The previous post covered the origins of the Largo Field Naturalists' Society and the role of seedsman, florist and fruiterer Charles Howie in its establishment. The first decade of the Society's existence was focussed on monthly meetings, regular "conversaziones" and, most importantly, its annual horticultural fete. Contributors to these floral gatherings included several head gardeners, such as Largo House's Colin McTaggart, Robert Adamson of Balcarres, Mr Hunter from Charleton and Mr Christie of Kilconquhar House. The early horticultural fetes were held in Keil's Den (pictured above). The excerpt below from the 20 August 1863 Fifeshire Journal describes how people arrived by train in 1863 and were transferred by carriage to the entrance. Visitors enjoyed the "green slopes of the Keil" as well as the "shade of its lofty trees passing along its winding walks".

The inaugural event left the Society with a surplus of funds, which they used to form a "cottage and garden section". The intention of this was encourage local people to take pride in their outside spaces by awarding prizes for  the produce of cottage gardens. Over the next decade, this section of the fete thrived and became the leading feature of the annual event. A substantial prize fund distributed among winners and special prizes and medals were donated by such individuals as retailer Charles Jenner and Glasgow goldsmith James Mark, who were among the 60 strong membership of the Society. In 1872, a complimentary dinner was laid on for Charles Howie in recognition of his hard work on behalf of the Largo Field Naturalists. The description below from the 22 March East of Fife Record mentions that a photograph of the five original members (Charles Howie, Benjamin Philp, William Wood, Robert Adamson and James Bardner) hung on the wall at the dinner.

The marquee at the revamped fete in 1875 was visited by upwards of 1000 visitors per day, generating a good nest egg for the following year. Largo Horticultural Society (later Largo and Newburn Horticultural Society) continued to successfully run the annual fete every year for decades (in fact the Society still exists today and regularly puts on flower shows and plant sales). The venue for the annual show varied over the years, even returning to Keil's Den on occasion. As Lundin Links developed, the show moved there. The advert below is for the 1898 show held in Homelands Park. This was the first of many shows held in Lundin Links, much to the indignation of the traditionalists of Upper Largo. Sport became a popular addition to the show and over the years this included races, tug of war, treasure hunts, 'pillow fights', the 'slow cycle race' and the mind-boggling 'musical chairs on cycles'!  

While the Horticultural Society had its fun, the Largo Field Naturalists' Society continued its more academic pursuits. After 16 years in existence, the opportunity arose for the field naturalists to acquire the Old Parish School on Upper Largo's North Feus. This was vacated in 1879, with the completion of the new Kirkton School. In fact, it was Charles Howie who purchased the old school building - see 1885 valuation roll extract below. This afforded the Society a proper space in which to display the objects collected over the years and also the potential to expand their collection. The aim was now to build up a collection "illustrative of the Natural History and Archaeology of the county" at the Museum. A plan was also made to turn the garden area into a miniature Botanic Garden. 
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Following a refit, the opening of the museum was marked by a Loan Exhibition (advertised below). On display on two tables in the centre of the hall was a large collection of the flora of Japan, courtesy of Mr Charles Jenner of Edinburgh, who was present at the opening. Also on display were many flora of Fife, dried seaweeds, numerous cases of butterflies, fossils, crystalized rocks, shells, buffalo and tiger skins, a gold nugget and carved models in parrot coal. A star attraction was a flip can used by Alexander Selkirk while exiled on the Island of Juan Fernandez. 

Mr Gilmour of Montrave had loaned many items from Canada including stuffed seals, beavers, lynx and badgers as well as woodwork and oil paintings. Messrs David Russell and Co. of Largo and Burntisland donated samples of Calcutta and Azof linseed, American and Egyptian cottonseed and wild Danubian rape seed, with cakes made from the same as well as bottles of oil in the crude and refined states. Mr Mark the jeweller of Glasgow gave a large collection of coins and medals. 
Mr Jeffrey of Largo House showed a fine Indian shawl, while Mrs Rintoul of Lahill offered an olive wood cabinet which had been made in Jerusalem. Pot plants from the gardens of Largo House tastefully decorated the hall. At this time the Society President was Henry Petheram and the joint-Secretaries were Charles Howie and Benjamin Philp.

The Museum's permanent collection was made accessible to school pupils and the general public. New donations were regularly received and it soon contained "magnificent specimens of nearly all the birds and beasts indigenous to the county". Charles Howie continued his detailed botanical studies and in 1889 published his book "The Moss Flora of Fife and Kinross". A sample of his dried moss specimens, including some from Largo Law is shown below. However, as Howie and many other Society members aged, what would the future hold for the Largo Field Naturalists and their Museum?  More to follow in the next post.
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As a follow-up to the previous post about the Crusoe 300 event in August 1976, here are a few more images from the extensive programme of events that took place.  Perhaps the highest profile event that took place in Lundin Links was the 'It's A Knockout' competition that took place on Thursday 19th on the Common. This was an inter-village contest plus an inter-school contest, with Kirkland High School (The Crusoe Castaways) pitted against Buckhaven High School (The Buckhaven Buckaneers). In the photograph above the Elmwood Boarding House/Private Hotel can be seen in the background.

The Law Race took place on 17th August, leaving from 'Kirkton Park' (by the cricket ground) in Upper Largo.  The image above of the runners setting off shows the manse on the left and the East Lodge on the right. There were separate races for under 12s, 12-16 and over 16s. Below is the Gymkhana that was held in a field behind Horne's Service Station on 20th August.

On the 15th August, the Paraclan of Glenrothes did a free-fall parachute jump into Largo Bay close to the Pier (see photo above) while the previous day there had been a display of classic cars at Station Car Park (shown below).
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​Also on 15th was the above display on the Pier by the Fourth Royal Tank Regiment. Meanwhile, Lundin Links saw an 'American' tournament of tennis at Lundin Sports Club (in full flow in the image below). Something for everyone....

The scene above of Lundin Golf Course dates to circa 1900. There are a number of distinctive golfers in the photograph, including a young caddie on the left of the group of three and a well-dressed chap further left who appears to have brought his dog with him. The slim golf bags contain far fewer clubs than today and everyone is sporting hats and jackets.

The background is no less interesting. Lundin Links train station is in the centre, complete with a steaming engine pulling a number of carriages. The blown-up image below flags a few points of interest:

1. Aithernie - shown as a private house prior to the extension added in 1906 (this is now the Old Manor Hotel)
2. Steam engine at station platform
3. Original station building - before the addition of a second station building shortly afterwards
4. Haworth Cottage (adjacent to Leven Road)
5. Gardens of Haworth (main house) and Homelands (both obscured by trees)

The slightly later photograph further below shows both the extension to Aithernie and the second station building, plus Haworth can be seen through the trees. The sloping land between features 4 and 5 would eventually be filled by the houses and gardens of the west part of Links Road.

Golfers, day trippers and summer visitors were important users of Lundin Links station. There was also a small amount of freight traffic. According to 'The Leven & East of Fife Railway' by Hajducki, Jodeluk and Simpson, this consisted:

"...largely of inward traffic of coal from the Fife Coal company and the Wemyss Coal Co. through merchants such as Thomson & Small and an outward traffic of potatoes from merchants such as John A.D. Steins and Isaac Poad & Sons Led. Until World War I there was a regular traffic in horses and horse-drawn carriages destined for the large houses in the village. Other traders who used the small goods yard in the years before the World War I included D.M. Patrick, golf club and golf ball manufacturers, and W.Dick coach builders."

The house of David Murdoch Patrick can be seen in the very top image (house with triple apex roof towards the right hand side above the bunker). This was the only house on Golf Road at that point. Today it is gaining a new neighbour (see below).

Largo Bay and its towns and villages have been captured by many an artist over the years. Discovering an old painting of the area is always fascinating, particularly if its old enough to include features that are long gone. The above watercolour is taken from just outside Leven, looking east to Largo Law and Lundin Links.  A very familiar view but this time framed by the drying fishing nets. Dating to the late nineteenth century, this was a time when salmon net fishing was carried on in the bay. The nets extended from the shore far into the sea on stakes. By all accounts the fortunes of the salmon fishermen fluctuated widely over the years. However, 1870 seems to have been a good year as the 14 July Fife Herald notes below.

The second painting below - by the same unknown artist - features the old mill at Lower Largo, framed by an arch of the viaduct. A degree of artistic license has been used here, as there were actually two, rather than three, rows of windows on the main building. However, it captures the essence of the site as it used to be.

The Durham Hall, on Durham Wynd in Lower Largo, was originally built as a school circa 1860 as a replacement for an earlier school which was located on what is now the Temple car park.  After it ceased to be a school, it seems to have eventually become quite run down.  However, thanks to the efforts of locals, including many local tradesmen, it was repaired and refurbished in the 1950s.  By August 1957, after it had been acquired by the Largo St. David's Church, it was reopened as a hall.  One of the first events held in the revamped hall was Woman's Guild sale of work.  As the photograph below shows, the event was very well attended.  The Leven Mail of 14 August said that...

"...even this new hall wasn't quite large enough to hold the enormous crowd that turned up for the sale.  Besides being packed to capacity inside, there was a queue many yards long outside waiting to be allowed in - and there was a slight drizzle of rain; that's how enthusiastic these Largo and Lundin Links people were to support their church."

The sale was opened by Mrs A.H. Muriset (of the Lundin Links Hotel) who was introduced by Rev. George Watt.  Mrs Muriset remarked that many people, like herself, would remember the hall as a school, and later as an A.R.P centre during the war.  Rev. Watt apologised for the ongoing work at the entrance to the hall, where drains and water pipes were still being laid.  He joked that he hoped no one had fallen into one of the many holes in the ground that remained around the entrance.  The hall has continued to be well-used by the community over the past 50+ years.  If you have memories of events held here, please comment.

Very little seems to have changed during the period between the capturing of these two images of the seafront to the east of the Crusoe Hotel.  The black and white image is undated but appeared as a postcard in the 1960s.  A quick 'spot the difference' shows that a chimney stack has been removed from the sea-facing end of the Crusoe Hotel,  The hotel's immediate neighbour, the Old Baptist Meeting House, has been transformed into a holiday cottage - whitewashed and extended.  Some trees in the background have grown but overall the scene is reassuringly similar.

The Crusoe Hotel was built in 1824 as a granary, although from very early days the end of the building closest to the sea was used as an inn.  The original appearance of the building is shown above.  The roof is of uniform height and style over the full length of the building. However, on the evening of 8th January 1911 a serious fire broke out in a room on the third storey of the inn.  According to the next day's Evening Telegraph, the Buckhaven Fire Brigade were summoned, by the proprietor Mr Thomas Lumsden, and arrived within 30 minutes.  By that time, flames were bursting through the roof.  Unfortunately, the tide was out and the fire brigade had to rely instead on the Keil Burn. The top floor was completed gutted but the fire was prevented from spreading to other floors or to the adjoining granary, stores and stables.  Water damage did however contribute to overall damage of £1,000.  As the fire started in a room not occupied for over 24 hours, the cause of the blaze was not known.

After the fire damage, the building was repaired and modernized.  The notable change was to the roof, with the beach-side of the building featuring a flat roof.  Perhaps this design proved to be leaky, as it was eventually replaced with the present roof - now higher on the sea-side than the other side.  In 1920, the granary was converted into a tearoom, extending the facilities of the hotel, by the owner Mr Howard Barnes Moss. Its license was granted on the condition that no liquor be sold in the tearoom.  The most recent major change to the building was the early 1990s extension (see lower right image) which runs perpendicular to the main building.

On Easter Sunday back in 1973 (and quite possibly also other years) a "Dawn Service" was held at the top of Largo Law.  Starting at 6am, around 100 people were met at the summit with bagpipe playing and a bonfire, assembling around a wooden cross.  According to the East Fife Mail of 25 April 1973, the Rev. Douglas Lister, as part of his Easter message, told the gathering:

"For centuries on the headlands of Britain like this, our ancestors, Druids and Norsemen among them, gathered to celebrate the return of Spring and, by bonfires, to send their messages across the land - warnings of danger, signals of victory."

If you ever attended such an occasion up the Law, or if you have memories of rolling eggs down it, or other local Easter-related recollections - please comment.

It was recently suggested by a visitor to this website that a view of Largo Harbour prior to the building of the viaduct would be of interest.  I've never heard of such a photograph existing (if you know otherwise, please get in touch), nor had I seen any artwork of such a scene.  So the challenge was set to mock something up myself - and here it is.  I'm not an artist and this may contain historical inaccuracies, but at least this sketch gives the general impression of the area without the viaduct.

With the village of Drummochy on the left and Seatoun of Largo on the right, the two villages were separated by the mouth of the Keil Burn - connected only by a rickety wooden footbridge at a point further away from the sea than the current road bridge.  The chimney of the flax spinning mill (later to become Largo Oil and Cake Mill) rises up behind the Drummochy cottages, yet sits on the opposite side of the burn.  The Crusoe Hotel building would still have been partly in use as a granary, partly as an inn.  The harbour itself would most probably be busy with boats and often a hive of activity.

When building of the viaduct began in 1856 it must have caused quite a stir.  An image of it under construction would be fascinating to see.  By the time the railway opened in 1857, the villages would never be the same again.

On this day in 1885 this statue in memory of Alexander Serkirk was unveiled in Lower Largo. Selkirk of course provided the inspiration for the story Robinson Crusoe and the statue shown in this postcard (sent in 1905) is on the site of his original home on the Main Street. Showing Selkirk clad in goatskins, awaiting rescue from the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile, the bronze statue was unveiled by Lady Aberdeen.

David Gillies of Cardy House, a descendant of the Selkirks, donated the statue which was created by Thomas Stuart Burnett.  The plaque beneath 
reads, "In memory of Alexander Selkirk, mariner, the original of Robinson Crusoe who lived on the island of Juan Fernández in complete solitude for four years and four months. He died 1723 of HMS Weymouth, aged 47 years. This statue is erected by David Gillies, net manufacturer, on the site of the cottage in which Selkirk was born."

The Fife Herald of 16 December 1885 described the scene on the day of the unveiling ceremony...

"Lower Largo was "en fete".  Bunting and ever-greens met one at every turn.  Floral arches were here and there thrown across the main thoroughfares.  At the Crusoe Hotel was an arch (the first to catch the eye on coming down from the station) with the words "Welcome here the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen".  On the other side (the last to attract notice on leaving Largo) was the inscription "Will ye no come back again!"  On the other arches were displayed such mottoes as "Weel may the Boatie Row" - a song which has special application to Largo - , "Robinson Crusoe now we see, good and great at last", "Labour always conquers" and "May Cardy Works Flourish".

A temporary platform covered in ever-greens was erected in front of "Crusoe's Cottage" and a procession and speeches took place in front of a large crowd (more detail on this to follow in tomorrow's post).