Tomorrow (28 April 2018) will be the Balcormo Races (Fife Point-to-Point). Billed as the UK's most northerly Point-to-Point meeting, the event has been held at Balcormo Mains (a couple of miles north of Lundin Links) since 1910. However, this year is actually the 126th anniversary of these races. Originally the races took place at Bruntshiels Farm near Ceres, over a three mile course, with twenty jumps over water, dykes and ditches, as well as other "obstacles of a rough hunting country". The event was inaugurated by Captain Middleton and other members of the Fife Hunt in 1892. It got off to a difficult start - the first date fixed (10 March) had to be abandoned late in the day due to frost and snow. Many visitors travelling long distances had made it all the way to the field before learning of the postponement. 

When the inaugural event did come off, on 19 March, the St Andrews Citizen of a week later reported that:

"spectators came trooping by rail, brake, waggonette, landan, phaeton, chapel-cart and every conceivable conveyance - the endless cavalcade on the main highways to Bruntshiels famous grass parks presenting between one and two o'clock, a most varied and animated picture....every horse available for hiring purposes was engaged, and many visitors who came to town by subsequent trains were obliged to walk to the rendezvous on foot, a distance of seven miles - most of which is uphill."

Once again the weather would not be kind to the 2,000 attendees:

"As the place of meeting drew in sight, a cold wind blowing steadily from the east and driving clouds of mist before it, did not augur well for the comfort or pleasure of the onlookers....The east wind, instead of abating, grew keener and colder as the afternoon wore on, and the surroundings ultimately submerged in a sea of mist."

In spite of this challenging start, the event returned the following year and this time "the weather was delightful for the season" according to the Courier of 31 March. The event continued at Bruntshiels annually until 1897, before lapsing for eight years, then returning 1905 to 1909. In 1910 the move to Balcormo was made - see St Andrews Citizen piece of 26 February 1910 below and subsequent advert from the 5 March Scotsman.

Now the races entered their heyday, as the photo collages below show. Over the years cars and buses replaced horses and brakes, crowds rose to as much as 10,000 and, of course, the weather continued to vary considerably from year to year. 

Very exciting news today!

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) have released a huge number of newly digitised photographs that were taken around rural Scotland in the 1970s. The images were originally gathered by The Scottish Countryside Commission, many during a survey of C-listed buildings. The full collection is available to view at canmore.org.uk. There are many of Lundin Links, Lower Largo and Upper Largo. Full details of the release here:

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/about-us/news/newly-digitised-images-tell-story-of-rural-scotland-in-1970s/

Permission has been granted for specially downloaded watermarked versions of the images to be displayed on blogs, so this will be a fantastic resource for this site to tap into. The images will no doubt pose questions and inspire new lines of research. Here is a small selection of the local scenes that particularly caught my attention (downloaded according to the guidelines and with watermarks displayed under each)...

Above are some of the Leven Road shops in Lundin Links while below are:

• 'Beechwood' the 1895 villa that faces these shops;
  
• the old Lundin Mill School on Crescent Road photographed soon after the move to the new school;
• the Old Manor Hotel in its Beach Hotel days;
• Cardy Net Factory;
• Lower Largo Post Office (more recently home to Very Crafty);
• and Wilson's shop in Upper Largo.

Loads more to see on-line - enjoy!

The opportunity to try making salt from sea water, following the same technique used for centuries up and down the Forth coastline, presented itself recently. Here is an illustrated step by step guide to the process, from water collection to the creation of fine sea salt, as it might have been done at the salt works at both Drummochy and at Viewforth. 

90% of Scottish salt was made along the edges of the Firth of Forth and in the late 18th century Fife's best salt was said to come from three works: "Drummachie, Largo and St Monance", largely because of the salinity of the water they were able to draw on ('The Salt Industry and its Trade in Fife and Tayside' by C.A. Whatley).

The 1/3 scale custom-made salt pan shown in the photograph was made for the 1722 Waggonway Project and it is based in the garden of Cockenzie House in East Lothian. A traditional salt pan was typically 18ft x 9ft and 18 inches deep.

The stainless steel pan above (which would have been iron in the past) sits above the furnace, in which wood was burned throughout the process (although coal would have traditionally been used). Industrial salt pans would have been within roofed buildings to protect the salt water from the rain, which of course would have diluted the salt water and interfered with the process. Here is the process followed at this experimental salt pan, with numbered illustrations....

​1. sea water is collected from a tidal reservoir in the rocks near the shoreline (often referred to as a 'bucket pot' because originally buckets were used to collect the water - although pumps and windmills were often used later).
2. the water is poured into the pan which is hot from the fire beneath it and evaporation begins.
3. prior to boiling, egg white is added to the warming water in order to gather up any impurities (in the past blood was sometimes used rather than egg white).
4. the resulting scum can then be skimmed off the surface.

Once the water has evaporated to a suitable stage and some calcium carbonate (known as powder scratch) has been removed, more sea water is added and the process is repeated, including the addition of egg whites and skimming off of the scum. Further sea water is added two more times and the process repeated so that four boilings are carried out in total. With each boiling the salinity of the water in the pan becomes more concentrated. All the while, the furnace has to be attended to (historically six or more tons of coal were used to produce one ton of salt). Finally, after around 8 hours (or 24 hours on a full size pan) the water fully evaporates, leaving salt crystals on the pan surface.

The images below illustrate:

5. calcium carbonate separating from the water
6. a salt crust appearing on the surface while the remaining water simmers below
7. the residual water evaporating through cracks and holes in the salt crust (furnace heat is low at this point)
​8. the hot salt being drawn to the sides of the pan to drain briefly before being transferred into baskets and stored in the girnel (storehouse). 

The whole process done in this replica 1/3 size pan took eight hours and yielded 4 kg of salt. The process was clearly inefficient - using huge amounts of fuel and requiring much human input. It's not surprising that salt production took a downturn by the early 19th century. The arrival of imported rock salt and the repeal of salt duties in 1823 sped up the decline. Once a necessity of life - to preserve fish and meat and help people to survive the winter months - and a significant industry on both side of the Forth - the salt industry is an important part of Scotland's (and Largo's) history. 

The open space between the north part of Victoria Road and the Lundin Sports Club / Homelands has long been known as "the Common". However, it was not always so. Before the expansion of Lundin Links the whole area was part of Sunnybraes Farm. Then it almost became entirely built-up under an un-executed plan devised by the Standard Life Assurance Company. Once the development of Lundin Links did finally take off, the grassy space was referred to as 'Homelands Park' - presumably just because of its proximity to the large house called 'Homelands'. The 1893 map above clearly shows the undeveloped space to the right of Homelands.

​One of its key uses back then was as the official venue for local football matches. But it was used for lots of other events - many during the busy summer season. The clipping above details an end of season fireworks display at 'Homelands Park' (30 August 1900, Courier). Another typical example of an event held at this site was an "open-air market" in aid of the Largo W.R.I. in  July 1924.

Around the turn of the century, Largo had a junior football team called 'Largo Crusoe'. The origins of the team are unclear, but most towns and villages had amateur teams at the time and Largo Crusoe featured in the East of Fife Juvenile Association by 1895. The team is regularly referenced in the local paper from that date onwards but went into abeyance for the Great War years. When the team was re-established after the war, it was given a new name - 'Largo Rovers'. The image below shows a range of newspaper reports about the Largo team from both before and after the First World War. Note the reference to "the Homelands supporters" in the lower left piece.

The regular football fixtures would soon by joined by other sporting pursuits. In 1903 discussions began on creating tennis and bowling facilities to the east of Homelands and on 28 July 1905 the official opening of both the tennis courts and the bowling green took place. At some point in the 1920s the name 'Homelands Park' began to be replaced with 'the Common'. It appears that around this time the ground was donated by the Gilmour family for community recreational purposes. The small newspaper clipping below is one of the earlier references to 'the Common' found in the archives (30 July 1927 Fife Free Press). 

A putting green was added to the facilities by the 1930s. And on 20 December 1947 the Courier reported that "the 'common' in Lundin Links is to be developed as a recreational centre for the villages of Lundin Links, Upper Largo and Lower Largo." Although the report did not specify what the developments were at that time, it shows that the site has continued to evolve and develop over time. The play park with its swings and other play equipment have been around for decades. Although no longer a venue for regular junior league football matches, it is good to see this important community space being used for a range of sporting and social activities and continuing to evolve.