The opening of the Good Templar Hall in Lundin Mill was the result of years of planning and fund raising by members and friends of the Robinson Crusoe Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars. The above report from 28 May 1886 East of Fife Record tells us that it publicly opened on Saturday 22 May 1886. The builder of the hall was the Worthy Chief Templar Robert Gilchrist. Able to seat 200 people in the main space, there were also two ante-rooms and a stage. Heating was provided by a large stove in the basement, where coals were also stored. Gas lighting was installed both around the building and from a central gasalier (gas powered chandelier). The photograph below shows the interior of the hall a few years ago, prior to its conversion into a house.

The bazaar held in August 1886 cleared most of the outstanding costs of the hall. The Fife Herald (18 August 1886) above give some details of the stalls at the bazaar, which was opened by Dr Stuart Palm. The star items for sale were Robinson Crusoe related, recognising the name of the Lodge. After years of meeting in places such as the school room or a church, having a dedicated hall under the temperance banner was a great achievement for the Robinson Crusoe Lodge. Their "very substantial brick building" (see photograph below) was not only used by the Lodge but was made available for any other "good, moral and religious purpose". Some examples of the types of events that took place in the new hall are seen in the newspaper archives further below.

​In 1887, a concert was held in the hall in aid of Largo Reading Room (30 July Fife News). Also known as Lower Largo Library, the reading room came into existence around 1884, pre-dating the reading room at the Simpson Institute. Being the height of the summer season, concert performers were mainly visitors from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cupar. There was a trend over many decades for summer visitors to put on performances - making their own entertainment before the days of cinema.
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In 1898 (25 June Fife Free Press below) young members of Kirkcaldy's Pioneer Lodge of the Good Templars used the hall as part of their outing to Lundin Links. The following year, the annual picnic of the Kirkcaldy Town Mission Workers, made use of the hall for tea (19 August 1899 Fife Free Press).
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The Independent Order of Good Templars (I.O.G.T.) originated in Utica, New York State in 1851 and was introduced to Scotland by Thomas Roberts of Philadelphia in 1869. Deriving their name from the Knights Templars (because they were also 'fighting a great crusade' and legend is that the Knights drank 'sour milk'), the Good Templars adopted a similar organisational structure and regalia to the Freemasons. The principles behind the movement were "total abstinence enforced by a life-long pledge, and the absolute prohibition of the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxicating drinks as beverages".

The I.O.G.T. motto (adopted in 1852) was Faith, Hope and Charity. Organised into 'lodges' at local, district and national levels, each lodge was given the flexibility to "act according locality, time and circumstances". Unusually for the time, both sexes were admitted and were "on a perfect equality as to eligibility for office".  Juvenile lodges could be formed for young persons aged from 5 to 18 years of age. The juvenile motto was Truth, Love and Purity. A fringed sash was worn by members (see illustrative photograph above of an unknown I.O.G.T. group) decorated to varying degrees with badges and initials to indicate office held. These sashes seem to have come in different colours including a purplish-blue and a red (see coloured examples below).

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In addition to the Saturday evening meetings, the lodge held picnics, open air meetings and cycle trips (the I.O.G.T. had its own 'Cycling Corps'). In 1906, the Order changed its name to the International Order of Good Templars. And in later years the elaborate ceremonies and distinctive regalia were phased out. The movement lost ground as society faced each of the World Wars. After the Second World War, the I.O.G.T. repositioned itself around peace-related work. Although internationally it did recover, in Largo it would not be able to rebuild.

You can read more about the history of the I.O.G.T. worldwide here.

Following on from the previous post about Largo Curling Club, it is worth pointing out that for a time there were three curling ponds in the villages. The 1912 O.S. map above shows these three ponds (ringed and numbered in green): 

1. Lundin Links Curling Club's pond by the 9th tee of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club
2. Largo House Pond (original home of Largo Curling Club)
3. Upper Largo's artificial pond (created in 1905 for Largo Curling Club

When Largo Curling Club moved to their new artificial pond in Upper Largo in 1905, many of the curlers that lived in Lundin Links decided the time was right to create a new pond in their village too. Lundin Links Curling Club was formed around this time (not to be confused with the pre-existing Lundin and Montrave Curling Club that had been around since 1885 and had a pond on the Montrave estate). 

The above story from the 10 August 1905 Leven Advertiser tells us that discussions around the creation of a "curling pond for Lundin Links, Drummochy and Lower Largo" had begun. Robert Gilchrist, the Lundin Mill builder responsible for the Temperance Hall, led the meeting, where it was "unanimously agreed to form a curling club". Interestingly, the initial idea was to convert the tennis courts into a pond in winter by spraying them. The tennis courts had only been officially opened the previous month. This plan must have been quickly discounted, as the following year a different scheme had been set in motion.

The 27 December 1906 Leven Advertiser (below) refers to both Montrave and Upper Largo ponds before noting that the folks of Lundin Links had "set about realising the ambition of having a pond" and that it was to be "at the side of Fir Park". Note that this was 1906, and therefore was three years prior to the move of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club to its present course. So the nearest landmark at the time really was Fir Park (the substantial cluster of trees close to the Lundin Links Hotel). The "ample water supply" mentioned is the Hatton Burn.

The more detailed 1912 map above shows that there was a small building to the west of the pond, presumably for storage of the curling stones and other equipment (which were of course too heavy to be brought along for every match). Most ponds had a 'curling house' for this purpose, of varying degrees of grandeur. The curling house at the Gosford Estate in East Lothian is shown below.
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From its 1905 origins, the Lundin Links club continued for several decades. Various fund raising efforts took place over the years. For example, the above 'Great Jumble Sale' (December 1921) was in aid of new artificial rinks. This suggests that the original 1906 pond was something basic and more natural - the flooding of a low lying dip perhaps rather than a man-made surface. Below is an advert for a 'Grand Concert' in the Montrave Hall in April (Leven Advertiser). This concert was to raise money to repair the curling pond. Artistes came from Kirkcaldy to perform - arranged by Mrs Nisbet of Beffens. She performed herself in an "amusing sketch". There were two one-act plays, violin selections, songs, piano playing and recitations (21 April Dundee Telegraph). 
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As well as regular fund raising events, there were 'curlers' dinners'. The 4 March 1933 Fife Free Press describes one of these below. On this occasion, the Lundin Links Curling Club invited guests from neighbouring clubs Largo, Leven and Montrave to the Lundin Links Hotel. But the heyday of the Lundin Links Club would soon be over. In 1937, the club approached Largo Curling Club to discuss amalgamation. It is unclear what the outcome of this was but references to the Lundin Links Club in the newspapers peter out around this time. Notably, 1938 saw the opening of Kirkcaldy Ice Rink, a facility which would have starkly contrasted with the Lundin Links curling pond. The Second World War would have likely signalled the end of the club had it survived into 1939. If you know more about the demise of the Lundin Links Curling Club, please leave a comment. 
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On 10th February 1841 a petition was presented to Thomas Calderwood Durham, nephew of General James Durham, who was briefly proprietor of Largo House, before Admiral Sir Philip Charles Henderson Calderwood Durham. This asked for the continued use of Largo Pond for the purposes of curling. It notes that curling had "been so long a favourite pastime with the inhabitants of this place" and that now there was a movement "to constitute ourselves into a Society, called the 'Largo Curling Club'".

The petition was favourably received and permission was granted for the newly formed club to have Largo Pond as there home. Largo House Pond was the club's base until 1905 when an artificial pond was laid down in Upper Largo, behind Crichton Place, next to the Simpson Institute. It is thought that curling had already been played at Largo Pond for about a century before the 1841 petition. There were certainly other curling clubs active nearby. Cupar Curling Club had been instituted in 1775 for example and there were active clubs in Colinsburgh (Hercules), Leven  and Kilconquhar. 

The newspaper piece above by Largo bank agent John More Dall (from the St Andrews Citizen of 8 March 1924) goes on to note that Largo Curling Club quickly affiliated with the Royal Caledonian Curling Club (the governing body of the sport, which had been established in 1838). A key figure in formalisation of the Largo Club was James Bardner, who was the club's first president. He was a farmer - a long-time tenant of Chesterstone Farm - who was a five-time president of the club before his death in 1872, aged 55. The Fifeshire Journal (6 Jan 1842) reported on the first anniversary meeting of the Largo Curling Club (see below). James Bardner (misspelled in the piece) presided over the evening. Held at Bell's Inn in Lundin Mill, the meeting confirmed the "encouraging prospects of their yet infant society".

Another important member of the club was John Whyte, farmer at Lundin Mill Farm. He was president, skip for many years and the outright winner of the biscuit box presented by Mrs Briggs of Strathairly (having won it three times). He eventually retired to Cupar in 1896. The photograph above from the book 'Seatoun of Largo' by Ivy Jardine shows a group of Largo curlers at Largo House pond before the move to the new pond (looking north west, the row of trees that then lined the entrance track to Largo Home Farm can be seen on the right). Another noteworthy member and skilled player was Donald Thomson, who had retired to Largo following many years of service to the Duke of Atholl. A "kind-hearted Highlander", Donal had outstanding talent as a curler, was a skip and a president of the club and secretary for eight years. Presidents of the Club were appointed annually and so were too numerous to mention in the 1924 history of the club. However, below is a list of the club secretaries from 1840 until 1924.
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Above is a list of the trophies competed for (as at 1924) and below is a list of the club Chaplains over the early decades.

Also from the 1924 piece in the St Andrews Citizen is the summary below of a memorable game played in 1881. Notable for a number of reasons, this game saw Largo triumph over neighbouring Leven club in a match that had only men named John playing and which ended with a great snowstorm. The Largo team had to walk home over the beach - the roads having been made impassable.

A milestone in the club's history was the move to the new purpose-built rink in Upper Largo in 1905. This event also triggered the exodus from the club of many curlers that lived in Lundin Mill. They left to form a pond of their own - the journey to Upper Largo deemed too far in comparison to Largo House perhaps. More on that to follow in a future post. 

The pond at Largo House froze over slowly and with winters less severe than they had been in past decades, a move to an artificial pond made sense. Incidents like the one below (7 February 1901 Leven Advertiser) must have hastened the planning of such a move. The new pond could be sprayed with a thin layer of water that would freeze quickly with no risk of anyone falling through the surface. Moreover the new venue could be lit with electric light (16 lamps in all) - thanks to the ingenuity of Thomas Wishart. Upper Largo joiner Agnew Broomfield erected a fine clubhouse at the pond. Part of this can be seen in the photo below of the new pond in its early years (this picture appears in the book 'Largo: An Illustrated History' by Eunson and Band).

Just as technological advances enabled the artifical rink with its electric lighting, so further advances would result in this pond itself falling out of use. Indoor rinks began to appear and in the 1920s, Largo teams visited Edinburgh to play indoors. In 1938 Kirkcaldy Ice Rink opened (see 8 October 1938 Fife Free Press below). Times were changing but play continued at Upper Largo for many years after the locals had had their first taste of indoor curling. Improvements were made to the pond over the decades.
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The club's centenary coincided with the Second World War and by the 1950s big changes would take place in the story of Largo Curling Club. At the 1952 Annual General Meeting reference was made to the club moving back to original location (i.e. Largo House Pond), suggesting that the artificial pond had become disused. Finally in 1955, the advert below appeared in the ​29 June Dundee Courier. The sounds very much like the club selling off some of its fixtures and equipment. The club survived these changing times and still continues to this day - playing indoors at Kirkcaldy. You can find out more about the present day club here. Further information about the club - memories, photos and facts - would be very welcome - please comment or click the 'contact' link.

The newspaper piece above from the 11 February 1864 Fifeshire Journal summarises a curling match between Largo Curling Club and their counterparts from Kennoway. Winters were colder at this time, allowing annual schedules of curling matches to take place. This particular one "came off on Largo Pond". This was the rink adjacent to Largo House shown in blue on the 1893 O.S. map below. The occupant of Largo House at this time was Mrs Dundas Calderwood Durham, who clearly took an interest in 'the roaring game', as she watched at least some of this three-hour event. Largo emerged victorious.

Above in an image of another 1860s match from Fife - one held at Raith Lake in Kirkcaldy - from the book 'Curling: An Illustrated History' by David B Smith. It gives an impression of the fashion and the equipment in use at the time. Such a match required an umpire and filling the role on Largo Pond in 1864 was well-known character Nicol Malcolm, a farmer from Dubbieside (Innerleven) and a curler with Leven's club. He had a hand in the establishment of Lundin Golf Club in 1868. Below is a memorial to Nicol from the 1900 Fife New Almanac, some years after his death, complete with a photograph of him taken by John Patrick. 

More on the history of Largo Curling Club to follow...

​The old walled garden of Largo House, which sits between the main mansion and the Largo Home Farm, is a 2.7 acre area that once contained formally laid out working gardens (see 1854 map above). The garden included an orchard, glasshouses, extensive fruit and vegetable beds, hedges and neat paths lined with herbaceous borders (see image below from Canmore collection, captured in 1901 by Lady Henrietta Gilmour Montrave).

A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls. While the walls provide protection from animals and intruders, they are primarily there for horticultural reasons. They protect the produce from wind and frost and can raise the temperature within the garden by a few degrees. The walls absorb and retain heat from the sun and release it slowly. South-facing high walls create their own microclimate and are suited for growing more tender plants that wouldn't survive in an unenclosed garden. Many estate mansion houses had their own walled garden, suppling fresh fruit and vegetables to the household and providing a pleasant place to walk and grow flowers. Many had glasshouses, some with artificial heat from stoves or similar, enabling exotic plants to be grown.

A series of highly-skilled gardeners cared for Largo House's walled garden over the decades, including Thomas Stewart, Thomas Blair, Colin McTaggart, Robert Smith and Peter Keay. These men regularly took part in horticultural competitions, winning prizes for their produce. Above is just one of many examples that can be found in the newspaper archives. This piece from the 5 September 1861 Dunfermline Press shows Colin McTaggart securing prizes at the Fifeshire Horticultural Society Exhibition in many categories. These included 'Stove or greenhouse plants, in pots', French marigolds, African marigolds, hand-bouquets, plums, greengages, Jargonelle pears, baking apples, gooseberries, cauliflowers, red cabbage and onions.  Such reports provide a useful insight to the varieties being grown and consumed at Largo House at the time.
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Over the years many day excursionists enjoyed a visit to the gardens, often guided by the gardener. For example in 1852, 180 workers from the Haugh spinning mill in Windygates were shown round the "blooming and richly adorned" gardens by the "very attentive" Thomas Blair (2 Sept Fife Herald). The steps which lead off the walled garden to the west (see postcard image above) are still there today (see below). The Largo Village Book of 1932 refers to this "long flight of steps" that leads up to the "old garden" close to Sir Andrew Wood's Tower. At the top of the steps "one walks round a broad grass walk, high above the other garden and the present house. The centre of this old garden slopes down to the middle on all sides".
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The main walled garden seems to have been in active use for a couple of centuries. The aerial photograph below (held by Historic Environment Scotland) shows it in the 1930s, when there are signs of planting and of an intact glasshouse. Further below is another image showing the walled garden from outside its north edge. A walled enclosure and further glasshouses seem to have been located here on the outside of the wall.
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Many historic walled gardens have been restored to their former use in recent times and, excitingly, there are plans to make the Largo House walled garden productive again and allow access for visitors and volunteers. The plan is to produce flowers, fruit and vegetables once again. For more information and updates see:

www.facebook.com/largoestatefife

To see a nearby comparable walled garden restoration project, which has been in progress for a number of years, see Amisfield Walled Garden in East Lothian. Also a late 18th century garden, this garden had been long neglected before work began in 2006 on its restoration. Progress since then has been impressive and it is now a thriving community garden. See image below and here for more details:

https://www.amisfield.org.uk/

The above photograph will bring back memories for many who remember the shop at the west part of what was Defoe Place (now 3 Main Street), Lower Largo. Thomas Potter had the shop prior to Max Jurecki and this picture shows him standing at its door. There are some great details in this image. Note the advertising signs at each end of the premises - promoting 'Golden Virginia' hand rolling tobacco on the left and 'Wall's' ice cream on the right. Above the door is 'Player's Cigarettes' sign and to the right of the door an advert for 'Ilford' film.

This building housed the village Post Office for many years prior to this time, with three generations of the Welsh family running it. It was still the Post Office at the time of the photo, as can be seen from the sign to the left of the door. This was the standard old sign displayed at all Post Offices. The same one hung on the wall of Miss Bremner's Post Office in Lundin Links and is shown in more detail below. The Lower Largo Post Office later moved along to 91 Main Street.
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Postcards were clearly a big seller at this shop with an elaborate outdoor display board showcasing 'Valentine's' postcards. You can almost work out which vintage postcards are on show from the detail below from the photograph. There is a selection of novelty postcards in the lower right corner of the display (Scottie dog, lucky heather, etc). Hundreds of visitors must have purchased and sent postcards from here.

The Daily Record newspaper headline board has the enticing headline "Meet the Beatles in Person!" (dating the image to after they rose to fame in late 1962). The shop also had a Public Telephone (see sign above the door). I wonder whether that facility pre-dated the telephone box at the Orry. Finally to the right of the picture is a wonderful vintage car with the registration OSP 4. Does anyone recognise it?  Please share any memories of this shop if you can by commenting. Changes to the property over the years shown below.
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These two Lundin Links street scenes featured on a multi-view postcard. The above (circa 1908) is the junction of Leven Road, Emsdorf Street and Links Road, looking down towards Peacehaven (originally Mr Gerrard's Villas) in the centre distance. It's a busy scene filled with people (not cars like today) plus a horse and cart. An aproned man is pushing some provisions in the direction of the cart - perhaps ready for the daily delivery of grocery orders from one of the shops. A lady with children is walking down near Crescent Road, while some very smartly dressed women are passing by Hogg's Pharmacy. Might they have been heading to the Lundin Links Hotel from the railway station? The Pharmacy and its neighbouring buildings replaced old cottages in 1903. The year 1903 also saw the telephone arrive in Lundin Links - note the huge telegraph pole on the right of the shot.

The second scene takes place at the junction of Crescent Road, Leven Road and Woodielea Road (not a place to linger in the middle of the road these days). Note the contrast between the playful school girls headed in the direction of Lundin Mill School and the prim looking ladies facing the camera, crossing the main road. The house on the corner to the right is Aldersyde (then occupied by the Gullands). There is a notice attached to the railings of this house - maybe advertising the Gullands' business along the street. Next to Aldersyde is Heatherlie. It's fun to imagine who all the people in these images were and what they were all doing on that one day from a bygone era.

The image above was one of a series taken by the George Washington Wilson studio to showcase the new buildings of Lundin Links around 1900. As well as this view of the approach to the village from the station, photographs were taken of the newly completed hotel, the smart row of shops, the golf club house and the many new villas. However, a slightly incongruous-looking part of old Lundin Mill can still be seen in the above image if you look closely. 

Shown more closely in the detail below, in front of the Lundin Links Hotel, is a row of old cottages. By the time that this image was captured these old buildings' days were numbered. By 1903, the cottages had been demolished and the corner of Emsdorf Street and Links Road (then Station Road) had been transformed, with the Pharmacy as the centrepiece.

The census information from 1901 and earlier decades, tells us a bit about these replaced dwellings. The cottage at the far west end (to the left in the image below) was unsurprisingly known as "West End Cottage". Next to it was an unnamed cottage occupied by none other than Jumpin' Jimmy Methven. Next came "Ivanhoe Cottage" (its later replacement kept the same name). And finally (just before Bellville) there was "Meldrum Cottage". It was so named because it belonged to Jean Hogg (nee Meldrum) who lived there with her daughter Julia. Julia Hogg later lived in Mill Wynd and met with a tragic death in 1897.
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The view looking along Station Road towards the Lundin Links Hotel was one that was often recaptured over the years and the examples below, taken not long after the one above, shows that the cottages have been replaced with the West Emsdorf Street shops and joined by the eight terraced houses of Park Terrace (now part of Links Road). The four shops and neighbouring tenements were built by Walter Horne and the newspaper piece further below from the 5 February 1903 Leven Advertiser shows that they were under construction early in the year. Later reports tell us that the shops were open by July and that a concrete footpath had been laid in front of them.

The above postcard, sent in August 1903, is significant to this blog, not so much for the image of Lucerne Railway Station, but for the recipient and the short message on the front. The postcard was sent to Master Joe Bennet, Mayfield, Lundin Links. Mayfield (along with Eastfield) is a striking double villa on Leven Road and was written about here recently. The houses were built for John Bennet. Joe was his young son, aged around eight at the time he received this message. Although the family lived in Edinburgh most of the time, they were clearly spending summer at their Lundin Links house at this time. Although it is unclear who sent the card, it was clearly someone who know Joe and Lundin Links well. Here is the message:

Wouldn't Mr Robertson take a fit if he had a station like this to look after at Lundin Links!

This refers to Robert Robertson, the station master at Lundin Links railway station. Lucerne station was of course a grand city station - a stark contrast to the small station at Lundin Links, which in 1903 was still a single building, short platformed affair, largely unchanged since the 1850s (as seen below in a circa 1900 image). Robert was born in Kilconquhar in 1860 - the early days of the railway in the East of Fife. By the time of the 1891 census, he was married with one daughter and working as a signalman at Kingsbarns Station. A couple of years later, he moved to Lundin Links and, by the 1901 census, he was living in the station master's house with his wife, mother-in-law and three children (Magdeline, Janet and David).

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Two years after the humorous postcard message was sent, Mr Robertson's station was given a major upgrade. Perhaps not quite elevating it to Lucerne standards but nevertheless quite a step up for a village station. The report below from the 23 November 1905 Leven Advertiser describes the extent of the changes. The "new group of buildings" included a booking office, a general waiting room and a ladies waiting room. The platform was greatly lengthened. Mr Robertson and his family were given an "improved dwelling house" within the old station building.
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The photograph above shows the expanded station where Mr Robertson would remain station master for the rest of his days. Sadly, the First World War saw the Robertsons lose their only son David at the age of 22. The extract below from the 28 October 1916 Fife Free Press tells of how he was a bright young man with a promising future. As the 28 June 1923 Leven Advertiser further below suggests, Robert never fully recovered from the loss of his son and his health gradually declined until his death in 1923. During his thirty years at Lundin Links Station he was "always to be found at the post of duty" providing "entire satisfaction to the thousands who travelled to Lundin Links". He was a man who didn't need the lure of a huge city station like Lucerne!
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