There was a quiet village called Woodside with nearby farming and traditional industries of papermaking.

Fife had been a mining area but now there was going to be a new super-pit nearby.

The miners would need somewhere to live and so the plan was developed for a New Town starting around Woodside.

So, in 1948, the new town of Glenrothes was designated and building started, originally by Fife County Council, then by the new Glenrothes Development Corporation.

But various problems meant that the new pit scarcely got going  Quickly the Corporation sought to attract new industries leading the wide variety of business and industry today - electronics and light manufacturing.

So, today, you will find many companies making electronic components, Raytheon involved in electronics for the defence industry and the headquarters of Fife Council. It may be that your Velux roof window was made in our town or that you received goods from the Amazon warehouse.

The Development Corporation has now been wound up having seen the town grow to a population of over 40000.

Much care was given to the design of the town in the early days with many green areas and trees. A special feature is the civic art, in particular the many sculptures in all parts of the town. The one shown in the photograph at the top of this page has a twin version in our twin town of Boblingen in Germany. Glenrothes has had strong cultural, social and church relations with its twin town.

Glenrothes is set out in 19 precincts - "villages" within the town - most precincts having small shops, a primary school, a pub and a community hall. In addition there is an indoor shopping centre, The Kingdom Centre, at the heart of the town.

The town lies on the A92, has a bus service, train stations at Glenrothes (Thornton) and Markinch, and an airport for private planes.