Inner Forth Landscape Initiative

The lime kilns at Charlestown, Fife. © Kate Fuller/IFLI

The Inner Forth Landscape Initiative (IFLI) was a National Lottery Heritage Funded Landscape Partnership scheme made up of eight organisations, of which HES was one. Between 2014 and 2018 IFLI delivered 54 projects, worth nearly £4m. Their vision was of an Inner Forth landscape where the natural, cultural and historical wealth of the area is revealed, valued, enhanced, and made accessible to both the people who live here and visitors.

Many of these projects focussed on the area’s historic heritage, for example:

• Four historic buildings were consolidated and made more accessible to the public, three of the projects led by HES.
• Training was given to nearly 500 people in historical research and archaeological survey techniques.
• Over 100 guided walks and talks to and about the area’s history were delivered, attracting members of the public to visit and learn about the sites.
• 3 bursaries supported students to research aspects of the Inner Forth’s historic heritage
• Nearly 100 volunteers worked on a number of archaeological digs.
• Funding enabled Clackmannanshire Field Studies Society to carry out extensive on the ground and desk-based research into the area’s waggonways and other industrial heritage
• Large public events, such as the Higgins Neuk dig open day, and the Grangemouth Town Hall Clock event at Zetland Park, attracted new public audiences.
• We worked with schools to find creative ways to engage with the area’s history, including writing and performing a play and creating videos.
• Information about all these projects, including the research findings and videos, is freely available on the IFLI website, increasing access to historical knowledge of the area.

As a partner HES’s input, both financial and advisory, have been critical to the success of many of these projects.

Reviewed: September 2018