VINTAGE LUNDIN LINKS AND LARGO
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Largo Mill In-Depth - Part 4

28/10/2018

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The above excerpt from an 1866 map features the 'Oil Mill Lands' of Largo, including the three key components of the mill featured in the three previous posts. From left to right the three mill buildings hugging the east side of the Keil Burn just as it curves down towards the viaduct are the gasworks/forge; the main mill building (including water wheel house); and the former heckle house building where oil refining took place.

The map gives a good indication of the extent of the oil mill lands and an idea of how important the enterprise must have been to the local area. A significant proportion of the local working population would have been employed there during its years of operation. And periods of closure - temporary or permanent - must have had a big impact on individuals relying on the work. In addition, secondary employment would have been brought about by the mill. A list of suppliers and contractors to the mill has been created by John Band and can be viewed as a PDF by clicking here.

Some of these suppliers were local to Largo Parish. For example, the cleaning of the dam, which was required on an annual basis, was sometimes undertaken by James Anderson. James was born in Largo circa 1808 and at the time of the 1861 census was living in Kirkton of Largo with his wife Ann. His occupation was 'labourer' and his immediate neighbours included a shoemaker, a joiner, a blacksmith and a saddler. As a labourer, James must have undertaken a range of jobs but maintaining the cleanliness of the mill dam must have been a particularly strenuous and mucky job, involving the removal of leaves and other debris and dealing with the build up of deposits. 

​Brothers John and Alexander Mitchell of Lundin Mill, undertook alterations to the mill buildings. The men - born 1801 and 1807 respectively - were stone masons by trade and were among the six children of Allan Mitchell and Agnes Crawford. Both had daughters employed by another important Largo industry - David Gillies's net factory. Another local stone mason that had worked on the mill building was Alexander Tivendale. His daughters were linen weavers.

Archibald Bremner is recorded as having undertaken joinery work connected to repairs to the mill. In the 1861 census he is noted as a 'carpenter employing 5 men and 3 boys'. Born in Ross and Cromarty, the son of a millwright, Bremner married Elizabeth Orford in Kingskettle in 1851 before moving to Largo shortly afterwards. His daughter, Margaret, was born in 1854 and went on to set up and run the Lundin Links Post Office for many years. Archibald died in 1870, aged only 43.

Samuel Melville was a tinsmith and plumber, born in Haddington, East Lothian. Based for many years at the Shorehead in Leven, at the time of the 1861 census he was noted as employing 4 men and 4 apprentices. He died at his Shorehead home in 1863 - see below from the 30 May Dunfermline Saturday Press.
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Finally - for now - the 'cake bag supplier' noted in the list of contractors as 'E. Birrell', could well have been Elizabeth Birrell. She was a linen weaver in Lundin Mill in the 1861 census but a worker in the oil mill in Largo by 1871. Could this unmarried lady have used her weaving skills to make cake bags to supplement her income?
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Largo Mill In-Depth - Part 3

22/10/2018

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The above image features the bed of the Keil Burn just north of the viaduct at Lower Largo. In the centre, behind the boat, is one of the oldest parts of the Largo Mill complex. Situated to the left of the main mill, this smaller structure once contained a gasworks, forge and cooperage. Following on from Part 1 and Part 2, this third part in a series looking at the mill, turns the spotlight on this building.

Shown below is a floor plan and a section of this structure as it would have been around 1860. The drawings are fully annotated and linked to a description of the process of gas manufacture. To open a PDF document version of the image below, please click here. 
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​The second detailed illustrated document below shows the same building in the top left hand corner - shown in section and in relation to the mill dam and sluice. A plan and further details are also provided on the dam, sluice, tunnel, etc. ​To open and view this document as a PDF, please click here. 

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Clearly an operation such as Largo Mill would not only employ a significant number of local people, but would also provide work for local contractors in a variety of ways (note for example the need for regular cleaning of the dam mentioned in the above). The next post in the series will acknowledge some of the local suppliers connected to the mill a century and a half ago.
With thanks to John Band for the thorough research and detailed documentation.
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Largo Mill In-Depth - Part 2

16/10/2018

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The previous post opened a series taking an in-depth look at the former mill close to the harbour at Lower Largo. This post continues the tour of the site. By the time the above photo was captured in the 1930s - by Cowie the photographer - the building was in a ruinous state. However, its condition allows us a glimpse at the interior of the mill. Note in particular how the water wheel house can be clearly seen on the right hand side of the main building. A plan and section of the water wheel house, as it would have been around 1861, are shown in the detailed drawing below, created by John Band. A PDF version of the annotated drawing can be opened by clicking here. 
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Looking back at the image at the top of this post, further to the right of the water wheel house, and closer to the foreground, is the former heckle house building. In the spinning mill days, the heckle house was where the first process in the preparation of flax was carried out. However, once the mill had been converted for oil and cake production, this particular building was used to accommodate the oil refining process. The drawing below provides a comprehensive, illustrated explanation of what went on within this part of the mill complex. A PDF of this is available by clicking here. Two further photographs below, show the building in varying states of repair. 
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In the next post - a look at the building to the left of the main mill - a particularly old part of the site.
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Largo Mill In-Depth - Part 1

12/10/2018

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Over the next few blog posts, there will be an in-depth look at the former mill situated alongside the Keil burn, where Seatoun Place was built in the early 1980s. The above image is from the Canmore collection and was taken circa 1890 by the photographer Erskine Beveridge. The history of the mill has been touched upon on this site before - from the early days as a flax spinning mill to its reincarnation as an oil and cake mill and ultimately to a roofless ruin. 

Much of Largo's industrial heritage took place at this site and it is with thanks to John Band that a series of detailed plans can be shared which illustrate the layout and workings of the various elements of the mill. Below is a drawing which overlays the mill buildings, races, tunnels, original sea wall and ford with the present day buildings of Seatoun Place. To view this drawing as a PDF (and to appreciate the detail that lies within it) please click here.
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​Having set the scene, let's look inside the main building in the photograph at the top above. The plan below shows the ground floor of the mill around 1861. The fully annotated drawing shows all the key pieces of machinery along with a description of the seed crushing process. To open up this drawing as a PDF please click here.

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As many of you will know, the edge runner stones were recovered when Seatoun Place was constructed and still sit proudly at the entrance to the development. Our tour of the mill site will continue in the next post....
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Five Year Anniversary

5/10/2018

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This weekend marks 5 years since the very first blog post on this site. Since 6 October 2013 much ground has been covered and lots of local history shared. It's an absolute pleasure to put the content together, to receive comments and to make contact with others who have an interest in this very special place. Thank you to everyone who has visited the site and to all that contribute. Even within the last half decade new history has been made, with the closure of certain local facilities, the opening of new ones, the building of new housing and local organisations reaching major milestones - such as the centenary of the Largo SWRI and the 150th anniversary of Lundin Golf Club for example.

If you have feedback, queries, requests or suggested content, please use the 'contact' option or leave a comment on a particular post. There is no shortage of future content - the list is long of subjects yet to cover and many other topics are worth revisiting.  For those that have not delved far into the blog archives, here is a sample of topics from the past five years...

lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/new-hotel-lundin-links

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/putting-names-to-faces

lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/school-design

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/margaret-bethune

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/shops-and-banks

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/jumpin-jimmy-methven

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/lower-largo-1959

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/the-birsays-birsie-brae

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/george-simpson

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/homelands-early-history

lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/dr-william-eggeling

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/growth-of-cardy-net-works

Tip: if you want to search for a particular subject, it's best to go to Google and type your search word(s) followed by "lundin" and "weebly". For example to look for content on Crescent Road, type "crescent road lundin weebly" into Google, or for content on the old flax mill type "flax mill lundin weebly" and so on. Unfortunately, there is no search facility in the free version of weebly.
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    This 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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