a community centre offers a wide range of activities & sports, and hosts entertainment for young and old. Sports Hall, Gym, Swimming pool etc are also situated here and open to public use.

Anstruther from Wester Anstruther.

It has an award-winning fish and chip shop, Anstruther Fish Bar, which won Fish and Chip shop of the year 2001-2002. The many famous names from Anstruther include religious thinker and leader Thomas Chalmers, sports writer Graham Spears, and was the childhood home of BBC Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman.

James Melville, nephew of the more celebrated reformer, Andrew Melville, who was minister of Kilrenny, has given in his Diary a graphic account of the arrival at Anstruther of a weatherbound ship of the Armada, and the tradition of the intermixture of Spanish and Fifeshire blood still prevails in the district. Anstruther fair supplied William Tennant, who was born and buried in the town, with the subject of his poem of "Anster Fair." Sir James Lumsden, a soldier of fortune under Gustavus Adolphus, who distinguished himself in the Thirty Years' War, was born in the parish of Kilrenny about 1598. David Martin (1737-1798), the painter and engraver; Thomas Chalmers, the great divine; and John Goodsir, the anatomist, were natives of Anstruther. Archibald Constable, Sir Walter Scott's publisher, was born in the parish of Carnbee, about 3 miles to the north of Pittenweem.

Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart 1887 - 1970, director-general of the Political Warfare Executive during World War II was also born in Anstruther.

Anstruther is in the North East Fife UK Parliament constituency (MP is currently Sir Menzies Campbell), Fife North East Scottish Parliament constituency (MSP is currently Iain Smith) as well as the Mid-Scotland and Fife Scottish Parliamentary region and the Scotland European Parliament constituency. In local politics the ward of East Neuk and Landward in the Fife Council is represented by a number of councillors elected under the Single Transferable Vote system.

Anstruther has also become known as the base for the Fence Collective, a network of nu-folk musicians.