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Newburgh & Tourism 

Newburgh has history, wildlife, spectacular scenery - all just an hour away from Edinburgh

 Tourism

 

Newburgh is not attracting enough visitors. Holidaymakers and daytrippers who do come tend to use their own cars. but polluting the town is not an ideal start to an ecotour and we believe visitor numbers to Newburgh would increase substantially with a station and reduce the number of vehicles coming to the town.

People support the idea of sustainable travel. But public buses remain unreliable and few come for a day out using Newburgh's public transport.. Visitors to the distillery for example come by coach.  Tourist numbers would definitely increase if the station reopened. 

Newburgh for visitors

The Oddfellows Parade is held every New Year and collects money for local charities. The society was founded as a society for working men before trade unions.

 

There is the 'Riding of the Marches' every 4 years and a regular scarecrow festival in summer. 

 

The town is officially the spiritual home of whisky, the modern distillery holding a copy of the first ever written order in the world for aqua vitae and from a king no less. The monks used to produce the whisky using apples from the plentiful orchards stretching to either side of the historic main street. ​​

 

Having a station is about bringing people in as much as transporting local residents out . It is about the tourist industry we could create if Newburgh had trains which stopped.

Finishing arch of the Fife Coastal Walk

Newburgh poorly serves a major tourist attraction in Fife

Newburgh is not a  great place to start or end the increasing popular Fife Coastal Path. The path runs for 116 mile (187 kilometres), starting south of Kincardine Bridge running east under the Forth bridges, around East Neuk, through St Andrews, up to the Tay before heading west and finishing in Newburgh.

 

It is becoming a very popular walk . 

500,000 people use the path every year, of whom about 35,000 walk the entire route. Walkers come from across the globe to walk the coast of Fife. 

But Newburgh isn't the best of places to start or finish the walk, especially on a Sunday.  No public conveniences and few hostelries are open at weekends. It can be a struggle to get out of the town with a poor bus service and few taxis around.

 

Having a station will properly connect Newburgh. It will better serve coastal walkers and, by extension, tourism in Fife. This could be the catalyst for developing tourist related businesses - eateries, pubs and accommodation.

 

All the things that will make Newburgh feel like a fitting end to a great walk.

Poor transport limits tourism

Lindores Abbey Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery in Newburgh directly opposite the ruins of the 12th century Abbey. It started distilling whisky in December 2017 

 

The tours attracted 30,000 visitors in 2024 with 50,000 anticipated in 2025. But Helen McKenzie Smith, co-owner of the distillery, says there is a limit to how many visitors they can attract.. "We get a few visitors coming by car, fewer coming off public buses. Most of our visitors come on tour coaches", she says. 

An added problem is transport for some of the 50 odd staff getting to and from the distillery. "We like to attract people from Newburgh but elsewhere too and employ students from nearby Dundee and St Andrews. But unless they have a car, then getting back to where they live is difficult, especially if they are working late in the evening", adds Helen.

Helen talks of how a train station would be transformative for the business. 'We can imagine setting up a mini bus service to bring casual visitors from the station to the distillery and back. We could encourage more spontaneous 'Sunday day trip' visitors who could take advantage of the train, coming up from the likes of Edinburgh or Glasgow".

Night photo of the Lindores Distillery

Oddfellows' Parade, Newburgh - the last of its kind in Scotland

Photo of the Oddfellows March on New Year's Day

Newburgh marks New Year’s Eve with the Oddfellows' procession. At its head is the ‘Apprentice’, a rider riding backwards on a horse wearing a mask at the front and back, so facing both the old year and new. He is accompanied by rather scary masked characters and a brass band. It is organised by the local Oddfellows group, who collect money for local charities. They were founded as a society for working men providing pensions, insurance and other benefits in exchange for a subscription. That idea largely disappeared with the founding of the Welfare state. This is the last Oddfellows' procession in Scotland

Newburgh's 'wonky' Xmas lights gain international attention

Wonky street lights in Newburgh, Scotland

24 years ago, a competition for local primary school children was set up asking them to design a street light. The winner had his or her design made up and hung from one of the town's lampposts at Christmas time. The competition is still going strong and every year a new 'wonky' street light is switched on. During Covid, the streetlights gained attention from online visitors across the globe. The BBC have recently covered the story as has the local press.

Only six more lampposts and then all of them will have a unique, locally designed Christmas light!

Newburgh gems

Newburgh attracts many bird watchers

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40% of the UK's bearded tits live in the reed beds along the river Tay. There are buzzards, falcons, kites and owls...and more birdlife besides.

There is sailing on the Tay...

Sailing boats on the river Tay near Newburgh

The Newburgh Sailing Club offers dingy sailing courses over the summer

Andy Hawkins

...and fishing in the Lochs

Fishing on Lindores loch, near Newburgh

There is freshwater fishing on Golden Loch, Lindores Loch and the community-owned Loch Mill

And what might be...

There is no shortage of ambition to resurrect something of the old and to generate new tourism opportunities

A return of the boats
Newburgh Harbour

​Newburgh once had a harbour, trading both upstream to Perth and across the Tay to Dundee. It was a fishing port too. The disappearance of industry in the town saw the harbour fall into disuse.

 

​Today, the harbour is being slowly restored based on limited financial support.

There has been talk of reviving boat tours to Perth and Dundee. And water sports has been suggested as a business idea worth exploring.​​​

Eco tours

40% of the UK's Bearded Tits live in the Reed beds along the river Tay. There are Buzzards, Falcons, Kites and Owls...and there is much more birdlife besides

The area around Newburgh is rich in wildlife . Ospreys fish in the nearby river Earn and sea eagles visit the Golden Loch.

 

 Many paths cross the hills behind Newburgh - an undiscovered area of beauty rarely visited.

There are strong ideas to develop some form of ecotourism business which will showcase the flora and fauna in this area of North East Fife.​​​

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Cycling and walking
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Kamoot, the route planner for exploring and adventure, gives five routes for cyclists which start and end in Newburgh.​ Many cyclists visit or pass through the town.

 

There are business opportunities to provide support for cyclists and walkers; new hostelries can cater for growing demand. 

Newburgh's historic orchards

In the 11th century, monks from Lindores Abbey planted and tended what became Newburgh's extensive orchard - once known as the orchard of Fife.

 

Today, there are still about 1,000 fruit trees left in Newburgh. The plums are especially well regarded and the annual plum market remains popular. For the last two years, the Orchard group have run an Apple day and
pruning workshops which have attracted people from beyond the town. There is talk of developing a Tree Trail if more visitors come to the town.
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Arts and crafts
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Newburgh is home to an interconnected arts community which provides a warm welcome for visiting artists and musicians. Several have loved the scene so much that they have moved to the town permanently.

8 purpose-built studios are housed in the Steeple, an award-winning arts facility and modern conversion from Newburgh's former court house and corn exchange.

 

Developing the arts scene even further would be relatively easy with so many artists already active in the town.

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