365 + 196: The Windmill At St Monans

   Salt used to be a major Scottish export, and the ruins of salt pans can be seen in various coastal locations - but this one also has the last - very picturesque - windmill left in Fife.

   St Monans was an obvious place to set up salt production, which was achieved by evaporating water from the sea. There's a clue in the name of the farm above the windmill - Coal Farm. The windmill pumped the sea water into the salt pans, which were then heated by coal from the farm. In the later years, coal was brought in by sea; until eventually, competition from cheaper Mediterranean sun dried salt led to the salt pans being abandoned (about two hundred years ago).