Britain's oldest and most northerly point-to-point course at Balcormo Mains, near Leven, has closed after hosting the Fife meeting for more than a century, with the first one staged there on 14 April, 1910.

However, the popular fixture has been saved by relocating to Overton Farm, at Crossford, South Lanarkshire, and the 2021 meeting is scheduled for Saturday, April 24, four weeks after the Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire and Eglinton card at the same venue.

The costs of maintaining the Overton course will now be shared, which makes both meetings more viable. Fiona Drysdale, secretary of the Fife meeting, said: ''It's sad to leave Balcormo Mains, but it's one of those things and we have to move on.

"Losing two fund-raising events this year, including the point-to-point which was due to be held in late April, pushed the hunt into a financial corner and it was decided to reduce the risk of staging meetings in the future.''

Overton was opened by farmer, Willie Young, in 2004. It is some 70 miles south-west of Balcormo Mains, and Fiona said: ''All options were considered, but Overton is the closest existing point-to-point venue and the Young family, in particular permit holder, Wassells Young and his sister-in-law, Maggie, have been very accommodating and friendly. The course is easily accessible from the M74.

''We would like to record our enormous thanks to Valerie Gilmour and her family for their tremendous support and help during the many years that we raced over their land at Balcormo Mains.''

Looking back 50 years to the Fife meeting on April 25, 1970, the five-race card attracted 42 runners and the winning jockeys included Bill Turcan (Barak), John Dudgeon (Bailey's Brook), Jean Thomson (Mistress Fairytale) and John Bradburne (Dirty Habit).

More recently, the Fife's one and only Sunday meeting at Balcormo in April, 2002, went into the record books as four of the five runners in the members' race were ridden by four brothers from the Kinneston-based Alexander family – Jamie, David, Nick and Michael – who finished in that order behind the winner, Carlinare, ridden by Simon Clark.

The final meeting at Balcormo Mains took place on Easter Saturday, 2019.