Thornton, Fife

Thornton ( en escocés : Thorntoun ) ^{[ 2 ]} es un pueblo en Fife , Escocia. Está situado entre Kirkcaldy y Glenrothes , entre el río Ore y el arroyo Lochty Burn, ^{[ 3 ]} que se encuentran en los extremos opuestos de la calle principal. La iglesia parroquial de la Iglesia de Escocia fue construida en 1835 y se encuentra en la calle principal. ^{[ 4 ]}

Thornton cuenta con un consejo comunitario muy activo. El Consejo Comunitario de Thornton se reúne el primer lunes de cada mes en el Club de Bolos de Thornton. Estas reuniones están abiertas a todo el público, aunque se anima especialmente a los residentes locales a asistir. Los concejales del Ayuntamiento de Fife también participan como miembros de oficio del consejo comunitario, junto con representantes del Equipo de Policía Comunitaria de Escocia, para tratar asuntos locales.

El pueblo tiene una pequeña estación de tren, que se llama Glenrothes con Thornton . Aunque está situada en el extremo sur de Thornton, también da servicio a la zona de Glenrothes. Esta parada de tren se inauguró en mayo de 1992, restableciendo el servicio ferroviario a Thornton que se perdió cuando su estación de tren principal cerró en octubre de 1969 ^{[ 3 ]} como consecuencia del informe de 1963 del Dr. Richard Beeching sobre la reestructuración de los ferrocarriles británicos (el Informe Beeching ). El nombre de la estación de tren es engañoso , ya que Thornton no forma parte de Glenrothes, cuyo centro urbano está a 3 + 1/2 millas (5,5 kilómetros) de la estación, lo que provoca que los viajeros con destino a Glenrothes bajen en Thornton pensando que han llegado a su destino final.

El pueblo cuenta con una buena red de autobuses locales, operados por Stagecoach Group en Fife, que conectan Kirkcaldy y Glenrothes. Sin embargo, los servicios exprés que ofrecen viajes a destinos más lejanos no paran en Thornton.

Thornton Junction railway station was opened in the 1840s on the Edinburgh and Northern Railway.^[5] During the first part of the twentieth century, Thornton Junction railway station was situated on the Aberdeen to London main line to the east of the village, at the end of Station Road. To the west, alongside the Dunfermline line, the largest railway marshalling yard in Scotland was built during the 1950s. Though much reduced, this yard is still in use for rail freight services.

In 1957, the Rothes Pit was opened to mine the coal in the rural hinterland surrounding the village.^[3] This coal mine was tied very closely to the development of the postwar new town of Glenrothes to the north.^[6] The planned long-term benefits were to be huge, and were to be the driver for economic regeneration in Central Fife. In 1961, four years after opening, the huge investment was written off and the mine run down because of unstemmable flooding, and closed in May 1962.^[7] Ironically, miners who had worked in older deep pits in the area had forewarned against the development of the Rothes Pit for this very reason. The state-of-the art engineering and design was closed, leaving the huge enclosed concrete wheel-towers standing at Thornton for many years as a forlorn symbol of the collapse until 1993, when the towers were demolished.

The village is home to the football club Thornton Hibs who compete in the East of Scotland League Premier Division and play at Memorial Park.

In season 2007–08, Thornton Hibs reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Junior Cup, only to be beaten 3-0 by Cumnock after extra time; the Hibs had been reduced to ten men, losing their goalkeeper, in the 89th minute when the score was 0-0.

The village also has its own 18-hole golf course and bowling club.

The village used to hold a Highland Games annually every July. The event is not currently held as the organising committee have become inactive.

Thornton is also the birthplace of Sir George Sharp,^[8] a Labour politician who led the battle against local government reforms in the 1970s.

Thornton has a small (5-megawatt) solar farm.

Other villages on peripheries of Glenrothes:

• Coaltown of Balgonie (east)
• Kinglassie (south-west)
• Leslie (north-west)
• Markinch (north-east)

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