This corner of Fife is renowned for its long history of coal mining, with several deep-level mines peppering the area. As technology developed, the deep coal seams were extracted using open cast mining techniques, gouging huge craters out of the landscape. This mine, St. Ninians, was operating right into the 21st century and swallowed up the remains of the village of Lassodie. A young Sean Connery was said to be a regular visitor to the village after his grandparents retired there in the early 1930s. Once the machinery fell silent,…