One of the houses that came to symbolise the devastation caused by a flood which afflicted a Fife community in 2012 has been demolished.
The house in Dura Den, near Cupar, had its gable wall swept away by a river of water and was beyond repair.
Now, as Fife Council gets an £800,000 project under way to repair the collapsed road which was also destroyed when the torrent raged through the picturesque community, only a pile of rubble remains where the house once stood.
The Hughes family, who own other properties in the area affected, said the demolished house belongs to their neighbour Alastair Cuthil, who is living in Glasgow until his house is rebuilt.
Louise Hughes, who was in America when the flood happened, said: “Our properties are both built on bedrock so the exteriors were not damaged, only interior of the ground floors of the properties were badly damaged but both houses were completed some time ago.
“The old mills internal walls were all masonry so that property was quickly rebuilt. The mill lade took till the summer of 2014 to be stripped out, dried and rebuilt. We continued to occupy the old mill throughout all the work.”Archive photos:Dura Den devastated by floodingLouise said most weekends since the flood had been spent working on the grounds which were extensively damaged. Fifty one trees in total have had to come down, some of them very old sycamores, with trunks well over a metre and a half in diameter.
She added: “This has opened up the garden a huge amount, which in the past was quite private, giving the road a beautiful view of the waterfall and has provided us with plenty of firewood but has been very hard work. Excavators have also worked for months re-contouring the land and rebuilding the river banking walls.”
She noted several residents appear to be happy at the road having been closed since the flood. But her family cannot wait for the road to reopen. She added: “Not only has it meant our land could not be easily be reinstated due to access for machinery being required to rebuild the road, (drilling and piling rigs are in use here at the moment) it has meant access to the property is difficult to all.”
The road being closed has also affected the owner of the White Chimneys in Pitscottie badly, she said. This sandwich shop and newsagent is a real lifeline for locals.
Jack Lord, the vice chairman of Kemback Community Council, said he was pleased that Fife Council had now begun work on reconstructing the road, which could reopen by May.
However, he acknowledged there were others in the community who would prefer to see the road remain closed.
The Courier told recently how reconstruction of the road has divided opinion in the community through which it runs.