Dinosaur mural completed in Fife town after two-year gap

The prehistoric creatures feature on a mural in Buckhaven - and work on phase two has just been completed after a two-year gap caused by the pandemic.

The artwork, which can be seen at Shore Street/Anderson Lane, features flying flying pteradons triceratops and a mesozoic/jurassic landscape which join the scary T-rex.

Located beside an attractive sandstone cliff-face, the two concrete walls are all that remains of flats built in the late 1960s after Buckhaven’s picturesque but decaying fishing quarter was bulldozed.

The wall mural is part of a wider programme initiated by local charity CLEAR in conjunction with Fife Council to enhance an important, attractive but often neglected area.

The harbour, once Scotland’s second largest, has vanished and been infilled and the fishing quarter a faint memory, but the fabulous coastal location deserves better recognition.

An extensive consultation and community planning effort conducted in 2018 carried a number of recommendations for community placemaking.

The Jurassic scene is part of other efforts which have been steadily put in place including planting of trees, bulbs, installation of path, benches totems picnic tables.

Additional heritage panels should be installed soon.

The popular Fife Coastal Path now leads along this stretch so visitors as well as local residents can gain the benefit.

The dinosaur-Jurassic scenes are intended not only to appeal to a younger audience but also to educate.

Bob Taylor, who chairs CLEAR, said: “The site looks out over the Forth `ring of fire’, the circle of extinct volcanoes - the Bass Rock, Berwick Law, Arthurs Seat, Largo Law - clearly visible so the landscape in earlier times can be easily imagined.

“The dystopian menace in the murals might also prompt awareness of the impending risks of climate change which, if not controlled, could return our planet to a state before humans destroyed it.

The same artist Ian Tayac - known professionally as Paco Graff - completed this work.

The artwork was funded through a modest grant from Fife Council’s Locality Budget two years ago and with some additional financial and logistic support from CLEAR.

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