Born in 1836, Julia Hogg was the daughter of a Lundin Mill linen weaving agent. Julia had a range of occupations during her adult life, including 'dressmaker', 'general servant' and 'house management' and 'spinner' (an example of which is pictured) and she never married.  As the weaving trade of the 1850s, 1860s and beyond was an unpredictable and erratic business, we can assume that she and her parents had some hard times. Her younger brother, and only sibling, had left Lundin Mill at a young age, presumably due to lack of employment prospects locally. He went on become a banker in Edinburgh then Kirkcaldy.  

What brought Julia to my attention was her terribly tragic end. However, it was the period of change that she lived through and the contrasting lifestyles across her wider family that was of interest. By the age of 60, she was living alone but "in comfortable circumstances" in Mill Wynd.  On Saturday 1st May 1897, a neighbour called upon Miss Hogg and "was horrified to discover her lying dead before the fire and the body terribly burned".  The Dundee Courier of 3 May continued "Miss Hogg, who had been a spinner, lived by herself, and had not been seen after Friday afternoon. It is thought she had taken a fit and fallen against the fire".

The incident must have shaken the community at the time and would have been remembered for a long time afterwards. As late as 1974. Mrs Esther Menzies (who chronicled much about life in old Lundin Mill) wrote about Julia's cottage. It was described as "a little west of the Temperance Hall". She noted that..."For a long time it remained empty, but intact. Then the window panes were broken and you could see the old grate filled with ashes and close beside it the bed with its chaff mattress and the old coverings all half burned hanging over the bed to the floor.  It seemed a long time until the house was finally demolished."

As Julia Hogg's parents and brother had predeceased her, her death was registered by a cousin - Rob Hogg - who in contrast to his Lundin MIll relatives, lived in the opulent Ann Street in Edinburgh. He was a successful grain merchant, like his father before him. Had her life not been cut short at the age of 60, I wonder what Julia Hogg would have made of the radical changes that her village would undergo in the following years, with many new villas built - some to accommodate Edinburgh businessmen just like her cousin.

In fact, there was another Lundin Mill woman, who was almost the same age as Julia Hogg at the time of her death in 1897, who did live through the transformation of the old village into the greatly expanded Lundin Links.  She was Mrs Wallace, who was interviewed in 1931 at the age of 95 by the Dundee Courier as a notable Fife Nonagenarian.

The above postcard shows a section of Victoria Road in Lundin LInks, as well a few of the Leven Road houses in the distance on the left.  However, the expanse of grass on the foreground is the focus of this post.  Known back then as 'Homelands Park' due to its proximity to the villa of Homelands. A range of community activities took place in the park. One example was amateur football, upon which the local press regularly reported.  "Lundin Links Victoria was well beaten by 10 goals to 4 by the White Rose last Saturday, at Homelands Park" said the Fife Free Press of 8 October 1927. Three decades earlier the St Andrews Citizen (16 April 1898) covered 'Largo Crusoe v Renton'. "After six weeks' idle time the Crusoe met Renton, Kirkcaldy, in a friendly match at Homelands Park. Two goals were registered prior to the interval; but in the second half training told its tale. The visitors were in fine trim and won comfortably with a lead of three goals."

Later the same year (1898) the Largo and Newburn Horticultural Society held their annual show there.  The St Andrews Citizen (13 August) noted that "it was a bit of an experiment to hold the show at Homelands Park, and one that did not have the favour of the conservatives of Upper Largo."  Nevertheless, a record gate was reached (which would have been even higher if not for the "mean" folk who chose to view the event from outside the fence)! A spacious marquee had been erected and filled with fine exhibits - although the drought had apparently taken its toll on some produce. Sir John Gilmour formally opened the show and the architect Peter Henderson presided over the occasion. A number of sports took place. Sir John "had lent his road roller, and a cycle track was roughly mapped out" for cycle races. Ten teams competed in a five-a-side football competition. Largo Brass Band provided music.

Sunday School picnics, summer fetes and firework displays were other regular events.  Around the turn of the century, the end of the summer season in Lundin Links was marked with elaborate fireworks displays.  The "Amusements Committee" of Lundin Golf Club organised these occasions.  An Evening Post account from 29 August 1900 captures the extravagance of the event...

"Last night nearly 2000 people assembled to witness the display...started with the liberation of a huge balloon, about 9 feet high, which rose without a hitch to an altitude of several thousand feet....Rockets of every available description and falling stars were poured forth for nearly two hours.  The exhibition was diversified by several torch dances by two dozen of the most enthusiastic golfers in improvised costumes, the local band supplying the "piping".  Very fine interludes were enjoyed by lighting up the adjoining woods of Homelands in sylvan style and despatching fixed repeating shots from the ground."

I'm not sure when the name 'Homelands Park' fell out of favour but I've always known the area as 'the common'. Memories of other events held here are welcome.

This poignant image of Lundin Links Station, after closure, was taken in 1968 by Mrs Helen Muir and was kindly shared by her daughter. Featuring Mrs Muir's husband, this photograph shows the disused station platform becoming overrun with weeds (echoing the photo of Largo Station post-closure in an earlier post). The last passenger train ran in September 1965.  Some goods traffic ran for a while after that but even these trains had ceased by the time of this view.  The rails would be gone soon after this image was captured and the station building itself was demolished in 1971. I really enjoyed seeing this photograph.  It marks a period of transition for the village and I'm sure many people visited the deserted platform to reminisce before it was gone forever.

Moving forward a few years from the previous post, this circa 1960 image seems to have been taken from the upper window of Peacehaven.  The house on the left is 'Westhall', the garden next to it (with the circular arrangement) closer to the camera is that of 'Beffens', while the garden in the left foreground belongs to 'The Gables' (unplanted in the previous post's picture).

On the right of the view is the side of Elmwood Boarding House and in front of that the gardens now known as 'Mrs Nisbet's Garden'. A person can be seen in the gardens looking up at the photographer (see image at foot of post). In the distance is Lundin Links Station - see detail below.  A delivery van of some sort is parked on the road. If you recall local delivery vans of this era, please comment.

Focussing on another couple of details from the aerial photograph shown in the previous post, above is the Lundin Links Hotel with the main road curving behind it and the 'Fir Park' area of trees beyond that. The name is confusing due to the lack of any fir trees here within living memory.  However, I recently saw a map dated from c1850 that clearly labelled the wood as 'Fir Park'. Possibly the fir trees were exploited for timber in the past and eventually the area was recolonised by other tree species. As if often the case, the old name lingered on for a while.  The name was also given to one of the houses on Crescent Road in the mid-19th century (the one closest to the wood).  

The house on the right of the above image caught my eye as it appears to be still under construction.  Although fairly complete, the gardens are still uncultivated.  It looks very much as if the site was until recently a gap site and possibly used as a shortcut down towards the golf course and the beach.  The house was named 'The Gables' and can be seen again below when it was sold in 1979. The larger plot on the left above is 'Beffens' - built for Mrs Barbara Nisbet in 1923. It had a tennis court at the side of the house which Mrs Nisbet would on occasion open to the public for fund-raising events.  The public garden to the top of the above image are still known as 'Mrs Nisbet's Garden'.

The postcard bearing this aerial image of Lundin Links was posted in 1955, so the photograph was probably taken shortly before that date.  We can see the Ladies Golf Course towards the top of the picture and the wooded area known as Fir Park to the right of that.  The Lundin Links Hotel stands out in front of Fir Park, with Station Road (now Links Road) bisecting the view in an arc from the hotel over to the left side.  Crescent Road and Victoria Road slice through Station Road and are adjacent to the densest area of housing.  The row of homes on Leven Road line the Ladies Golf Course at the top, while the larger plots of Station Road lie at the lower part of the photograph, just over the railway line from the Lundin Golf Course (the club house of which can be seen in the foreground).  Two points of interest are picked out below (more to come in the next post).

The prominent buildings in the foreground here are Ravenswood and Elmwood boarding houses. The wooded area to the left are the grounds of Homelands - the actual villa of the same name is just visible towards the top of the trees (note the turreted roof). The gardener's cottage of Homelands is to the top right of the plot, adjacent to the bowling green further right.  The tennis courts lie below the bowling green.

In the above zoom-in the old garage on Woodielea Road is visible in the centre, with a white frontage and long triple-pitched roof extending back towards the Fir Park trees. The garage was demolished and replaced with a development of five houses in 1980. Behind the garage are the Lundin Ladies Golf Club House and Greenkeeper's Cottage.

I have recently come across some different views of the old caravan park that was sited beneath the arches of the railway viaduct where Seatoun Place now stands.  In the above image the gas holder and retort house of the former gas works can clearly be seen in the background.  In fact, the presence of the gasometer and the rocky foreshore along the Keil Burn make this 1950s view not dissimilar to the 1938 view below of the ruined spinning mill which preceded the caravan park. The caravan park evolved over the years and a later image can be seen here.

The unusual photograph below also shows the caravan park in its earlier days.  This view shows the detail of the stony banks of the Keil.  Could that be the old mill stone lying abandoned next to the grassy verge, just below the fence-topped wall?  It is known to have been buried at one point, only to be dug up once more at a later date.  It now takes pride of place by the entrance to Seatoun Place. It seems to be the correct size and shape to me! Let me know what you think...

This postcard features the caravan site beneath the viaduct at Lower Largo. It's possible to pick out some interesting detail by zooming in.  The first close-up below shows the caravans in the prime spot by the water - doors and windows open and deck chairs set up in front. Someone is picking their way down the precarious looking rocks to the Keil Burn. The sender of this postcard was probably staying at the caravan site, as they write that one of the party "has gone for hot water for coffee". The other detailed image shows the retort house of the former gas works and the gasometer. The caravan site continued for many years and was further developed, with the building of walls and fences, as can be seen in later images.

I enjoy picking out the detail from old photographs, so here are some close-ups from one of the beach scenes from the previous post.  The top scene below shows quite a number of beach goers who have found sheltered spots up by the sea wall or fencing.  All ages are present from a baby in a pram to an old man.  Attire ranges from swimsuits to full coverage including a hat....so perhaps not as warm as it looks! The second image is close enough for the people featured to be recognisable - do you know anyone? Below that is a shot of folks down by the water's edge, with some heading for, or back from, a swim.

Finally, it's worth a look at the golf club house.  Just a small starter's hut at the time.  There are a few cars in the car park but it seems relatively quiet.  The Victoria Private Hotel is visible behind the club house. Perhaps some of the people on the beach were also guests at the hotel.

During World War Two a pair of concrete gun emplacements were built on on the sea wall adjacent to Lundin Links Golf Course. These small fortified structures were also known as 'pillboxes' due to their shape. Built as part of a programme of anti-invasion preparation, these were built at strategic points along the coast, as well as other measures such as anti-tank blocks and anti-glider poles. In May 1940, the directorate of Fortifications and Works had been set up at the War Office and such defences were designed and built over the following year or so. Inside, these buildings were cramped and basic.

Spot the difference in the two photographs below.  The upper image shows the beach before the pillboxes were there, while the lower image shows them in place and still looking quite bright and new post war.