Dunfermline is the principal town in western Fife Scotland. It is 13 miles north west of Edinburgh. The Journey between the two must cross the one and a half mile wide Firth of Forth, the estuary of the river Forth, and this is done by rail, via the Forth Bridge built by the Victorians, and by road, by the Forth Road Bridge built in the 1960s.

Dunfermline is the ancient capital of Scotland and was the residence of Scottish kings between the 11th and 17th centuries. Robert the Bruce was buried there. Very few early buildings remain, due to a great fire in 1624, and there are ruins of an abbey and a palace.

The chief industry in the town was linen weaving and the millionaire philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was born in a weavers cottage in the town which has nowadays been incorporated into a museum devoted to his life and work.

In recent years the town has been rapidly expanding in size. As well as a thriving traditional town centre it has a mall, two retail parks, four large supermarkets and a multiplex cinema. It has a large general hospital.

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