The very first Chair of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club (before the term 'Captain' was used), back in 1891, was a Mr William Salmon. In that same year, he was also the Captain of Lundin Golf Club. Pictured above, William Hearsey Salmon was born in India on 25 March 1841. Both sides of his family had a long history in India and his maternal side were the subject of a 1905 book entitled  "The Hearseys: Five Generations of an Anglo-Indian Family". His father was Major George Paris Salmon, of the Bengal Artillery.

On 26 April 1886 William married Jessie Euphemia Kennedy, daughter of Rev. Ebenezer Kennedy of Bayview, Largo, at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.  The marriage certificate describes WIlliam at that time as 'sometime tramway manager' but the newspaper marriage notice states that he was "late of Monte Video". Elsewhere he had been referred to as a 'colonial cattle farmer'.  However, after their marriage, William and Jessie seem to have gone to Sussex, as in December 1886 a notice appeared in the Hampshire Advertiser that their son had been born prematurely in Horsham on the 11th of that month.

By 1891, the the same time that William was heading up both the Lundin Golf Club and the Ladies Club, the pair were at Elphinstone on Crescent Road, Lundin Links. Presumably they must have been established in the village for some time by then.  Shortly afterwards they moved into Homelands, which had recently become available following the death of John Walker.  They would continue to own Homelands (as well as residing sometimes in London and at 8 Ramsay Gardens in Edinburgh) until the death of Jessie in 1903, aged 38. 

Life would soon take a different turn for William Salmon.  He met Caroline Glover Ker Graham and they lived in Newquay, Cornwall. In 1904 they had a child - Merle Paris Salmon.  Father and daughter are pictured above when Merle was three. In 1907, they had a son, named Ronald Graeme Zeigler Hearsey Salmon.  Sadly, these two children would be parent-less by 1911 - the year in which both Caroline and William died. William was aged 70, Caroline just 36.

The above image is a restored version of one of the photographs taken on the day of the official opening of the Lundin Ladies Golf Course on 15 April 1910.  It is so wonderfully clear that it seems that each individual person in it should be identifiable.  And yet, it is proving quite a task to put names to faces.  No names were written on the back of the photo and it was taken so long ago that it is outside of living memory. However, it may not be an impossible task.  There are records of who was involved in the occasion. A central figure was the then Captain - Harry Gilmour - who we know drove the first ball on that day, using a silver mounted club made and presented by David Patrick, local club-maker. Another photograph taken on the day shows him teeing off and so we can identify him as the man (then aged 31) standing slightly to the left of the open clubhouse door.  He is number 14 in the outline sketch below.

The Gilmour family have always had strong links with the club and in 1904 Miss Maud Gilmour (sister of Harry) became the first female Captain of the LLGC. She is also in the above photograph - number 12.  By the time of the photograph she 28 years old and was known as Mrs Younger.  On her lap sits her son Edward George Younger, aged 3. The mother of Maud and Harry is also present - Mrs Henrietta Gilmour (numbered 23). Then aged 60, Canadian-born Henrietta was a prolific photographer and it is images from her on-line photographic archive that help to positively identify members of her family in the photograph shown above. The lady numbered 8 also seems to be part of the Gilmour party - possibly another past Captain, Mrs Mary Gilmour (nee Lambert), sister-in-law of Maud and Harry.

The Ladies Club's strong ties with the main Lundin Golf Club as also in evidence.  The 1909 Lundin Captain Robert Paxton is present (no. 34), along with his wife Margaret (no. 30), sister Maud (no. 28) and possibly his daughter Jessie (no. 36). Robert Paxton would have been heavily involved in the discussions that led to the move of the Ladies Club to their new location. We can be certain that other Ladies Club office bearers would have featured prominently in the photo. The Secretary Bella Forrester and the Treasurer Margaret Bremner, were aged 40 and 55 respectively at that time and were both playing golf on the day.  A process of elimination suggests that they might be persons number 17 and 26 - can anyone reading this confirm?  If you think you recognise any of the people shown - please do comment or get in touch.

It would be fabulous to put names to all of the 39 faces in the image.  Thanks to the meticulous record-keeping at the Club, we know who was involved in arranging the official opening day and who played in the matches on the day. Many of these people must be in the photo. Names include local farmers George Bell and James Forgan and their families; Andrew Somerville the grocer and family; the widow and daughter of George Douglas the butcher; members of the Bremner / White family; several members of the Forrester family (hotel and boarding house keepers); and Sam Duncan Jr of the Lundin Links Hotel. I am continuing to try to put together the pieces of the puzzle and any clues at all that anyone reading this has could help the process greatly.  Below are some enlarged images of the faces - have you seen them anywhere before?

Much as I love any image of 'Old Lundin Links', I particularly enjoy photographs featuring old shops, which generally tend to seem far more interesting than our modern day equivalents. There are blurry glimpses of products lost in the mists of time, neat well-looked after shop frontages and the promise of quality products dispensed by friendly, knowledgeable shopkeepers.  In the image above we see (from left to right) the Post Office and General Merchant Store, the National Bank of Scotland, Borthwick the butcher, Somerville grocer, the British Linen Bank, Gulland's Draper and Outfitter, Gulland's Tearoom and the Commercial Bank (on the corner with the boy standing outside it). A previous post shows the same range of shops, looking from the other end.

Fast forward to the present day, and while we now have no banks, no clothing outlet and no one selling blocks of butter that they have personally weighed, shaped with paddles and wrapped in grease-proof paper, we are fortunate to have a good range of businesses, including a coffee shop, a butcher/baker, a hairdresser and Post Office facility. The relatively new 'Penny and Black' shop, with its Post Office counter and range of cards and gifts, is beautifully presented and in-keeping with the late Victorian building.  I'm sure original Lundin Links Post Mistress, Margaret Bremner, would have approved!

The above site plan for the present Lundin Mill Primary School was produced c1972.  It filled the space vacated by a long-time hen farm at the end of Emsdorf Crescent.  The circular building design was complemented with curving playground areas and pathways.  The main playing field was set out on the elevated flatter area to the south. Access was provided from both the Lundin Links and the Lower Largo sides. Building began in January 1973, with the children moving into the new school around the turn of the year.  The official opening took place in June 1974.  For those children that had been used to attending the old school in Crescent Road, it must have been quite a transformation. Leaving behind the Victorian building with limited outdoor space, there would now be so much light and space. If you were one of those that made the move to the new school when it opened - please share your memories by commenting.

The detailed plans show the semi-open-plan nature of the classrooms, the central hall area, the dedicated library, the substantial kitchen for serving school meals, the sliding doors, the plentiful storage and the named rooms in the administrative wing for 'headmaster', 'infant mistress', 'janitor' and 'staff room'. The same design was used elsewhere in the 1970s in Fife.  If you look at the primary school in Balmullo on Google Earth you’ll see it’s a twin of Lundin Mill.  There are also duplicates at Crossford and Newport – although these two have the extra wing that was marked on the above plan as "future extension".  The plan excerpt below shows the main hall area surrounded by a raised circular area that was multi-functional - used for dining at lunchtime and for break-out working at other times. The school building has evolved over the decades but it's interesting to reflect on the contrast between the classical old school and the ultra-modern new one and the impact that the change must have had at the time.

Just before going on to look at the "new" Lundin Mill Primary School building...a step back to the origins of the old building.  The image below of Giffordtown Village Hall below has just come to my attention today. This looks to be an exact replica of the Lundin Mill School (now library) in its original form. Except, its actually the other way round, as the village hall in Giffordtown, between Ladybank and Collessie in Fife, was built in 1843 as 'Collessie Free Church'. It was sited at Giffordtown, as it was to serve Kettle as well as Collessie. This was fourteen years before the school in Lundin Mill was built. See the sketch and the image of the school further below and compare and contrast.  There's very little difference. So, why was Giffordtown Church used as a template for the school in Lundin Mill?  

The architects that worked on the development of the Lundin Estate with the Standard Life Assurance Company were James Campbell Walker and John Milne. Walker was born in Strathmiglo, 5 miles away from Giffordtown in 1821. He was a practising architect by 1842. John MIlne is recorded in the Dictionary of Scottish Architects as having carried out improvements at Collessie Free Church Manse in 1858...

http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=209180

I suspect that one or both men were involved in the original building of Collessie Free Church and re-used the design at Lundin Mill....and possibly elsewhere.  It was not uncommon to find this 'recycling' with school buildings either then or now.  The present 1974 school in Lundin Links also has 'twins' at other locations.  Anyway, all of this accounts for why the original 1857/8 version of the Lundin Mill School looked so church-like in appearance!

The previous post looked at the evolution of the old Lundin Mill School building on Crescent Road (the present library building). As well as major changes to the building over the years, there have been many small changes. A couple of examples of minor changes are shown below.  The first shows that, as it became necessary to enable vehicular access to the rear of the school, a boundary wall had to be altered in order to provide a wide enough passage. Note the building close to the top right hand corner of the image below, labelled 'School Meals'.  This was apparently added in the early 1960s as a dinner hall, along with a prefabricated classroom.

The second example concerns the external toilet block, altered in 1963.  At that time the floors and roofs were redone. The elevation and cross-section are shown below. The late 1960s photograph below that shows the toilet block and adjoining shelter in the background. Emsdorf Street is visible in the distance. The group of children are facing towards the back of the school building. The next post will look at the innovative design of the replacement school building, opened in 1974.

The above sketch is a depiction of how Lundin Mill School (now Lundin Links library) looked when first built in the late 1850s.  Sadly, I do not know who created the above drawing, or when, but I am so glad to have come across it, as the building has undergone a series of modifications over the years.  Long gone are the pair of ornate doors (one for girls and one for boys) and the school bell.  However, the two porches are still there (minus the ornate doors) and the central chimney stack remains. The former school master's house still adjoins to the right, although without the old internal connecting door. The most obvious change is the central extension beneath the chimney stack. It is at the side of this extension that the main entrance to the building is now found.

In 1910, major alterations were carried out to the school, including the central front addition.  This originally housed the cloakroom and a 'Teacher's Retiring Room' with store and WC.  At that time there were two main classrooms within the main part of the building plus an 'Infants' Classroom' (capacity 56) jutting out at the back of the building, with its own rear porch and external door.  The rear playground was divided into the girls' and the boys' halves, each with their own play-sheds and toilet blocks.  Their was a back entrance/exit to the playground allowing access from the back lanes and vennels on the Emsdorf Street side.

The photograph below is thought to be late 1920s/early 1930s.  Certainly the metal railings and gate show it to be pre-World War Two.  The loss of these railings altered the appearance of the school again.  The result can be seen further below in a 1966 image where more modern-style railings have been installed.  Less than a decade later, the school was moved to the present site and a very modern building.  Soon afterwards, the library took over the old school building and has remained there until the present day.  However, the building looks set for further change in the not too distant future, as the library is scheduled to close.

The above inter-war image - and close-up detail below - show Lower Largo harbour ready for summer entertainment. The Pier Pavilion framed by an arch of the railway bridge.  Note the two men using viaduct as a walkway between Largo Station and Lundin Links.  No doubt there was a variety of entertainment put on at the stage on the pier but the pierrots were typical seaside entertainers.  The 'pierrot' name is derived from the Italian comedy troupes that wore clown-like outfits with pom poms and cone-shaped hats. These groups provided unsophisticated entertainment - songs, dances and jokes.  Here is a sample of a comic song heard locally in the 1920s...

A herring man frae Paisley
Cam aw the way tae me
To see if I could keep his fish
Frae smellin', don't you see.

Says I, "My Man, I'll tell you
Wi-oot the slightest Chaff, 
The way tae keep your fish frae smellin's
Cut their noses aff!"

​Click here to see a crowded Pier Pavilion during a 1930s show.