Town in west Fife, Scotland
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland.
It is 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Dunfermline and 18 miles (29 km) north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 2008 estimate, the town has a population of 14,081.
How locals move
Getting around Cowdenbeath the local way
- Get inFrom 1847 to 1890 the world's first ro-ro ferry plied across the Forth between Burntisland and Granton near Edinburgh: railway trucks were shunted on and off the ferry without needing unloading, while passengers walked.
- Get inDr Bell of Edinburgh, one of the main inspirations for Sherlock Holmes, once theatrically deduced that a patient had come by this ferry by the nature of the mud on his boots.
From Wikivoyage: Burntisland, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Chemical Engineer (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.