This beautiful letterhead is for the Lundin Links business of Adam & Co. Painters, Paperhangers and Decorators.

John Adam was born in Lundin Mill on 12 August 1872 to Agnes Adam. His birth was attended by Margaret Bethune and is recorded in her register of deliveries. Around twenty years later, John established his Lundin Mill house painting business, following spells of apprenticeship in Leven, Dumbarton and London. By 1901 he was an employer and he and his mother were living at his uncle's house (George Adam) which was called 'Bridge Place' but is now 2 Largo Road. His business was based at Milburnlea (4 Largo Road) next door.

In 1909 he married Christina Smith of Balmullo at her home - Upper Wellfield in Balmullo. Christina was the daughter of a stone mason. A witness at the marriage was James Dallas (a relative of John's and a stone mason from Lundin Mill). It seems likely then that the pair met through John's work as a painter and his connections with others in the building trade. ​John and Christina named their house, at the junction of Mill Wynd and Largo Road, 'Wellfield' after her former home. 

As well as building up a large painting business with several employees, John Adam was ​Chair of Largo Parish Council for six years (and a member for twelve years) plus was a member of Fife County Council. He and his wife had four children - Isabella, Agnes, John and David. Christina died in 1929. John (pictured below) died suddenly in 1932 aged 59. At the time of his death the Scotsman newspaper (27 May) noted that John "took a great interest in Largo Parish and especially in the harbour improvements there". Meanwhile the Dundee Evening Telegraph mentioned that "for over a score of years he was a member of the Golf Club Council and held for considerable periods the convenership of the Green and House Committee. He was also a keen curler".
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The ornate letterhead reflects a business that was doing very well in an expanding village. Note the detail below, with the selection of fine brushes and the palette within the design suggesting a high level of skill. As a master painter of the period, work may have included the mixing of bespoke paints, adding ornate decorative features, sign-writing and gilding. Notice also the 'telegraphic address' - showing that this letterhead predates the widespread use of telephone.

​Back circa 1910, when the shops at the west end of Emsdorf Street were still relatively new and deliveries were still made by horse and cart, someone decided to capture on film a fairly typical delivery to Brown's Fruiterer and Florist. Making the delivery are Robert James Dall and his son William Richard Dall. Robert had been gardener at Strathairly for several years by this time and probably regularly brought some of his produce to Brown's.

The reason for the photograph could well have been because the Dalls were about to emigrate to Canada. Father Robert travelled first in the November of 1910. He established himself in Vancouver. In 1911 16-year-old son William, along with brother Robert, set sail from Glasgow to join their father. William was described on the passenger list as a gardener. The following year Robert's wife Elinor and daughter Grace also emigrated to Canada. The family remained there for the rest of their lives.

Receiving the delivery, and standing in the doorway of the fruit shop is more than likely Alice Brown - niece of Jimmie Brown whose name is above the door and who ran a market garden at Hatton Law. Alice would have been aged around 21 at the time of this photograph. Next door to the left are the shops of the Young family (a stationers and newsagent shop to the left and an outfitter to the right). These shops were owned by Christina Young. The young male and female posing outside these shops are likely two of her children. She had two daughters, Janet and Annie and one son, John. The three would have been aged around 18, 15 and 16 respectively at this time. All of these shop keepers are pictured below in more detail. Note the collarless shirts in the outfitter's window and the notice advertising the Pierrots in the fruit shop window.

The Dalls must have taken this photograph with them as they embarked upon their new lives in Canada in order to remember their old life back in Largo. And fortunately for us today it provides a little insight into typical daily life back in 1910 Lundin Mill.

By way of a follow-up to the previous post about Somerville the Grocer, it's worth highlighting a little piece of architectural detail that is very familiar, as we walk over it all the time. The Leven Road shop still has its original panel of prismatic lights on the pavement in front of the shop window. These were designed to allow sunlight into the cellar below before the days of affordable electric lights. The prism shape on the underside (see examples below) allows light to be reflected sideways under the main building rather than just straight down.  It may also have been that goods could be delivered through the panels flaps (see image further below). 

The Lundin Links panels were manufactured by T. Hyatt & Co of Farringdon Road London. Over time some prisms have become cracked and others damaged through wear and tear - being replaced with tiles and cement as the natural light is no longer relied upon to illuminate the space below. The prismatic light concept featured in many architectural products of the time - some examples of which are illustrated in the advert below.
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The above circa 1907 photograph is a fairly early image of Somerville the grocer on Leven Road, Lundin Links. However, by the time this photograph was taken the name above the door had already changed from 'J. Somerville' to 'Andw. A. Somerville' as father (John) had recently handed over the reins to son (Andrew). The image below shows the original sign. In fact the young man in the door of the older image below could well be Andrew Allan Somerville himself as he was born in 1884 and so would be in his late teens at the time of this picture.

Andrew started work in his father John's grocer shop at Leven's Shorehead in 1898 at the age of 14. The following year John had plans drawn up for a new shop in Lundin Links and it opened in 1900. Andrew moved from the Leven shop to the Lundin Links one on 1 June 1900. When he reached the age of 21, he applied for his wine merchant license and the name above the shop was changed to his own (in 1905). Andrew held that license for 52 years, until he retired in 1957. Andrew was in the Black Watch volunteers between 1914 and 1918 drilling every Sunday morning on the Lundin Ladies Golf Course and was an A.R.P. warden and head fire master during the Second World War. He also took a keen interest in golf, curling and bowling and was a senior elder at Largo Parish Church.

An image of John Somerville's Leven shop can be seen further down this post. The Somervilles have also been covered in an earlier post on this site. The Somerville name remained above the Lundin Links shop into the 1980s - well after the death of Andrew in 1961. After a spell in use as an office, the shop premises has recently reopened as an up-cycling shop. The shop (pictured at the foot of this post) is now called 'Hamish and Baby Monkey' and is well worth a visit.

Had to mention just how beautiful Largo was looking this past week in the warm sunny weather. Ideal conditions for the wonderful 'Largo Arts Week' experience, which brought a real buzz to the place. Congratulations to the organisers for creating such a memorable and exciting event which had something for everyone.

There is a wealth of creative talent in the villages. Many thanks to all those that showed their work and opened up their homes and studios. Also to all the performers who provided top-class entertainment. And everyone who played a part in making this happen. Hopefully Largo Arts Week will become a regular fixture on the calendar and this year's inaugural event will go down in history.

Thanks for the memories.

Holiday season is upon us and Largo Arts Week is kicking off - so here is a lovely circa 1950 image of children at play on the beach at the Temple. The sender of this postcard in 1952 was an M. Allan who wrote to a friend in Portsmouth:

"I will have your tea ready so come right on from station. We are having very hot weather, so hope it will continue for your visit."

I wonder if it did and what they got up to during the visit?

The photograph above was taken during the 1900s and is from the collection of George Washington Wilson & Co images held by the University of Aberdeen (ref: GB 0231 MS 3792/C5555). The Post Office building is largely unchanged to this day but the long-gone huge telegraph pole is strikingly in this old view down Links Road. The notice below, from the 6 June 1896 Fife Free Press, announces that the Post Office authorities had given approval for a branch Post Office at Lundin Links.

In fact plans had already been drawn up for the building itself over a year earlier, as the original architect drawings are dated May 1895. This time lag, plus the fact that the plans were entitled 'Shop and Dwelling House for Miss M Bremner' (with no mention of a Post Office), suggests that it was not known with certainty back in 1895 that this building would in fact go on become a Post Office, as well as a shop.

Perhaps originally Miss Bremner was simply re-locating her grocer shop from Largo Road to Leven Road (taking advantage of the westward growth of the village) and it was only some months later that the opportunity arose to incorporate a Post Office and to become Post Mistress. The Post Office function became operational from 1 October 1896 and as the notice below indicates it was "hoped that a telegraph office will long be added to the post office". 
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Turning attention to the single-storey building behind (to the left) of the Post Office - a comparison of  its appearance upon construction (it was built at the same time as the main P.O. building) and its appearance several years later, shows a few differences. The earlier right hand image below shows the rear building with 3 doors (from left to right these gave access to a general store, a coal store and a passage between these outbuildings and the main shop - see extract from architect drawing below).

After the alterations (see later left hand image), the left hand door remained but the second (coal store) door had been made into a window; a new door had been put in to the right of the new window and the passageway door had become another window. Presumably, this was to make the 'telegraph office' (later known as 'telephone exchange') better integrated with the main Post Office (rather than separated by a passage) and to allow light into what was now a working area where staff would eventually work shifts connecting phone calls.
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The telephone came to Lundin Links late in 1903 (see above newspaper snippet from 19 Sept Fife Free Press that year). The Post Office itself took the phone number 1. 
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The above notice from 15 June 1929 Fife Free Press outlines plans to extend the telegraph line from Links Road towards Lundin Links station. Below is some general information about how telephone lines and exchanges worked.

The telephone exchange moved out of the building adjacent to the Post Office around 1950 and shifted again in 1971 to it current location on Cupar Road. 

With 10 days to go until Largo Arts Week, here is a rather nice piece of art dating back around 75 years. Featuring boats tied up at Largo Harbour, the old salt girnel (later net house) can be seen in the background to the right, with fishing nets hanging up to dry alongside it. The drying nets and net house also featured in the older painting featured in a post last November (shown below). 

Coming back to the watercolour above - this was painted by James MacLaren. According to various on-line sources, MacLaren was "an accomplished oil painter and watercolourist" based in Glasgow, who exhibited mainly between 1881 and 1917, including 17 works at the RSA. He produced many harbour scenes and serene landscapes and showed "a sincere understanding of light and composition". 

A note on the back of the painting states that a former owner "watched the artist painting this". If the early 1940s date is correct then this painting would have been painted late in the life of the artist. Perhaps it was painted a little earlier. Largo has of course long inspired artists and the upcoming Arts Week shows that it continues to do so. If you have the chance to visit between 20th and 28th  July, why not go along and discover the talented local artists of today?

www.largoartsweek.com

John McNicoll Nicoll was born in Kirriemuir in 1872 - son of land steward James Nicoll and his wife Agnes Roberts. By the census of 1891, aged 18, John was a grocer in Leven, Fife. In 1897 he married Catherine Mitchell in the Star Hotel in Leven (Catherine's father James was the proprietor of the hotel). By 1901 the couple were living in Forth Street in Leven and John was a 'Licensed Grocer's Assistant'. Soon after this the couple moved to Ladybank to run a licensed grocer there.

However, in March of 1905, a well-established licensed grocery business in Lower Largo was advertised for sale (see advert below from 18 March Dundee Courier). The following month,  John Nicoll transferred his license from Ladybank to Lower Largo (to the licensed grocer shop at Appleton on Main Street). At the time of the 1911 census, John, Catherine and 2 children (James aged 7 and Agnes aged 3) were living there. The photograph above shows John Nicoll outside the shop circa 1907, not long after the Nicolls took up occupancy. Note the spades hanging next to Mr Nicoll and the sailing boats in the upper right window.
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The shop advertised itself as a grocer, wine merchant and house agent (it kept a list of houses for let). As was the norm then for a grocer, orders could be placed for home delivery. The Nicolls ran the shop until John Nicoll's death on 24 January 1921 aged 48. Later that year Henry Alexander took over and remained there until the early 1940s. Catherine Nicoll lived in Lower Largo until 1951 - passing away at 'St Catherine's' at the age of 79. Son James (pictured) moved to Shanghai in 1928 to take up a position with the municipal police there (having served 3 years in the Metropolitan Police beforehand).

The City of Largo is in Pinellas County, west central Florida, USA. This week back in 1971 the mayor of Largo City came to visit the namesake village in Fife. After writing to Councillor Joseph Grassick for a couple of years, Mayor T.S. Madson and his wife Emilie made the visit to Lower Largo whist on holiday in Edinburgh. On 3 July, a 'meet the mayor' event took place in the Durham Hall.

The above photograph shows from left to right: Ruby Smith; Tommy Gillies; Emilie Madson; Neil Ballingall; Mayor Madson; Carol Fleming; Joe Grassick; Elizabeth Grassick and James Gillies.

Among the greeting party was Largo's oldest inhabitant, Tommy Gillies, aged 92, who presented the visiting couple with a gift. Several other locals also handed over gifts - Mrs Ruby Smith gifted locally-made pottery and Carol Fleming presented a bracelet, while 9-year-old Neil Ballingall gave a pair of linen tea towels featuring a Robinson Crusoe design. Mayor Madson commented: "I never anticipated a welcome like this. The people have been so friendly and warm", adding "The town is so beautiful and historic, it's really impressive. It has so much character and has been established over hundreds of years.".

Largo City has a website, https://www.largo.com/ where you can read more about Largo City History.