The distinctive external staircase on the landward side of the Crusoe Hotel (pictured above) was created when an additional loft storey was added to the granary building circa 1870. The image above shows it around 1930 when David Todd was the name written on the 'Railway Inn' sign. Note the community noticeboard area adjacent to the staircase and the chocolate advert on the side of the kiosk by the road bridge, as well as the old motor car parked outside the hotel. The Pier Pavilion was in place for the season too. 

However, going back to the years before the First World War, the Crusoe stairs led up to the 'band room' of the Largo Brass Band (also known as the Largo Prize Band and later the Largo Silver Band). The 1895 and 1905 valuation rolls note that the Largo Brass Band (secretary T. G. Wishart) were the tenants of the 'loft' (as it was described in 1895) or 'hall' (as it was described in 1905) within the granary. A reference to the stairs as the "stair leading to the Band Hall" can be seen in the sad news story below from 26 April 1895 East of Fife Record.
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Although the use of the granary loft by the Brass Band ceased with the outbreak of war, the use of the granary for entertainment purposes had been long-standing. Below is a snippet from 1856 (25 December Fife Herald) where a ball had been held there. No other suitable hall was available in the 1850s - the Temperance Hall in Lundin Mill not being built until 1886.

A couple of years later, on 14 Jan 1858, the Fifeshire Journal remarked upon a another ball held on New Handsel Monday in the granary. 
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Fast forward to 1890 and there was a smoking concert in the granary (29 Aug East of Fife Record). Perhaps the recently-built Temperance Hall would not have allowed such an event.
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More to come in future posts about the Largo Brass Band and about their secretary Thomas Graham Wishart.

This interesting series of paintings of Largo Harbour, signed by David Martin, feature the Crusoe Hotel (and adjacent granary) looking quite different. The landward side of the building is a storey lower than in later times and has a simple and functional appearance. When first built in 1824 the granary building consisted of only two storeys (see advert below from the Fife Herald of 7 October that year). The seaward (inn) end of the building was likely built around the same time - which was also around the time to the establishment of the steam packet services.

Featuring typical granary architecture, with small rectangular windows and a cart opening at ground level, the interior of this part of the building would have been similar to the image below of Dunbar's granary and store. It's easy to imagine the low beamed rooms with their stone walls filled with sacks of grain and other agricultural produce. 
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By the mid-1850s, the focus was on the imminent arrival of the railway. In December 1855, the shareholders and tenants of the Largo Granary Company had a dinner in Selkirk's Hotel (i.e. the Crusoe Hotel - the proprietor at the time was named Alexander Selkirk). The principal tenant of the granary then was Robert Hutchison of Kirkcaldy. [In 1830, at the age of 21, Robert Hutchison opened an account in the name of Robert Hutchison and Company and began trading in wheat, barley oats, flax, butter and flour. By 1856 the company would own all the land in East Kirkcaldy where the present flour mill now stands.] The success of the East of Fife Railway was toasted at the event and those that had not already subscribed to the scheme were encouraged to do so.

The arrival of the railway and the increasing popularity of Largo as a visitor destination saw the area prosper and at some point the granary acquired a third storey - a 'loft' added to the existing 'granary' and 'cellar and stables' . It is unclear what point in time the paintings above represent but certainly the landward end of the building had acquired a third storey by the early 1870s.

The photograph below dates to 1885 and the day of the unveiling of the Crusoe Statue. The outline of the old lower gable end can be made out in the weathered gable wall on the right hand side of the image. Standing on the far right is Sam Gillies, skipper of 'The Brothers' which was lost only a few months after this photo was taken. The Largo Granary Company seems to have wound up around the turn of the century and by 1905 hotel keeper Thomas Lumsden owned the entire building - although part of the old granary building had an interesting use at that time.....more of that to follow.
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This circa 1905 postcard view looks along Emsdorf Street from the front door of David Lindsay's grocer shop at the junction of Hillhead Street. In the immediate foreground to the left is an old wall (long gone) and to the right, up high, a street lamp holder. Also to the right, on the ground, are a wooden barrel and box, typical of the era. Back in the 1970s local resident Esther Menzies recalling this shop said:

"Mr Lindsay sold everything nearly - bran, parings, oatmeal, dried big cod, doormats, salt herring from a barrel in front of the counter and of course the ordinary groceries not packaged as they are today."

She commented upon how this area was really the hub of the village with Cowie the chemist next door and Robert Forrester's painter and paperhanger shop opposite. There were other businesses both on Hillhead and Emsdorf Streets. 

The silver vesta case shown in the image above was one of the prizes given for the competition played on the newly opened Lundin Ladies' Golf Course on Tuesday 12 June 1894. This was the not the course we know today incorporating the Standin' Stanes but the one at Sunnybraes (now part of the main Lundin Golf Club). The piece from the 22 June East of Fife Record below describes the event in some detail, as does the Fife Free Press article from 16 June further below.

The reverse of the vesta case (made by Sampson Mordan and Co of London) is shown below. It is engraved with the words 'Lundin Links Ladies Golf Club June 11 1894' (although the competition appears to have taken place the day after this). It was won by James Wilkie of Leven. James Wilkie was a master builder (like his father George Wilkie before him). Between them, father and son were responsible for many notable landmarks in the area. George was involved in the building of the original Bawbee Bridge at Leven as a young man and James was builder of Linwood Hall. James is pictured at the foot of this post with his wife Mary on the occasion of their diamond wedding in 1938 (2 July Fife Free Press). He died the following year at the age of 85.

​Following last year's centenary of Armistice, we continue to pause on Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day to remember the fallen, including those from Largo Parish.  Below are a couple of newspaper clippings from 1946. The first, from the Leven Mail of 13 November details the Poppy Day collections carried out in the area. The second is a notice for the Remembrance Day service at Largo Parish Church from the previous week's paper in 1946.

This year marks 100 years since the first two-minute silence was observed on Armistice Day - 11th November 1919.

On this day in 1911, the Norwegian schooner 'Rap' of Stavanger was wrecked at Lundin Links during a storm (see photograph above from the Fife News Almanac 1912). The 'Rap' had been bound for Dysart from Grangemouth in ballast but before reaching the harbour there had put two crew ashore to get a pilot. Meanwhile the wind and sea rose to such an extend that neither the pilot nor the two sailors could leave shore. The Rap had to let down anchor for the night. While it held fast all through the night, on the morning of Sunday 5th November around 9 o'clock her moorings broke loose and she began to drift along the Forth.

The Dysart harbourmaster telegraphed the Buckhaven lifeboat coxswain and the Fife Free Press of 11 November reported:

"As the vessel drifted past Wemyss, Buckhaven and Methil, thousands of the inhabitants went to the beach and ran along the shore in line with the vessel to witness her running ashore. Eventually she came ashore near Largo Harbour. The rocket apparatus, under the charge of Leven Coastguards hurried to the scene and were successful in establishing communication with the vessel.

Only the Captain and the ship's boy were left aboard, and the lad, after an exciting struggle, was safely brought to land but the skipper refused to leave the ship in spite of the appeals of the Coastguards. Buckhaven lifeboat came on the scene and stood by for nearly two hours. The vessel began to make water badly but though swept for hours she held together. Later, however, she was brought ashore."

As the piece below from the same newspaper noted, the storm had been the worst in many a year. An image of the 'Rap' in full sail is shown further below.

The 'rocket apparatus' mentioned in the newspaper report above refers to when a rocket was used to fire a rope line from the shore over to a stricken boat. Once the line is caught, a pulley system can be set up to transport crew from the boat back to land. The image below shows such a system in use.

​The above guide on where to get your ration book is from the Leven Mail of 31 May 1944. There were two locations in Largo Parish at that time: the Simpson Institute in Upper Largo and St Margaret's Garden Room in Lundin Links. The latter was a private house on Victoria Road. This house (now known as Strathearn) was owned by Mrs Jean Gaskell - born Jean Helen Rintoul, sister of Leonora Rintoul. In 1946 was St Margaret's Garden Room was still the ration book collection location. Jean also ran a Sunday School from this venue in the 1940s. St Margaret's is indicated by the arrow on the left of the image below.
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By 1947 the Lundin Links ration book venue had changed to Lundin Ladies Golf Club House and it remained so for some time - see notice below from 6 April 1949 Leven Mail. Note that a Lower Largo collection point had been added at St David's Church. ​