Below is a detailed description by John Band of flax cultivation and processing, and the history of this particular site. To open this document as a PDF please click here. Note that 'retting' (the soaking of the flax in water) was a key part of the process. An example of a 'retting pond' (a small natural or artificial body of water used for the prolonged soaking of flax straw, in order to soften the woody tissue and enable the fibres to be separated) can still be seen at Silverburn Park.

Next, the drawing below shows scale plans of the 'heckle house' building, showing the probable use of the space within it at the time of the flax spinning operation and describing the initial steps in the process. To open this drawing as a PDF, click here. 
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​Finally, for this post (a part two is to follow), the drawing below features a ground floor plan for the main mill building and outlines the next stages in the process. A PDF of this can be opened by clicking here. In the next post, the actual 'spinning' part of the process will be detailed, along with the subsequent winding and drying, as well as much more information about the buildings at that time and the industry in general.
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The above photograph shows the Slee family of Edinburgh on holiday in August 1933, with part of the Temple visible in the background. The family came to Lower Largo annually from the early 1930s until the Second World War. Their visits began when the children had whooping cough and the doctor suggested some sea air. A book named "Two Generations of Edinburgh Folk" by Dorothy Slee (1993), describes the holidays as follows:

"Granny rented a cottage at Largo for us for a month and it was such a success that we returned there annually for six or seven years. The little rented cottages were at the far end of the village of Lower Largo, just across a narrow road from the beach. Happy and carefree, we spent more of our time on this beach - building sand castles, paddling, looking for crabs in the rocks, or floating in a large rubber inner tube".

The book was part of the 'Flashbacks' book series designed to reveal the daily lives of individuals in the context of their own time and place. Dorothy worked at the National Museums of Scotland who co-produced the series. The concept of the series was that everyone can contribute to the "total sum of knowledge of human history" and that "local and personal history" should be set alongside political and other kinds of history.
 

The second photograph above shows some members of the family sitting outside their rented cottage. It has since been demolished and replaced by the modern home that is now 5 The Temple. You can recognise the neighbouring house (number 7) which looks the same today.  Later in the Dorothy Slee's book there is a description of the entertainment on offer in Largo at the time:

"At the other end of the village by the Crusoe Hotel there would be pierrots and a Punch and Judy show to visit, where we would stand enraptured by the strains of "Oh, oh, Antonio" or "Why am I always the bridesmaid never the blushing bride?"....We would sometimes climb up Largo Law and always have a picnic at Shell Bay which meant a trek along the beach laden with picnic gear and, most importantly, Grandpa hugging the large yellow melon."

Below is the spot where the above photo was captured - the group sat by the low wall in the left hand foreground.

The above advert for the 'East Fife Co-operative Society' shops dates to 1965, just a few years before the closure of the Largo branch (which is mentioned in the list of stores above). The Largo branch was at west end of the main street next to the grocer's shop at 'Forthview'.  Initially a milliner's shop, this building had became a branch of 'Leven Reform Co-operative Society' by 1915. Some decades later, the Leven co-operative society merged with others in the area, taking the 'East Fife' name.  Below is an advert from 1925 inviting applications for the position of 'saleswoman' at this Largo branch (12 Sept Scotsman). 

Following on from the previous post about the 'Forthview Grocer's Shop', a trawl through our archives has revealed a selection of vintage adverts for this particular shop. In chronological order below, we have tenant grocer Thomas Cooper, who ran the shop after the death of original proprietor Robert Alexander in 1891 until his own early death in 1898. Note the wide range of beers listed and the fact that these were "carefully bottled on the premises".
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Next is an advert from the era of Peter Scott c1910s. Note that, as in the advert above, the grocer would call round local homes to take orders and then deliver them in the mornings.  Peter Scott started business in Lower Largo in 1906, coming from Dura Den. He actually found himself bankrupt in 1912 but managed to retain the grocer shop. He married fellow shop-keeper Catherine Simpson Bell in 1913. Catherine was the daughter of the green-keeper at the Lundin Ladies Golf Club and their marriage took place within her home - the green-keeper's cottage behind the ladies golf club house.
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Peter Scott died in 1931 and Catherine applied for a renewal of the shop's license before advertising the business for sale. The advert below must date to around that time. William Gould took on the grocer's and the final advert below dates from early on during his time in charge.

On the face of it, not much has changed since the above postcard view, entitled 'West End Lower Largo', was captured in the early 1930s. However, the use of the buildings on the right has changed significantly. In the 1930s, the painted sign above the shop on the far right reads "Leven Reform Co-operative Society Ltd", while the one to the left of it states "Peter Scott" who had a grocer shop there. In the centre of the 1930s shot, with the ladies standing outside doing a spot of window shopping, was "Mrs Davie", the ladies' and children's outfitter. Today there are no shops on this stretch of the street - all have been converted into housing long ago.

The buildings on the left hand side, originally known as 'Seaview', pre-date those on the right hand side by a good couple of decades. The buildings on the right (originally named 'Forthview Place') were built in 1887. The grocer shop above, labelled "Peter Scott", was originally occupied by Robert Alexander. He had been working as a grocer in Kirkton of Largo in the shop run by James White (who died in 1878) and his family. Robert married James White's daughter Janet in 1882 and they had a son, James White Alexander, in 1884.

As part of their move to the new Lower Largo premises seen above, Robert Alexander applied for a porter and ale license for the shop (see 19 Oct 1887 notice in Fife Herald below). However, this was unanimously refused because "within two hundred yards from this shop were two public houses and a fully licensed grocer's shop" (14 Nov 1888, Fife Herald).
The neighbouring shop (that would become the Co-op) was originally a milliner's shop run by Agnes Guthrie (nee Gilchrist). She was the wife of harbour master at the time, Henry Guthrie. 
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On 5 April 1891, when the census was taken, Robert, Janet and James Alexander (aged 6) were recorded at "Forth View Place Grocer's Shop". However, the very next month Robert Alexander died. He was aged only 33 years old. By this time the grocer's shop was licensed and in October 1891, Janet Alexander applied for a transfer of the license. She retained ownership of the business and had tenant grocers run it. In 1895 the tenant was Thomas Cooper. In 1905 it was Edward Guthrie. From 1906 Peter Scott was tenant grocer.

Janet Alexander died in May 1912 and her son James became owner of the shop. James had been working as a journeyman grocer under Peter Scott for a spell but was described as a fruiterer in Kirkton of Largo just before he went off to fight in the First World War. James Alexander was never to return - dying on 3rd May 1916. His name is the first in the alphabetical list on the Largo War Memorial. Peter Scott remained at the grocer's premises until the 1930s (becoming the proprietor rather than tenant during the 1920s). Willie Gould took over the grocer's around 1932.

On 19 July 1837 The Scotsman newspaper ran the story above about a tremendous thunder-storm which caused multiple fatalities in Upper Largo. The incident was supposed to have occurred on the "links adjoining Mr Beveridge's farm" (Buckthorns farm). The description of how ten people were killed outright made shocking reading. Understandably, it was said that this "made a deep impression on the villagers".

​However, three days later the same paper conceded that the story was "without foundation" and actually a "pure hoax". The story had been written under a fictional name and left in the letterbox of the newspaper. It had been used in "good faith" due to the recent spate of thunderstorms and the occurrence of "similar, though less alarming accidents" elsewhere. The actions of the hoaxer were condemned for creating "serious alarm in the minds of those who had friends residing in the place to which the accident was assigned."

In spite of the retraction of the story, it continued to be printed in papers up and down the country including the piece below from the Birmingham Journal, right up until 5 August!

The above painting by German-born artist Eugene Dekkert was recently sold mislabelled as 'St Monans Harbour'. Many will recognise it immediately as Largo Harbour. The same view is shown below from both c1900 and the present day. One key feature is missing from the painting, however. There is no railway viaduct. This is not because the painting pre-dates the building of the railway line. In fact, it has been deliberately left out - no doubt to create a nostalgic view of old Largo.

Dekkert was born in 1865 - eight years after the opening of the railway line. He came to live in Scotland and lived in first Glasgow and then the East Neuk of Fife in the early 20th century. He and his wife Emma were living in St Monans at both the 1901 and 1911 census. The fact that he lived there, along with the fact that he often painted the harbour at St Monans probably accounts for the inaccurate title on the painting above. It was said in 1906 that "the sea is never absent from his work" and that his style was "strongly individual". He had studied at the Academy in Munich as a student of Theodor Hummel.  

Presumably he returned to Germany at the time of the Great War. Later in life Dekkert participated in art exhibitions in Berlin, Dresden and Munich. Many of his works are in international as well as German museums, such as the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. Eugene Dekkert died in 1956.

Woodwell House was situated on the brae or wynd behind the Lundin Links Hotel, opposite Fir Park. The house's original name was 'Wynd House' but this was later changed to another descriptive name, determined by its location next to a well and opposite the woods. The house was located for practicality - low-lying, right up against the road, tucked into the side of a slope. Unlike many houses in the village, this one was not positioned for the pleasant view or quiet location. It was likely built soon after the 1790 creation of the turnpike road through Lundin Mill. Handily sited between the inn and toll house to the south west and the mills and brewery to the north east. The feu upon which Woodwell House was built stretched far behind it, up and over an elevated ridge, towards what would become Emsdorf Street. 

The house and garden were owned by Andrew Dall in the 1840s. He was a stone mason, so perhaps he (or a relative) was the builder of Woodwell House. After Dall died in Lundin Mill in 1843, aged around 67 years, his widow became the proprietor. On the 1850s feuars map of Lundin estate, the plot is registered to "Andrew Dall's widow" (as were two other feus very close by). On the feuars map the house has an annex adjoining it - added at some point to provide additional space. In the 1851 census, Andrew's widow Ann and daughter Cecilia were living in the house. It would be passed down the family for multiple generations.

Another of Andrew's daughters, Elizabeth, married coal miner Thomas Black and lived in the house from around 1855. They were still there in the both the 1861 and 1871 census, along with their children (most of whom were likely born in the house). One of their daughters, born in 1857, was named 'Helen Lundin Brown Black' - her middle names presumably taken from the then minister of the Free Church in Largo, Rev. Robert Lundin Brown.

Elizabeth Black died in 1879 aged 54. By the 1881 census her widower, Thomas, was living in the smaller part of what was then named 'Wynd House'. One of his daughters (Ann) lived in the main part of the house with her second husband William Cowan (a flax scutcher), her 3 children from first marriage (to Walker Harris), plus their 2 children together.  In 1891, Ann Cowan was in the main part of the house with six of her children, while two lodgers were in the annex. By 1901, the house has been renamed 'Woodwell House' although still occupied by Ann Cowan, two of her daughters and a domestic servant. The annex was occupied by one lodger - local police constable, William Mitchell.

In the 1911 census three Cowan sisters were living at Woodwell - Rose Ellen, Edith and Caroline, along with Edith's husband John Warrender. Their mother Ann Cowan (daughter of Elizabeth Dall and Thomas Black) lived at Earnest Cottage just down the road from her daughters until she died there in 1915 aged 69. The children of Ann Cowan collectively owned Woodwell for decades after that. Edith and John Warrender lived in the main house, while the annex had various tenants. Peter and Agnes Bloomfield lived there in the early '40s until Agnes's death at the house in 1943 aged 81. The Bloomfields relatives, John Mackie (gardener at Kellie Castle) and his wife Janet Younger, then lived there. Janet Younger Mackie died at Woodwell in 1944. 

During the late 1940s and early 1950s the house was occupied by David and Jane Erskine and their daughter Jessie. When Jessie married John Aitken in 1950, they lived in Woodwell House also, until it was condemned. Both the Erskines and the Aitkens were rehoused in Durham Cresent, Lower Largo, when it was newly built. Although that marked the end of an era for Woodwell House, the site was reconfigured to become a garage/workshop - in which form it can still be seen today on the east side of Largo Road (see image below).