If you’ve driven up or down the M90 motorway through Fife you might have noticed a rather curious sight rising above the countryside.
Back in 2009 plans were formed to transform an open cast coal mine into landscape art. Charles Jencks (whose other works include Jupiter Artland and Crawick Multiverse) was commissioned as the artist.
In this, arguably his most ambitious project, the landforms, lochs, and boulders were to represent a journey around four continents. The shape of Scotland was to be surrounded by geometric mounds representing each region most influenced by the emigration of Scots.
The scale of what was planned becomes immediately apparent if you climb the hill (know locally as the walnut whip) and look down. The 930-acre site is roughly the size of more than 700 football pitches, making it by far the largest piece of artwork in Scotland.
Sadly the landowner went bankrupt in 2013 and the project was halted before it was completed.
St Ninians is located to the west of Kelty. You can walk along the B914 or through Blairadam Forest.
