The above pair of images show a 'then and now' comparison of the view from the beach at Lower Largo, up through the Orry towards Goodsir House. The black and white postcard view dates to the 1940s, after the designation of the Orry as a "regulation parking place" by the District Council in 1939. There are only a couple of cars parked there though, in spite of the busyness of the beach. The present day view features far more cars - and dinghies. The Largo Bay Sailing Club building, to the right of Sunnyside, is a later addition. The club was first mooted in 1959. Following a period of fund raising, the club built its permanent club house (pictured below) in 1968. Another noticeable change is the number of attic conversions carried out over the decades, as people seek to maximise their sea views.

In the zoomed in pair of images above, there are three distinct layers of housing. The late Victorian homes, with their bay windows, sit behind the sea wall (Laurel Bank on the left and Sunnyside on the right). They replaced older structures that previously stood on either side of the Orry. Beyond that, in the centre, on the far side of Main Street is the much older Goodsir House, named after its distinguished former owner Dr John Goodsir. Sitting on higher ground beyond that, are the late 1920s dwellings of Durham Terrace. The detail below shows the scene to the east and a beach busy with activity, including an improvised game of cricket.

The 'Milk Walk' or 'Milk Path' (or sometimes Milk Road or Milk Run) links Upper Largo to Buckthorns Farm. Already a clearly marked "Foot Path" on the 1850s map below, the path begins at the gate pictured above at the east corner of South Feus and runs east to Buckthorns Farm. Historically, the farm kept dairy cows and so was an important local source of milk. The section of path shown below links (through the Buckthorns farmyard) with the onward path south to the coast, where it then connects to the Fife Coastal Path (along the former railway line).

Still clearly marked on more recent maps, like the one below, the path follows the stone wall which marks the boundary of the properties to the south east of the village. The other side of the path is bounded by a fenced field, often used for arable crops. Open views south across the fields to Largo Bay can be enjoyed. 

The above snippet from the 1 July 1916 St Andrews Citizen relates to a World War One military service tribunal, where applications for exemption from conscription were heard. In this case, it was the dairyman at Buckthorns whose case was heard. From this case we gain an insight into the dairy operation at the farm at this time. There were 18 cows, attended to by David Blyth, from 4:30 each morning till 6pm. The milk was sold from house to house in Lundin Links and Largo. John Bisset was the tenant farmer at Buckthorns at that time. Moving forward to 1928, the piece below from 17 November Leven Advertiser advertises John Bisset's "displenishing sale" at Buckthorns where, among other things, 31 milk cows, were available. 
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Scotland has thousands of heritage paths, which were used for a variety of purposes (trading, funeral processions, postal delivery, pilgrimage or military for example (read more here). As an important part of our rural heritage, foot paths like the Milk Walk should be walked regularly and the history recorded, in order to prevent them being lost. In 1971, the Largo Field Studies Society published a booklet named "Suggested Walks for the Visitor to Largo District", giving notes and directions on interesting local walks on country paths. If you have a copy of this booklet, please get in touch. It would be helpful to revisit this information and bring it up to date. The Milk Walk has been included in the Fife Core Paths interactive map.

The drone photograph below shows the Milk Path running diagonally through the centre, between the harvested field and the partially tree-lined former 'Grove' bleaching green. According to the Largo Village Book of 1932 by Leonora Rintoul, the Grove had a well which was "much used for watering the linen which was bleached there". Once the need for a bleaching green ceased, it was only a matter of time until the ground was developed. Evelyn Baxter built her home, named The Grove, there in 1914 and her lifelong friend and fellow ornithologist Leonora Rintoul built adjoining property Balsusney there in the 1930s. Since then a number of other dwellings have followed in this tranquil corner of Upper Largo. 
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Henry and Maggie settled at 27 Dudley Avenue, Leith, and started a family. The Largo connection resumed, with the family becoming annual summer visitors, always renting a house at the Temple. In 1901 for example they were listed in the press as summer visitors, residing at Park Cottage, Temple. In both 1902 and 1904 they were listed as summer visitors at Mount Cottage Temple (see 14 July 1904 Leven Advertiser above). Being a musical family, they actively participated in the annual concert organised by the summer visitors to Largo to raise funds for local causes.

A growing affection for Largo eventually led to Henry Alexander buying ground (marked on the above map) at the Temple from David Barker in 1907. There he built Gayfield (named after the Square where he spent the later years of his childhood) adjacent to Springbank. Soon after completion of the house, in 1911, there was a gable wall dispute with Springbank, which had formerly owned by James Ballingall (see piece below from 1 March 1911 Leven Advertiser). As the photograph further below shows, Gayfield abuts its neighbour to the east. 
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The 1911 census described Henry as a "commercial traveller (biscuits)", meaning that he was acting as a sales representative for a biscuit manufacturer, arranging sales to retailers. It could well have been either Crawford's or McVitie and Price that he worked for. Although Henry was still living and working in Edinburgh at this time, the family regularly spent time at Largo, especially in the summer months.

The First World War broke out in 1914 and in July 1915, aged 46, Henry enlisted. He was demobilised in April 1920. Following almost 5 years military service Henry decided to make a permanent move to Lower Largo. The opportunity arose in 1921 when, following the death of grocer John Nicoll, the grocer shop at what is now Appleton House on Lower Largo's Main Street (pictured below) became available. 
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Above is a 'then and now' comparison of the entrance to Upper Largo Church, looking towards East Drive. The older image at the top appeared on a 1920s postcard, upon which someone had written the following on the reverse:

"The ancient Largo stone is under canopy at left of view and the avenue leads to Largo House."

The avenue of tall, mature trees is prominent in the black and white image but absent from the present day view. There are still some trees there today but they are younger, smaller ones. The passage of time between the two views of Largo Church has resulted in a few other changes. Most noticeably, the two yews, one either side of the top of the steps, are no longer manicured into neat cone shapes. Iron gates have been removed from the top of the steps (a handrail is now in place in the centre of the steps). A small hard rail has also been added at either side of the church door and an electric light has been installed to illuminate the entrance. A metal boot scraper remains on either side of the entrance door.

The East Drive Gates, including the fluted urns with swagged bands, can be seen in both the 'then' and now' images (although only one urn remains today). The tree-lined avenue that once extended along the east drive to Largo House is clearly shown on the 1912 map below. This map also shows the detail of the two small buildings which flank the steps leading up to the church west entrance (just above the letters W.T.). These were likely once a session house and offeratory house (the latter a place where the church collection was received). The photograph at the foot of this post looks back up the steps between these two buildings towards the west entrance.

The key shown in the above photograph recently returned to Largo after more than half a century overseas. Attached to the key is a note that reads "the key to our town when you come back for a visit". What follows is the story behind this gesture - a story that centres around two places, thousands of miles apart, which share the name 'Largo'.

The 21 October 1959 Leven Mail (below) highlighted to its readers that the Largo in Fife had a namesake in Florida USA. The piece reports that it was a Dundee man, Councillor W. Vaughan Doe who noticed the Largo name in a friend's Florida address. This prompted Doe to write to Councillor Joseph Grassick of Lower Largo to point out the shared name. Mr Grassick and his wife Elizabeth took an interest in the connection and Mrs Grassick, in her capacity as secretary of the W.R. I. in Largo, sent a letter to the Largo Sentinel newspaper in Florida.

In the letter, she described her home village and requested information about its Florida counterpart. In response, a reporter from the Sentinel sent Mrs Grassick two brochures and six coloured photographs showcasing the stateside Largo. Incorporated in 1905 and located in the middle of the Pinellas peninsula on Florida's west coast, close to the Gulf of Mexico, Largo USA then had a population of 6,500 (versus 2,500 in Largo Scotland). The former had citrus trees, a huge shopping centre, a high school and a modern bowling centre. The article ends by stating that "it is hoped that from time to time contacts will be made between both towns and a few friendships established. No doubt there are a number of people who would be keen to correspond and find out more about the people who live so many thousands of miles away."

Correspondence between the two places continued from time to time. Finally, after thirteen years had passed, the link led to a visit from the mayor of Largo, Florida to Scotland. This visit from Torben Severin Madson and his wife Emilie has been covered in a previous blog post. It took place in the summer of 1972. By then Mr Madson and Joseph Grassick had been writing directly to one another for around two years.
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The photograph above shows Mayor Madson being sworn in for his second term as Mayor of Largo. He had already held the position 1948-49. His second term spanned 1969-1973. Once in Lower Largo, a 'Meet the Mayor' reception was arranged in Durham Hall (described below in the 28 June 1972 East Fife Mail). Mr Madson commented "I never anticipated a welcome like this. The people have been so friendly and warm." Note also that over the thirteen years of intermittent correspondence between the two Largos, the population of the Florida town had grown from 6,500 to 28,000.
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When Mayor Madson returned home to Florida, he talked to people there about his time in Largo, Fife. As a result, another pair of visitors made their way from one Largo to the other, later in 1972. This time it was two young hitchhikers - David and Wendy ("Willow") McMullen - who were travelling around Europe. The Madsons, not only encouraged them to call in at Lower Largo but wrote a letter to Joseph Grassick, introducing David McMullen and requesting that courtesies be extended to the pair. This letter is shown below and it is interesting to see Mr McMullen described as "a scion of one of our pioneer families".
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The McMullens were indeed one of the families who established modern Largo, Florida. A brief history of the city can be found on the official City of Largo website here - https://www.largo.com/connect/living_in_largo/largo_city_history/. The same link also contains information about the origins of the Largo name. One of the theories is that it derived from Largo in Fife, where some of the settlers may have originally come from. Another mention of this theory appeared in an article in the Tampa Bay Times on 27 June 2004.

In that piece the former president of Largo Area Historical Society, Bob Delack, said that there was more than one story about how Largo was named but that one possibility was that the McMullen family originally hailed from Scotland, where there was a fishing village called Largo. Through the years "a lot of mythology has built up around the story of how the town got its name," Delack said. "I'd love to get to the bottom of it," he said. "But I don't think I ever will. Only four or five people actually know the truth, and they're all dead."

David and Willow were in fact embarking upon year-long hitchhiking expedition around Europe. While in Largo, they stayed at Kilrymond guest house on Crescent Road in Lundin Links, run by the Jurecki family. They enjoyed dinner at the Crusoe Hotel (a receipt for one meal is shown above), shared dinner with Mr and Mrs Grassick, and were also shown local artefacts such as the bed where Alexander Selkirk once slept. The visit of the "hitch-hikers" was even reported in the local press (see below from 18 October 1972 East Fife Mail). Before leaving Largo they were presented with a 'key to Largo' by Mr and Mrs Grassick, so that one day they could return for a visit. 
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Sadly, Joseph Grassick died in 1974 and Mayor Madson died in 1975, stalling efforts to further develop ties between the two Largos. Half a century passed. Then, this summer, some 52 years after her last visit, Willow returned to Largo, bringing the key with her. David McMullen had passed away and she wished to honour his life with that return visit proposed many years before. The key had perhaps been in Willow's subconscious all along. A very similar key appeared prominently in one of the children's books that she authored (one example illustration below). 

Although Willow no longer lives in Largo, or indeed in Florida, this visit to Scotland involved another letter - from the present day mayor of Largo Florida, Woody Brown. Mr Brown extended warm greetings to the residents of Largo, Scotland and acknowledged the shared name between the two communities. Now a city with a population of over 80,000, and with a longer history of its own, Largo, Florida values community, heritage and unity. Hopes have been renewed for future exchanges between the two Largos and perhaps a deeper connection over time.
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Below is a photograph of Willow presenting Mayor Brown's letter to Matt Allan, Chair of Largo Area Community Council. After revisiting Largo, Willow commented on the volume of gratitude that she left Scotland with - filling her heart, due to the reception she enjoyed from the locals. The 'key to Largo' has returned to Scotland where it was reacquainted with Largo and will be cherished as a symbol of connection and friendship. Who knows what future connections it may unlock...
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