When Davie passed away in 1983, the East Fife Mail of 26 January noted that he had left his native Italy in 1924 aged 17 to come to Lochgelly to join his parents and elder brother, Antonio, who ran Rio Pullman Coaches. The brothers also helped their father Danny to sell ice cream.
The Rio Cafe in Lower Largo was situated on the site of the present convenience store and can just be seen in the image shown here - between the Railway Inn and the Crusoe Hotel. Opened in 1938, the cafe was run for many years by brothers Antonio (Tony) and Donato (Davie) Forte. When Davie passed away in 1983, the East Fife Mail of 26 January noted that he had left his native Italy in 1924 aged 17 to come to Lochgelly to join his parents and elder brother, Antonio, who ran Rio Pullman Coaches. The brothers also helped their father Danny to sell ice cream. The Forte family moved to Lower Largo around 1926 and started shops at The Temple and at Drummochy, as well as running a mobile ice cream cart. Soon they opened a cafe named Cafe Deluxe in the village. Some time later the brothers decided to build another cafe and bought Alexander House from Dr Selkirk. Initially fish and chips were sold from a hut in the grounds of the house but eventually the garden was built out onto, creating the cafe shown above. The Forte brothers had other business ventures in the village, including the Marina Lounge which was close to the Sailing Club. Antonio died in 1984, aged 79. After continuing as a cafe for a while - the photograph below from 1990 shows the site as 'Harbour Cafe' - the premises became a shop, as it remains today.
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Following on from the previous post, here are another couple of adverts from the early 1960s demonstrating the appeal of Lundin Links and Largo to holidaymakers. For many years the Lundin Links Hotel seemed to use the catchphrase 'Scottish Riviera'. Another slogan in the advert below is "The Gateway" to Good Golf. With two golf courses and two putting greens in the area at the time, golf was certainly a big draw but the Crusoe Hotel takes a different tack in its promotional material. Unsurprisingly, the Crusoe's publicity focusses on the Alexander Selkirk and its harbour location. At the end of the post is a photograph from the time showing a couple of the other draws for tourists - boating and fishing.
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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!
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