Balmalcolm is a small village in the

Kettle A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a type of pot specialized for boiling water, commonly with a ''lid'', ''spout'', and ''handle'', or a small electric kitchen appliance of similar shape that functions in a self-contained ...

parish of

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. Encompassed by the low-lying

Howe of Fife The Howe of Fife is the broad, low-lying valley of the River Eden, lying between the Ochil Hills and the Lomond Hills in Fife, Scotland. ''Howe'', in Scots means a hollow or a plain bounded by hills. The alternative terms ''Laich of Fife'' an ...

, the village is roughly southwest of

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in F ...

, the nearest town, and around north of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

History

The village first appeared on maps in the mid-eighteenth century and its naming was likely inspired by the name Ballingall, the name of the family which once owned the land on which it lies. Balmalcolm was the centre of some controversy in the late 1990s when a high level of

nitrates Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are soluble in water. An example of an insol ...

were found in the local

borehole A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petro ...

, which was attributed to the

intensive farming Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ...

of the local area with green vegetables. The area was the first part of Scotland to be designated a

Nitrate Vulnerable Zone A nitrate vulnerable zone is a conservation designation of the Environment Agency for areas of land that drain into nitrate polluted waters, or waterways that could become polluted by nitrates due to environmental and health threats. A nitrate vu ...

, and nine farms were required to follow an action programme in regards to their nitrate usage as a result.

Economy

Surrounded by farms, vegetable packing business Kettle Produce chose Balmalcolm Farm as its headquarters and was founded by two farming families in 1985 after a partnership dating back to 1976. The Balmalcolm facility is and employs 1,000 staff from the local area, however the company have since expanded to the rest of the UK and into mainland Europe. Farm shop, cafe, and children's play experience Muddy Boots is a popular local attraction in Balmalcolm. Set on a farm owned by the same family for three generations, the business has its roots in the 1950s but has expanded substantially since then, especially in recent years.

References

External links

Kettle Community Council websiteKettle & District community website
Villages in Fife {{Fife-geo-stub