Blog Archives

Hogmanay 1975-style

28/12/2018

An evening of live jazz or a dinner dance were a couple of options available to see in the New Year back at the end of 1975. The Largo Hotel is now known as Upper Largo Hotel. The Seaway was the forerunner to the Admiral's Bell, which of course was originally the La Scala cinema (and then Yellow Caravel). It was quite a coup to have Chris Barber and his band in the village - read more about Chris here or perhaps have a listen to some of the band's music here on YouTube.

Whatever you are up to on Hogmanay 2018 - have a fantastic time! Very best wishes for the New Year when it comes.

More to come in 2019 on both the Seaway and La Scala.

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Merry Christmas 2018

21/12/2018

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Compliments of the season to all readers of Vintage Lundin Links!

Thank you for visiting the site in 2018. Your interest is much appreciated.

A bit of festive nostalgia below with a series of Christmas Greetings echoing back down the years from the 1970s and 1980s.....

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Festive Adverts

16/12/2018

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A little photomontage today of Christmas event adverts from back in time. The advert for 'The Law' dates to 1975, while the 'Crusoe Hotel' and 'Admiral's Bell' ads date to 1982. The latter features a rare photograph of the interior of the Admiral's Bell - shown in larger scale below. As with the previous set of adverts, the prices are very appealing!

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Bourtree Brae House

14/12/2018

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A topic covered before, but worth revisiting, is the intricately designed house by James Campbell Walker shown above. It is Bourtree Brae House on Crescent Road in Lundin Links. It is now fairly well disguised with its large extension to the right and porch around the front door, however, many of the original features still remain. Lots of information about the building of this house is included in the 1868 book entitled "Villa and Cottage Architecture: Select Examples of Country and Suburban Residences Recently Erected" published by Blackie & Son. Below are the relevant pages from the book. It's fascinating detail on what was one of the few houses built under the stalled Standard Life development scheme of the late 1850s.

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1940s on Largo Pier

10/12/2018

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I adore this photograph, which was kindly shared by a reader of the blog. It features a smiling young girl, barefoot on the pier, enjoying a Largo summer in the late 1940s. Two very well-dressed ladies and a boy are sitting on the side of the pier. There are another eight or so people in the background - many of them ready for a dip in the sea. The tide is in and there is a rubber ring balancing on the wall.

The Crusoe Hotel, which would probably have been full of visitors, has its upper windows open to let in the sea air. I would love to be able to step into this scene and explore the village at that time. If that were possible, then I'm sure I'd be just as happy as the girl in the picture!

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Christmas Meals and Parties

7/12/2018

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Back in 1982, there was a great choice of local places to go for your Christmas meal or party. Here is a selection of adverts that featured in the East Fife Mail in the run-up to the festive season that year. Nice prices too! Did you partake in any of these? More seasonal adverts to follow....

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Largo Gas Works Follow-Up

2/12/2018

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The previous post bid a fond farewell to the retort house of the Largo Gas Works, which was demolished this week. This follow-up looks firstly at the long-gone neighbour to the retort house - the gas holder. It will also touch on some of the uses made of the former retort house once it ceased its original function. The above postcard view shows the cylindrical gas holder sitting to the left of the retort house and above the caravan site. These gas holders were a common sight around the country in the past. The drawing below, produced by John Band, shows how the style of holder found at Largo worked. To see this as a PDF please click here.

The gas holder disappeared from the landscape in the early 1960s, while the retort house lingered for much longer because other uses were found for it. Its original tall chimney was reduced in height early on but the chimney stump can be seen in many images of the building. One of the well-known functions of the building was that it housed the air raid siren on its roof. The 18 November 1939 Fife Free Press recorded the installation of the siren, although plans to site it on the 'chimney stalk' must have changed at the last minute, as it was actually put on the opposite end of the roof (as pictured below - see images before and after the air raid siren was added). The siren was activated via the telephone line of Jean Philp at nearby Mill Cottage. After the war ended, the siren was still sounded regularly for many years to check it was still in working order.

The various uses of the gas works buildings and grounds over the years included fish curing, undertaken by the Melville family. The site was also used by motor hirer John Hay to store his buses. Clunie and Melville the slaters and plasterers also had premises here. Caravans parks have been located on both sides of the retort house over the years. Another well-remembered use of the main building was to garage Douglas Miller's vintage vehicles. The gas showroom and office was converted into a house (named Friday Cottage) around 1965.

The chimney stalk was possibly taken down after damage in the hurricane strength winds of early 1968 as it appears in some late 1960s photographs but is gone by the early 1970s.

Anyway, the site has served the community well over many decades in a range of guises and now it moves on to the next chapter in its history. Five new houses are due to be built here.

If you have a memory of the gas works site and its various uses - please comment.

Note that comments are now easier to make due to removal of the need to prove you are not a robot!

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Hogmanay 1975-style

Merry Christmas 2018

Festive Adverts

Bourtree Brae House

1940s on Largo Pier

Christmas Meals and Parties

Largo Gas Works Follow-Up

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