​The previous post looked at flax cultivation and the preparation of the harvested flax for spinning within the mill that once operated in Lower Largo (shown in the photograph above in a later guise as an oil and cake mill). Following on from 'part 1', the drawing below shows the mill first floor plan and describes the "wet" spinning process, as well as providing other contextual information. To view this in a new window as a zoom-able PDF, please click here.

Once the flax was spun, 'reeling' or 'winding' took place. This was a labour-intensive process and described below. In the census of 1851 there were several folks described as 'yarn winders' in Largo, including 81-year-old George Kidd Senior and 13-year-old Isabel Bell. There were also a few recorded as 'pirn winders', which included 10-year-old George White and 12-year-old Caroline Lindsay. After winding, the spun yarn was dried. Full details of this and more are given in the drawing below - click here for a PDF version.
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Finally, to round off this two-parter, the drawing below shows the three levels of the main mill building in relation to the water wheel and the boiler and engine. The annotations indicate that the preparation of the flax took place on the ground floor, the spinning on the first floor and the reeling in the level above that. To view this as a PDF - click here. It was quite an operation and one that brought significant employment to the villages. In a future post it might be interesting to look more closely at some of the people that worked in the mill and what happened to them when it closed.
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Below are a couple of photographs taken inside a flax spinning mill in Arbroath. To see a film of a more modern (1940s) version of the flax spinning process, click the link below....

​www.youtube.com/watch?v=nspGz6xYzvg

Below is a detailed description by John Band of flax cultivation and processing, and the history of this particular site. To open this document as a PDF please click here. Note that 'retting' (the soaking of the flax in water) was a key part of the process. An example of a 'retting pond' (a small natural or artificial body of water used for the prolonged soaking of flax straw, in order to soften the woody tissue and enable the fibres to be separated) can still be seen at Silverburn Park.

Next, the drawing below shows scale plans of the 'heckle house' building, showing the probable use of the space within it at the time of the flax spinning operation and describing the initial steps in the process. To open this drawing as a PDF, click here. 
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​Finally, for this post (a part two is to follow), the drawing below features a ground floor plan for the main mill building and outlines the next stages in the process. A PDF of this can be opened by clicking here. In the next post, the actual 'spinning' part of the process will be detailed, along with the subsequent winding and drying, as well as much more information about the buildings at that time and the industry in general.
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The above photograph shows the Slee family of Edinburgh on holiday in August 1933, with part of the Temple visible in the background. The family came to Lower Largo annually from the early 1930s until the Second World War. Their visits began when the children had whooping cough and the doctor suggested some sea air. A book named "Two Generations of Edinburgh Folk" by Dorothy Slee (1993), describes the holidays as follows:

"Granny rented a cottage at Largo for us for a month and it was such a success that we returned there annually for six or seven years. The little rented cottages were at the far end of the village of Lower Largo, just across a narrow road from the beach. Happy and carefree, we spent more of our time on this beach - building sand castles, paddling, looking for crabs in the rocks, or floating in a large rubber inner tube".

The book was part of the 'Flashbacks' book series designed to reveal the daily lives of individuals in the context of their own time and place. Dorothy worked at the National Museums of Scotland who co-produced the series. The concept of the series was that everyone can contribute to the "total sum of knowledge of human history" and that "local and personal history" should be set alongside political and other kinds of history.
 

The second photograph above shows some members of the family sitting outside their rented cottage. It has since been demolished and replaced by the modern home that is now 5 The Temple. You can recognise the neighbouring house (number 7) which looks the same today.  Later in the Dorothy Slee's book there is a description of the entertainment on offer in Largo at the time:

"At the other end of the village by the Crusoe Hotel there would be pierrots and a Punch and Judy show to visit, where we would stand enraptured by the strains of "Oh, oh, Antonio" or "Why am I always the bridesmaid never the blushing bride?"....We would sometimes climb up Largo Law and always have a picnic at Shell Bay which meant a trek along the beach laden with picnic gear and, most importantly, Grandpa hugging the large yellow melon."

Below is the spot where the above photo was captured - the group sat by the low wall in the left hand foreground.

The above advert for the 'East Fife Co-operative Society' shops dates to 1965, just a few years before the closure of the Largo branch (which is mentioned in the list of stores above). The Largo branch was at west end of the main street next to the grocer's shop at 'Forthview'.  Initially a milliner's shop, this building had became a branch of 'Leven Reform Co-operative Society' by 1915. Some decades later, the Leven co-operative society merged with others in the area, taking the 'East Fife' name.  Below is an advert from 1925 inviting applications for the position of 'saleswoman' at this Largo branch (12 Sept Scotsman). 

Following on from the previous post about the 'Forthview Grocer's Shop', a trawl through our archives has revealed a selection of vintage adverts for this particular shop. In chronological order below, we have tenant grocer Thomas Cooper, who ran the shop after the death of original proprietor Robert Alexander in 1891 until his own early death in 1898. Note the wide range of beers listed and the fact that these were "carefully bottled on the premises".
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Next is an advert from the era of Peter Scott c1910s. Note that, as in the advert above, the grocer would call round local homes to take orders and then deliver them in the mornings.  Peter Scott started business in Lower Largo in 1906, coming from Dura Den. He actually found himself bankrupt in 1912 but managed to retain the grocer shop. He married fellow shop-keeper Catherine Simpson Bell in 1913. Catherine was the daughter of the green-keeper at the Lundin Ladies Golf Club and their marriage took place within her home - the green-keeper's cottage behind the ladies golf club house.
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Peter Scott died in 1931 and Catherine applied for a renewal of the shop's license before advertising the business for sale. The advert below must date to around that time. William Gould took on the grocer's and the final advert below dates from early on during his time in charge.

On the face of it, not much has changed since the above postcard view, entitled 'West End Lower Largo', was captured in the early 1930s. However, the use of the buildings on the right has changed significantly. In the 1930s, the painted sign above the shop on the far right reads "Leven Reform Co-operative Society Ltd", while the one to the left of it states "Peter Scott" who had a grocer shop there. In the centre of the 1930s shot, with the ladies standing outside doing a spot of window shopping, was "Mrs Davie", the ladies' and children's outfitter. Today there are no shops on this stretch of the street - all have been converted into housing long ago.

The buildings on the left hand side, originally known as 'Seaview', pre-date those on the right hand side by a good couple of decades. The buildings on the right (originally named 'Forthview Place') were built in 1887. The grocer shop above, labelled "Peter Scott", was originally occupied by Robert Alexander. He had been working as a grocer in Kirkton of Largo in the shop run by James White (who died in 1878) and his family. Robert married James White's daughter Janet in 1882 and they had a son, James White Alexander, in 1884.

As part of their move to the new Lower Largo premises seen above, Robert Alexander applied for a porter and ale license for the shop (see 19 Oct 1887 notice in Fife Herald below). However, this was unanimously refused because "within two hundred yards from this shop were two public houses and a fully licensed grocer's shop" (14 Nov 1888, Fife Herald).
The neighbouring shop (that would become the Co-op) was originally a milliner's shop run by Agnes Guthrie (nee Gilchrist). She was the wife of harbour master at the time, Henry Guthrie. 
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On 5 April 1891, when the census was taken, Robert, Janet and James Alexander (aged 6) were recorded at "Forth View Place Grocer's Shop". However, the very next month Robert Alexander died. He was aged only 33 years old. By this time the grocer's shop was licensed and in October 1891, Janet Alexander applied for a transfer of the license. She retained ownership of the business and had tenant grocers run it. In 1895 the tenant was Thomas Cooper. In 1905 it was Edward Guthrie. From 1906 Peter Scott was tenant grocer.

Janet Alexander died in May 1912 and her son James became owner of the shop. James had been working as a journeyman grocer under Peter Scott for a spell but was described as a fruiterer in Kirkton of Largo just before he went off to fight in the First World War. James Alexander was never to return - dying on 3rd May 1916. His name is the first in the alphabetical list on the Largo War Memorial. Peter Scott remained at the grocer's premises until the 1930s (becoming the proprietor rather than tenant during the 1920s). Willie Gould took over the grocer's around 1932.

The above painting by German-born artist Eugene Dekkert was recently sold mislabelled as 'St Monans Harbour'. Many will recognise it immediately as Largo Harbour. The same view is shown below from both c1900 and the present day. One key feature is missing from the painting, however. There is no railway viaduct. This is not because the painting pre-dates the building of the railway line. In fact, it has been deliberately left out - no doubt to create a nostalgic view of old Largo.

Dekkert was born in 1865 - eight years after the opening of the railway line. He came to live in Scotland and lived in first Glasgow and then the East Neuk of Fife in the early 20th century. He and his wife Emma were living in St Monans at both the 1901 and 1911 census. The fact that he lived there, along with the fact that he often painted the harbour at St Monans probably accounts for the inaccurate title on the painting above. It was said in 1906 that "the sea is never absent from his work" and that his style was "strongly individual". He had studied at the Academy in Munich as a student of Theodor Hummel.  

Presumably he returned to Germany at the time of the Great War. Later in life Dekkert participated in art exhibitions in Berlin, Dresden and Munich. Many of his works are in international as well as German museums, such as the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. Eugene Dekkert died in 1956.

This set of four poignant colour photographs show Largo Station mid-demolition back around 1970/71 (can anyone put a precise date on this?). Many thanks to Russell McLaren for kindly sharing these images, which were taken by his father. The family lived overlooking the station and were regular users of the train service. The photographs are taken from Station Park looking towards the sea, with the original 1857 station building in the foreground (partially demolished) and the later 1894 building on the far platform. Prior to demolition, the buildings had been stripped of valuable materials such as the roof tiles. Having closed in 1965 (the final passenger service running on 5 September) the station had sat derelict for a few years. By 1968 discussions had begun on converting the Largo Station site into a car park, with a view to reducing congestion on Main Street. This eventually came to fruition and the car park remains in use to this day. 

Below are a couple of images of Largo Station while still in use. Operational for more than a century, the station was once know for its well-kept gardens and attentive station masters - a great facility for locals and the start and end point of many a day trip and holiday. If you have memories or images of the station - please do get in touch. In the next post - details of the demolition of Lundin Links station.

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! 

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!