The previous two blog posts have explored the origins of the former grocer shop at the foot of Hillhead Street (seen on the far left of the image above) and the somewhat turbulent turn of the century period for the shop. The next chapter in its history picks up from the departure of Matthew Barrie to Melrose and the arrival of Lawrence Smith from Carron Bridge, Falkirk. Born in 1881, Lawrence Smith was the eldest son of pattern maker Lawrence Smith senior, and was grocer's assistant at the time of the 1901 census. Five years later he married Alice Lawson and the couple relocated to Fife. The notice below from the 1 November 1906 Leven Advertiser notes the grant of a license for Smith for the Lundin Mill grocer premises. ​

The next year Lawrence and Alice's eldest daughter Jessie Watson Smith was born in Lundin Mill. The 1911 census records Lawrence, Alice and a 3-year-old Jessie in the household. Later that year another daughter, Jean, was born. The photograph below shows Jean (left) and Jessie (right) a couple of years later.
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​The image above shows Jessie outside the entrance to the grocer shop, seated in the carriage of the delivery horse. The same image is below, superimposed on the shop building in more recent times. Nowadays the street is filled with parked cars.

Lawrence Smith can be seen in the photograph above at the rear of the shop with his prize-winning dog and a trophy. He frequently entered dog competitions and was well-known in these sporting circles. Of course, 1914 saw the outbreak of the First World War and in September of that year, Lawrence joined up at Leven. Joining the 9th Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders, he left for the front in April 1915. Lawrence is pictured below in his uniform. 

In his absence, the grocer shop was supported by the wider family, including Lawrence's wife Alice, his widowed mother Jean and his younger brother William M. Smith. The extract from the 7 September 1916 Leven Advertiser tells us that two years later, William became the third Smith brother to join the army. According to the valuation roll, the official proprietor of the grocer shop at this time was their mother Jean Smith. 
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Meanwhile, Lawrence had a short spell at home on leave in October 1917. Sadly, only two months later he was killed by an enemy shell on 13 December 1917, aged 36 years. In the 27 December 1917 Leven Advertiser below, Lawrence was described as "an excellent leader of men, and devoid of fear, who had won the hearts of all the men in his platoon" and "a man of outstanding qualities, calm and unperturbable, and always brave and cheerful".  Touchingly the letter received by his widow stated that "you have lost a husband of whom you should be proud and your daughters can always refer to their father in future years as a gallant and efficient soldier". Sergeant Smith was buried with full military hours in a British cemetery. 
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Sergeant Lawrence Smith is one of the 51 men who fell in the First World War named on Largo War Memorial. The detail on the memorial shown below includes his name in the middle of the list on one of the panels.

After the war, the shop continued for a time. The 1920 valuation roll for Largo Parish still lists the property as a shop, with Jean Smith as the proprietor. However, by 1925 the former shop was described as an 'office'. It had become the office of Largo Parish Council (see above) and remained as such for many years, even after the death of Jean Smith in 1934. In October 1925 a "daring fraud" took place in the office when David Smail pretended to have obtained work as a miner. He was given £2 by the Inspector of the Poor to purchase a pick and shovel and to tide his family over until the work began. However, the job did not materialise and he used the money himself, leaving "his wife and children destitute" according to the 22 December 1925 Leven Advertiser below.
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When the use of the office ceased around 1950, the building became fully residential. Today the casual passer-by would hardly believe that this building was once a busy village amenity with an intriguing history. If you have any images or information about the days of this grocer shop, please do get in touch. 
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Decades after the grocer shop ceased to trade, the name 'Smith' could still be made out above the door. Very faint wording was also visible on the gable end. In the image above it appears that the words Licensed Grocer were part of the painted signage high on the gable wall.

The previous post looked at the early years of the former grocer shop at the foot of Hillhead Street, pictured above. The first owner, for whom the premises were built in 1880, was Thomas Forgan. He sold the business in 1891 to grocer Thomas Blyth, who continued the business into the period when the old village of Lundin Mill was expanding into the fashionable Lundin Links, frequented by city dwellers seeking sea air and golf. Against that backdrop of change, the story of the grocer shop became more complicated for a time.

The report below from the 1 July 1897 Leven Advertiser encapsulates what was happening to the village at the time. The long-standing vision to develop Lundin Links, which dated back to the arrival of the railway in 1857, was finally being realised. New villas were being erected and the beginnings of new facilities to support them were in evidence. In contrast to the weavers cottages of Lundin Mill, these homes had "an air of wealth and refinement" and featured "the latest improvements and conveniences". The enterprise was attracting "ready purchasers and inhabitants".

Booth's name appeared above the grocer shop door and, in fact, close inspection of the shop lintel in recent years reveals the ghostly outline of the name A Booth and the word Licensed in small letters underneath (see photographs below).

Barrie appealed the license refusal, and the following month, the shop's license was returned. The 4 May 1900 East of Fife Record reported that the premises had been licensed for along time, that Barrie was unconnected to the previous owner and tenant, and that nearly 200 persons had signed a petition in favour of the license. The affairs of the grocer shop were finally back on an even keel.
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Matthew Barrie had moved to Lundin Links with his wife Maggie and two infant children, William and Dolina. Another daughter, Phyllis, was born there in 1902. After the early hiccup with the license, Barrie ran a successful business. As the adverts above and below show, he positioned himself as a wine and provision merchant and 'Italian Warehouseman' (a fashionable term used at the time for high-class grocery provision). Whisky was given special mention in his adverts.
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Matthew Barrie moved on in 1905, heading back south to Melrose, where he and son William had a grocer shop on the High Street for many years. William Barrie served in the First World War, operating one of the first tanks to see action in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme, following special secret training. He was wounded several times during his service but eventually returned to Melrose and took over his father's grocery business. Below is a view of the Hillhead Street shop from the rear from around the time of the Barrie family. The red arrow on the left points to the shop sign on the gable end, while the other arrow indicates its proximity to the Crusoe Hall (or Temperance Hall), which was a well-used facility at the time.  In the next post, a final part in the story of the shop.

The former grocer shop at the foot of Hillhead Street was situated in what was once the heart of old Lundin Mill - equidistant from Largo Road to the north and Emsdorf Street to the south. It was constructed in 1880 for weaver-turned-grocer Thomas Forgan. Born in Largo in 1821, Forgan found employment as a hand loom weaver, like many in the village at the time. By 1861 Thomas had became a linen weaving agent - someone through whom weaving work came into the area. He must have been successful in the role, as by the 1871 census, Thomas was recorded as "employing 30 men and 20 women" in the linen trade.

However, times were changing and the old hand loom weaving industry was on the wane. Power looms were increasingly being used in larger towns like Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline. The hand looms that were once found in most village homes (including many on Hillhead Street) were dwindling. The 17 September 1874 Fife Herald speaks of a brisk level of business for the remaining weavers in Lundin Mill, yet at low wages.  It states: "Supplied by webs here as we are through agents, work at the hand-loom trade is rife, but weavers have dwindled down in numbers greatly of late, and the "sough o' the shuttle" is now rarely heard. Wide sheetings are being woven by old hands, but wages are low." 

​On 23 February 1877, the Courier stated that "handloom weaving is at present less active here than it was some time ago, and some kinds of webs are scarce, while wages are miserably low." This shift in the linen trade explains why Thomas Forgan was driven to reinvent himself as a grocer. 
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The extract from 1878 Slater's Directory above shows that Thomas Forgan was a grocer prior to the construction of the 1880 shop. It also tells us that there were two other grocers in Lundin Mill at the time - Margaret Bremner (who would go on to run Lundin Links Post Office) and John Kennock. Forgan presumably out-grew his original premises and was in a position to build a new purpose-built shop, incorporating living quarters. The short note below from the 29 May 1880 Fife News announced the construction of "a very handsome building" which would "adorn the village". 

​Successor to the business, Thomas Wilkie Blyth, was born in Perthshire in 1865 and was an apprentice grocer by age 16 in Kettle, Fife. In 1889, he married Mary Taylor Lindsay and the 1891 census finds him working as a grocer in Auchtermuchty. Later that year they moved to Lundin Mill to take over Forgan's enterprise. During the Blyths years in Lundin Mill they raised their young family -  daughters, Agnes (born 1892) and Marjory (1896) and a son named Thomas, who sadly died of scarletina in 1893. 

Back in 1962 the inaugural 'Best Kept Village' competition was held across St Andrews District. Organised by the St Andrews District Council, the contest followed in the footsteps of Cupar District, where a successful event had been held the previous year (won by Strathmiglo).  Both districts were gifted trophies by J. & G. Innes Limited, proprietors of the Fife News and the St Andrews Citizen. By winning, Upper Largo became the first winners of the 'Citizen' trophy, represented in the sketch above. The nineteen competing villages had been visited on 25 June by the judges, who included the curator of St Andrews Botanical Gardens. 

Points were awarded for the appearance and condition of lands and buildings of a public nature, such as playing fields, open spaces, the village hall and surroundings, church and churchyard, bus shelter, war memorial and school. The cleanliness of verges, ponds and streams and the condition of hedges, fences and walls, the tidiness of flower and vegetable gardens, and the general appearance of the village were all taken into account. The suitability and orderliness of advertisements and notices, and the absence of litter and unsightly rubbish dumps also factored.

The following year, 1963, Strathkinness triumphed in the contest, which must have spurred on the community in Upper Largo, who won the trophy back in 1964 and again in 1965. When Upper Largo retained the title in 1965, they received 82 points from the judges, just pipping runners up Boarhills who scored 81. The photograph below appeared in the 5 August Leven Mail, showing the plaque mounted on an 8-foot pedestal. This was positioned prominently on the grassy area at the junction of Main Street and St Andrews Road, seen below, with Largo Law in the background. 

Councillor John Adamson (retired teacher and former headmaster of Lundin Mill Primary School) accepted the award and said how proud he was to see the village win again. He praised the hard work of the villagers, as well as their spirit of co-operation and civic pride. Some of the others featured in the photograph are detailed below.
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In fact, Upper Largo would go on to win the Best Kept Village title several more times over the years. The winners of subsequent years are listed below:

1966 - Upper Largo
1967 - Kingsbarns 
1968 - Kingsbarns
1969 - Upper Largo
1970 - Kingsbarns
1971 - Lower Largo
1972 - Kingsbarns
1973 - Upper Largo
1974 - Upper Largo

Note that Lower Largo also got in on the act - entering for the first time in 1967 and winning the crown in 1971 (beating Upper Largo into third place). Judges praised the new colour scheme of the Crusoe Hotel (shown below), the tidiness of the car parks at the Temple and the former railway station, as well as the well-kept gardens of the housing estates. They were less impressed with the general lack of litter bins around the village. The trophy on its tall pedestal was put up at Cellar Braes for the year. The 28 August 1971 St Andrews Citizen below provided the full report. John Adamson and Joseph Grassick were both present (as they had been in Upper Largo a few years before). As the list of winners above shows, however, before long the trophy was back in Upper Largo!
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Upper Largo's former bank was designed by the architect Archibald Scott. His plans for the building were first approved by the National Bank of Scotland in 1848, although their Largo branch did not open until some years later. The 1854 map of the village still shows the previous buildings on the site, which were loom shops associated with the once-thriving hand loom weaving industry.

Archibald Scott was born in 1796 in Dunbar, East Lothian. His architect practice was based at Teviot Row in Edinburgh. He became principal architect to the National Bank, and worked on many of their premises between approximately 1848 and 1860, including banks at Hawick, Castle Douglas, Grantown-on-Spey, Whithorn, Bathgate, Lochmaben and Dalkeith. Scott also designed the National Bank building at Elie, which was linked to the Largo branch and to which it bears some resemblance. The Largo and Elie banks are shown side-by-side below. Note their similar stonework and windows and the shared features such as carved stone shields towards to top of their gables and distinctive skew putts at the gable corners.
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The National Bank of Scotland was founded in 1825. Based in Edinburgh, it had national-level ambitions from the beginning. By 1850 it had 40 branches, growing to eventually to 137 branches. At its height it was second in size only to the Bank of Scotland. In 1959 a merger saw it become National Commercial Bank of Scotland and a decade later it was absorbed into the Royal Bank of Scotland. The bank's archives suggest that the Largo bank building cost £748.10 but that a later payment of £56 was made to Scott in connection with the building in 1860 (likely relating to alterations once operational). 
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The above notice appeared in the 12 March 1857 Fife Herald announcing that Alexander Robertson had been appointed as Bank Agent at Largo. This appears to mark the official beginning of the bank operation, as it is from that year that regular references to the Largo Bank can be found in the local newspapers. 1857 was also the year that William Robinson Ketchen came to Elie from Edinburgh to take charge of the National Bank there. Ketchen (pictured below from the Fife Illustrated News Almanac of 1902), along with other members of his family, would go on to feature prominently in the history of the Largo branch.

By 1858, William Ketchen's younger brother Thomas had become agent at Largo, effectively acting as assistant to William who had oversight of both branches. Thomas Ketchen remained in the role of agent at Largo for decades and is recorded as living in the bank house in four consecutive census records. In 1861 he was at the bank house along with his parents William and Harriet, as well as a servant. A decade later he was recorded with just his widower father and a servant. In 1881 it was only Thomas and a servant in residence but by the 1891 census Thomas had his retired brother Alexander and the latter's wife, living with him, plus a servant. 
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The extracts above from the 1866 Westwood's Directory show that there was also a Savings' Bank and Insurance Agency run by Thomas Ketchen. Below is a list of the various National Bank branch agents in the wider local area in 1858. Of course the agent was supported by a small team of bank clerks. In 1881, two teenage sons of Reverend David Malloch (John and David) were bank clerks at Largo. In 1884, Lundin Links born John Bremner came to work at the Largo branch. He was the younger brother of local postmistress Margaret Bremner and he would go on to manage the National Bank of Scotland at St Enoch Square in Glasgow for 25 years. In fact John Malloch went on to marry Ann Bremner (elder sister of John Bremner, his co-worker at the bank).
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In 1893, Henry Martin Ketchen, son of William Robinson Ketchen became joint-agent at Largo with his father. His uncles, Thomas and Alexander Ketchen, both died in 1894. Henry undertook legal work in the Largo area and was the Secretary of the Largo Granary Company. In 1897, W. R. Ketchen, now retired moved to Largo, where he took a great interest in public life and was elected to Largo County Council. He later moved back to Elie, where he died in 1901.

It was around that time that Ketchen's former apprentice, John More Dall, took over at Largo, remaining there until his retiral in 1930. The National Bank expanded its network of branches in the aftermath of the First World War and in 1921 the directors decided to open a branch at Lundin Links, as a sub-branch of Largo and to protect its business in the locality in the face of competition from the Commercial Bank of Scotland and the British Linen Bank. The sub-branch thrived and made a significant contribution to the profits of the Largo parent bank. During the 1930s there were three banks within the row of businesses on Leven Road, Lundin Links.

In 1930, Guy McConnell succeeded John More Dall, having moved to Largo from the chief office in Glasgow. He had previously worked in branches in Leven and Kirkcaldy. Like earlier bank agents, McConnell had a number of other roles within the community including auditor for the Largo Silver Band (see notice below from 7 Feb 1939 Leven Advertiser) and treasurer of the Largo and Newburn Nursing Association. He remained as Largo agent into the 1940s.

The Second World War had a huge impact on the National Bank of Scotland as a whole, and on the Largo branch in particular. Three members of staff from the Largo branch joined the war effort, one of whom was killed in action. Rival banks ended up closing their branches in Lundin Links, enabling the National Bank to take over the prominent corner site on Leven Road at Crescent Road. At the end of the war this branch was elevated to full branch status (and eventually would subsume the Upper Largo bank).
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​By 1950, Guy McConnell had left the Largo bank was living in Anstruther.  James M Johnston became agent at Largo but by now there had been a shift in the dynamics between Upper Largo and Lundin Links. The notice above appeared in the Leven Mail each week in May 1958, highlighting the imminent closure of the original branch. Its last day open was 31 May 1958, bringing a century of banking on the Upper Largo site to an end. The branch's business was transferred to the Lundin Links branch on Leven Road, pictured below. The bank building in Upper Largo became a private residence.
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John More Dall, pictured above, was born in 1863 in Elie to blacksmith John Dall and his wife Agnes More. He grew up at the smithy on the back dykes at Elie, but by the 1881 census John was living on the High Street with his maternal grandmother and two older sisters, while employed as a 'Law Clerk (apprentice)'. His employment was in the offices of William Robinson Ketchen (pictured below from the 1902 Fife News Illustrated Almanac). Ketchen was a banker and solicitor who had come to Elie in 1857 to act as National Bank agent for the branches at Elie and Largo. Ketchen was also prominent in public life, being instrumental in forming Elie Golf Club and acting as Provost of Elie for six years. Ketchen provided John More Dall with a firm grounding in both law and banking.

Dall also introduced a Savings Bank for Largo and District. This was overseen by a group of directors drawn from the local community and was available to locals at set times each week at locations across the three villages - the Bank in Upper Largo, the Baptist Church Session House in Lower Largo and the Temperance Hall in Lundin Links. The directors included local clergymen, builders and other prominent men who were active in the public sphere. This included Inspector of the Poor Robert Black and Largo Estate gardener Robert Smith.

In 1909, John remarried, to Margaret Graham. They went on to have four children together - Mary (b. 1907), John (b. 1909), Helen (b. 1913, d. 1914) and Christina (b.1916, d. 1917). The 1911 census records the family at Bank House. The household comprised, John, his wife Margaret, his three eldest daughters, two younger children (aged 4 and 1) and a servant. A decade later, the couple were in the same home together with four children and servant. John was then aged 57 and still described as a 'bank agent' with National Bank of Scotland Limited.

During his years in Largo, John became an active member of Largo Curling Club, Largo Bowling Club and Lundin Golf Club. He wrote the history of Largo Curling Club when he was club secretary there. He was joint secretary and treasurer of Lundin Golf Club for fourteen years. The 15 July 1924 Leven Advertiser told of how "Mr's Dall's minute book was as neatly kept as his cash and other books, and he grudged no time in the performance of the duties which came under the combined offices".

The pair of 'then and now' images above compare the Upper Largo Hotel (then named Largo Hotel) of circa 1970 with the hotel as it looks in more recent times. The hotel was acquired in the summer of 1969 by Sylvia and Bob Harbert, who went on to refurbish the establishment and add the stone extension. The hotel comprised rooms, a cocktail bar, a lounge bar and a restaurant, which gained a reputation for its good food. As the Harbert's son Ashley points out, this was the heyday of prawn cocktail, sirloin steak and Black Forest gateau, accompanied by a bottle of Liebfraumilch. That said, it was the haddock and chips that proved especially popular.

The images above are from a promotional flyer, highlighting the key features of the hotel, which the Harberts turned into a thriving business. Additional bedrooms were added in 1972. Note the hotel restaurant had a wine list on each table. The pictures on the restaurant walls showcased other establishments that the Harberts had run over the years, including the Clayhall Tavern in Bow, London and the Tudor Rose in Hemel Hempstead. 
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Bob and Sylvia can be seen standing proudly behind the bar in the photograph below. Notice the last orders bell on the left and the glass fishing floats hanging above the bar. If you remember the Harberts and the hotel during this era, please leave a comment. The pair moved on in 1974, to build a new hotel in Blairgowrie. They had a painting of the Largo Hotel made, which went on to grace the walls of their later establishments.

The former St David's Church had two different bells during its existence - the one which can still be seen today at the rear of the roof (pictured above) and the original bell which hung in a tall stone bellcote above the front entrance. The original bell was presented by the family of Alexander Hogg  a former Largo blacksmith who had died in 1870, the year before the church building was erected. The original bell and bellcote can be seen in the images below.
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After many decades of service, not to mention exposure to the coastal elements, the bellcote and its rope-operated bell were in need of repair. By the early 1960s, the tall stone bellcote was considered dangerous and so a project was begun to make it safe. The bellcote was taken down and the stone work at the rear of the roof was also reduced in height. The bell was recast, relocated to the rear of the roof and was converted to electric power. 

Mr Ewan Bryden co-ordinated the project and also designed the cross-topped metal structure which would house the new bell. The bell was recast at John Taylor and Company, Bellfounders and Bellhangers. The name 'Taylor' can be seen on the bell in the images further below. Founded in 1859, Taylor have cast more than 25,000 bells which hang in over 100 countries around the world. You can read more about that here and watch a video about the bell founding process here and in the other videos on the firm's YouTube channel.

Funds for the works came from a memorial fund in the name of Miss Nicoll, supplemented by fundraising activities organised by the congregation. As the 4 November 1964 piece above from the Leven Mail explains, there was a show held in the Durham Hall, where the Sunday School, Bible Class, Kirk Session, Woman's Guild, Life Boys and Youth Club presented a programme of entertainment. This included a song written by Mr McGregor, sung to the tune of "The Bells of St Mary's" called "The Bell of St David's".
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On the first Sunday of 1965, a service was held at which the bell was rededicated (see 6 January Leven Mail piece above). The new gates and railings were also dedicated at the same time. A plaque was placed in the church vestibule to mark the occasion and to ensure that the memory of Miss M.M. Nicoll, late Kirk Treasurer was remembered.
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Margaret MacDougall Nicoll (1882-1962), was a daughter of Kirkton of Largo Schoolmaster Thomas Nicoll. She became a school teacher herself and had died on 10 June 1962, at which time she was Honorary President of Largo St David's Women's Guild. Margaret was the second eldest of five children - William (1880), Margaret (1882), Robert (1886), Mary (1888) and Annie (1892). She attended Kirkton of Largo Primary School (where her father was master for 35 years) then Waid Academy in Anstruther, before going to St Andrews University where she gained an M.A.. In May 1900 she was appointed temporary mistress at Kirkton, assisting her father and beginning her career in teaching. More on the life of Miss Nicoll will follow in a future post.

The former Largo St David's Church building has now embarked upon a new chapter - read more here.

The previous post covered the life of Robert Black - a native of Woodside who became Chair of Largo Parish Council and Inspector of the Poor for the Parish. Indeed it was Robert Black who, towards the end of his life, cut "the barricade of red, white and blue ribbon" with "a pair of silver scissors" to allow the first cars to pass over the new bridge linking Drummochy to Lower Largo on Saturday 3 October 1914. Many years in contemplation, the long-desired bridge was composed of steel girders and troughing and parapet railing, with concrete wing walls. It came at a cost of £1,455, 8s and 5d.

The commemorative photograph above was captured by keen amateur photographer, Robert Paxton of Homelands. It shows the first of the three cars that crossed the new bridge as part of the opening ceremony. This car, registration SP 708, bedecked in flowers, belonged to Lower Largo's Walter Horne. Another of the cars belonged to Upper Largo's Thomas Wishart. The cars carried members of the Largo Parish Council, the engineers and the bridge contractors. A profusion of flags and bunting surrounded around the bridge. The buildings in the background from left to right are The Railway Inn (light-coloured gable end), Alexandra House (centre), Beach House (3-storey terrace with dormer windows and many chimneys) and the Crusoe Hotel (extreme right). Robert Black and his wife Eliza could well be among the crowd. Are you able to identify any of the faces shown below? 
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​Having been presented with a pair of silver scissors by Walter Horne, Robert Black declared the bridge open "in the name of the Parish Council" and expressed "the hope that it would fulfil all their expectations and be of advantage to all and disadvantage to none". As the ribbon was cut, there was "a great scramble on the part of the spectators to secure a piece as a remembrance of the occasion". The 8 October Leven Advertiser ran a lengthy article describing the occasion. A large crowd raised loud cheers "as the first gaily decorated motor car sped across the bridge". 

After the official party crossed the bridge in the cars, they, and a few select others, made their way to the recently completed Victoria Hotel for a "daintily cooked and perfectly served dinner" supplied by Miss Brown. Toasts were made, including one to Messrs Bruce and Proudfoot of Cupar and Kirkcaldy, the civil engineers. The building contractor for the bridge project had been Mr Henderson of Markinch. The Motherwell Bridge Company was also acknowledged, having supplied specialist materials. The engineers and contractors presented Robert Black with a silver tray and Walter Horne with a silver cigar case, in recognition of their co-operation as members of the Parish Council. After completion of the toasts, speeches, and presentations the national anthem was sung.

The pair of maps below compares the harbour area before and after the building of the road bridge. Close inspection shows that the corners of a couple of gardens had to be clipped to enable smooth entrance to and exit from the bridge for vehicles. One of those who gave up a portion of their garden was Dr Selkirk, owner of Alexandra House (which had a large rectangular front garden in the older map). 
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Woodside is a hamlet to the west of New Gilston, in the north east of Largo Parish. In the centre of the 1828 Greenwood map extract above, it is clear how the hamlet got its name. At the time the settlement was surrounded by trees on all sides. Woodside would have been a relatively new settlement when surveyed for this map. It is absent from the 1775 Ainslie map below, where the road between Hill Teasses and New Gilston is featureless.
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In 1808 a "Plan of the Estate of New Gilston" was drawn up by land-surveyor Alexander Lumsden. This plan shows the site that would become Woodside as a "planting" known as "West Muir". On the plan, this planting had been subdivided into 8 or 9 strips running north from the roadside (some in pen, others later additions in pencil). At the foot of the plan was a table listing these strips: a, b, c, d, e and f (then in pencil g, h and i). Names had been lightly added in pencil against those letters. Although difficult to read, the names against the plots included Ritchie, Carstairs and Pryde. This suggests that it was 1808 that initial plans were drawn up for the development of Woodside. It may have been some years later before the row of stone cottages reached completion.  

The 1841 census records 21 Houses and 108 persons living in Woodside - a mix of primarily agricultural labourers and coal miners and their families. There was also a blacksmith and a shoe maker. As the 1775 map above shows, the area already had a number of coal pits (New Gilston was created to house colliers employed at the Gilston Coalpits some 400 metres to its north). The early 19th century saw increased industrial activity in the area with further pits sunk at Teasses, Baldastard and Bonnyton. This activity must have led to the need for new housing for workers.

The description of Woodside from the Ordnance Survey 1855 Name Book is show below. It describes a "neat and clean village" with "houses which are of one storey" with small gardens attached. At the time there was "one shop in the village for the sale of groceries". The school was in New Gilston and the nearest Post Office at Upper Largo (from which walking postmen would serve Woodside). Although this record states that the village was "occupied chiefly by farm labourers", the census data from 1841, 1851, 1861 and subsequent decades records many coal miners in Woodside too. In fact for decades, the population seems to have been a fairly even split of miners and farm workers.

​The 1866 Westwood Parochial Directory extract below show that by that time Woodside had two grocers (William Pryde and Mrs William Leslie), as well as a dressmaker Miss Christine Pratt, and four carters (David Baldie, James Black, Thomas Laing and Thomas Morgan). All four of these carters had been coal miners earlier in life but were now employed to transport it. Miss Pratt also ran a Female Industrial School in the hamlet. One of the few mentions of this school was when pupils contributed entries to the annual horticultural shows at Largo. Mrs Leslie the grocer was Catherine Leslie, the widow of coal miner William. She was still a grocer in Woodside in 1891, aged 78 and died in 1898 aged 85.
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The most recent census results published date to 1921, when Woodside was home to a mix of farm workers, foresters, coal miners, crofters and employees of the nearby North British Railway Company. in 1933, the New Gilston and Woodside W.R.I. Hall was opened at Woodside. A substantial wooden construction, the hall "was formerly four houses, and was purchased in Largo for £35. It was transported to Woodside, where it was adapted to meet the requirements of the W.R.I. and erected by the men of the district. A new floor was laid." The Institute had been fund-raising for three years in order to obtain a hall. It remained in use for many years.

The pair of images above illustrate the changing face of Woodside over recent decades. The black and white photograph appeared in the book 'This is My Kingdom' by Charles Brister, published in 1972. Next to the image the author comments that "it is difficult to believe that these idyllic acres were once festooned with pit buildings". Although Woodside has not expanded in size since its initial development, many of the original dwellings have been modernised or replaced. More stories from Woodside are planned to follow in future posts but to round off for now, below is a rare example of a postcard from Woodside. The reverse side confirms that it was sent from Woodside, Largo and posted at Lower Largo. If you know of other Woodside postcards, or have any other old photographs of the place, or information on its history, please do get in touch.
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