Eventually the house was converted into a boarding house, with several rooms available, including a few on the attic floor. This was likely done in 1929, as the Fife Free Press of 4 May that year reported that Lindisfarne was to be taken over by "Mr and Mrs Mitchell, of the Lundin Golf Club, as a boarding house". The advert above dates from the 1930s and emphasises the proximity to the golf course. David Mitchell, familiarly known as "Biff", who was also clubmaster at Lundin Golf Club, died in 1935. Soon afterwards, Lindisfarne Boarding House was taken over by Mrs Janet Gillespie. During World War Two, Polish soldiers were billeted at Lindisfarne and Mrs Gillespie's daughter married one of them. Soon after the war, Lindisfarne ceased to be a boarding house and was later converted into two separate dwellings - the ground floor flat retaining the name of Lindisfarne, with access from Links Road (see photograph below). The upper floors comprised a second dwelling, with access from Crescent Road - named 'Glenartney'.
Lindisfarne was another house built during the late 1890s feuing of the west of Lundin Links. This house followed soon after the completion of the first feu (Westhall). The large plot had been reserved in the name of 'Whyte' and occupied the easterly corner of Crescent Road and Station Road. This may have been John Whyte who retired from the farming of Lundin Mill Farm in 1896, however, he had moved to Cupar by 1898. A number of different families lived in the house in its early years.
Eventually the house was converted into a boarding house, with several rooms available, including a few on the attic floor. This was likely done in 1929, as the Fife Free Press of 4 May that year reported that Lindisfarne was to be taken over by "Mr and Mrs Mitchell, of the Lundin Golf Club, as a boarding house". The advert above dates from the 1930s and emphasises the proximity to the golf course. David Mitchell, familiarly known as "Biff", who was also clubmaster at Lundin Golf Club, died in 1935. Soon afterwards, Lindisfarne Boarding House was taken over by Mrs Janet Gillespie. During World War Two, Polish soldiers were billeted at Lindisfarne and Mrs Gillespie's daughter married one of them. Soon after the war, Lindisfarne ceased to be a boarding house and was later converted into two separate dwellings - the ground floor flat retaining the name of Lindisfarne, with access from Links Road (see photograph below). The upper floors comprised a second dwelling, with access from Crescent Road - named 'Glenartney'.
0 Comments
The previous post included an advert for the mid-1890s feuing of Lundin Links, to the west of the hotel. A pre-cursor to this was the preparation of the land for feuing and in 1893 the following 'miscellaneous want' notice was placed in the Courier of 11th March:
OFFERS WANTED FOR MAKING ROAD AND SEWAGE DRAINS AT LUNDIN LINKS, PARISH OF LARGO The engineers will meet contractors on the ground to exhibit plans and point out the line of road on Monday 13th inst., between the hours of 10 and 12. Schedules and Specifications made be had, on payment of 10s 6d, on the ground, or from J. & F. Salmond, Engineers, 6 High Street, Dundee. By the summer of 1893, adverts were appearing in papers such as the Glasgow Herald about the 'beautiful sites for villas' on the Lundin Estate. However, as the feuing plan filled up with the names of those wishing to secure a plot, for either residential of commercial uses, many of those were familiar local names, such as Bremner, Douglas, Myles, Elder, Horne, Whyte and Patrick. The very first feu to reach completion was for local joiner and builder Andrew Masterton. The 8 December 1894 St Andrews Citizen reported this as "a handsome villa, built for Mr Masterton, Largo, at Lundin Links, is approaching completion. This is the first house erected on the new feus." The house in question was 'Westhall' on Station Road (now Links Road). See image below of Westhall standing alone on Station Road (slightly left of centre) with stone walls enclosing its gardens and the houses of Victoria Road and Crescent Road behind it. 'Beechwood' on Leven Road, Lundin Links must have been one of the first (if not the very first) buildings to be built on this stretch of Leven Road. It was built around 1895 or 1896, at a similar time to the building of the Post Office opposite. This was a time when a feuing plan had been laid out for the west portion of Lundin LInks, fanning out from the site of the old toll house and the inn (see advert below). The old toll house had to be demolished to make way for development, so the former toll collector and long-time resident of the old toll house - John Myles and family - took the feu directly opposite the site of their former home.
In 1898, the St Andrews Citizen of 30 April, noted that "an addition to Mr J. Myles' villa has just been finished". This "addition" refers to the portion of the house closest to the camera in the above image. The original house was a little more symmetrical in design, with the front entrance in the centre and a chimney stack at either end of the roof. The extra wing was added to accommodate Mr Myles unmarried daughter. The same newspaper also reported that "Mr Archibald White has almost finished the erection of a shop and house, for Mr Douglas, Butcher, Leven" and that "a posting establishment is also being built for Mr James Elder". The shop, also on Leven Road, still houses a butcher to this day. The 'posting establishment' was a place for hiring horse-drawn transport and was located in the northernmost portion of the old stabling/garage once found in Woodielea Road (the other portion was stabling for the Lundin Links Hotel). In recent years, Beechwood has undergone further building work, and now comprises three self-contained dwellings. First introduced by L.N.E.R. in 1933, the concept of 'camping coaches' involved the conversion of railway coaches into fully-equipped, self-catering holiday accommodation (the station itself supplying the toilet and drinking water facilities). Demand for this type of holiday steadily grew, and more and more destinations were added. By 1937 there were 116 L.N.E.R. camping coaches in service, each typically accommodating six people. Other railway companies also began to offer this concept. Placed on quiet sidings in picturesque surroundings, coaches tended to be let Saturday to Saturday from Easter until the end of the summer season. Holiday-makers were required to travel by rail to their camping coach, as a condition of use.
In spite of World War Two, L.N.E.R. placed 79 coaches at 65 locations across the national network for the 1940 season, each fully equipped to comply with black-out regulations. However, by 1942, things had to change. For example, it was reported that "all the 209 L.M.S. holiday camping coaches that in peace-time were at beauty spots throughout the country are now on war work, some being Home Guard posts and guard rooms and others naval or military posts." (Daily Mirror 16 May). Immediately after the War, some of the former camping coaches were converted into living quarters for railway staff in areas where there was a shortage of housing or lodgings, such as London. It wasn't until the early 1950s that the camping coaches concept returned on a large-scale and this is when Lundin Links was added to the list of destinations. Advertising in the 1950s emphasised that "out-of-date coaches have been renovated to answer every need of a family of six....The coaches have three bedrooms, each with two beds, wash-hand basin and wardrobe; large dining room, canvas chairs, shining cutlery and plates, and a scullery to delight every woman's heart." (2 July 1952 Courier). Long weekends were now offered as well as full week long holidays. A camping coach arrived at Lundin Links in 1953, as one of five new Scottish locations, along with Elie, Kingussie, Fortrose and Kentallen. Sleeping six people, these new sites cost between £7 and £10 per week depending upon the season (Fife Herald 29 April). The aerial view below shows the coach in position in 1954. It is below the two station buildings on a siding between the main line on the right and the goods yard on the left. By 1958, two coaches were sited at Lundin Links - see link below for the full 1958 brochure: http://www.scotlandrailholiday.com/documents/camping%20coaches%201958.pdf According to 'The Leven and East of Fife Railway' book by Hajducki, Jodeluk and Simpson, the coaches remained at Lundin Links until the 1961 season (being taken away to St Rollox works in Glasgow for an overhaul at the end of each season before returning to the village). Sadly, general demand for camping coach holidays declined from the mid-1960s and all but vanished by the early 1970s. Did you ever take a holiday in a camping coach? Do you recall them at Lundin Links? If so, please comment. |
AboutThis blog is about the history of the villages of Lundin Links, Lower Largo and Upper Largo in Fife, Scotland. Comments and contributions from readers are very welcome!
SearchThere is no in-built search facility on this site. To search for content, go to Google and type your search words followed by "lundin weebly". Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|