One of the summer attractions of days gone by were 'games' that took place at many a town or village. For a spell Largo/Lundin Mill had its own version of this. The above notice from 11 July 1907 Leven Advertiser advertises that particular year's event. The venue was Sandilands Park (close to the east end of Leven Road) - a site which was handy for the railway station and which at that time was still undeveloped. The 25 July 1890 East of Fife Record below reports on an earlier games, held at a similar location ("ground near Lundin Links station"). Some results are detailed for the wide range of contests that were on offer. As well as the more serious athletic contests, races for 'old men' and 'old women' were held. It doesn't sound quite right for these to be described as "particularly amusing"! I also wonder how old you had to be to qualify for these 'old' folks races.

The origins of the games are unclear but in 1888, the newspapers reported on the case of a man who was charged with "collecting funds for the Lundin Mill Games....all of which funds he had appropriated for his own uses." Apparently it had been "for some years practice to have annual games at Lundin Mill but this year there were no such games." The prisoner had spent the money drinking with a number of companions. His sentence was 10 days in prison. So the games perhaps went back to at least circa 1870s. Newspaper archives tell us that the games restarted in 1889 and definitely took place in 1890 and 1897. In 1897 the games took place on the "green in front of Lundin Mill villas", which was the undeveloped south side of Crescent Road - shown below and discussed here. The games must have lapsed again soon afterwards, as in 1904 the Leven Advertiser of 1 September told of how they had once again been "revived" and that "local lads and visitors met in keen rivalry". However, as the village grew, and permanent sporting facilities (such as tennis and bowls) were laid on, the demand for such 'games' diminished and they fizzled out in their traditional format. 

For many decades a list of the summer visitors to Largo was published in the local papers. The above is an early example from the 20 August 1875 East of Fife Record. Compared with later years, this list was relatively short. Later examples were more extensive - once the boarding houses and 'marine villas' of Lundin Links had built around the turn of the century and several developments had taken place in Lower Largo. Nevertheless, even in the 1870s, both Lower Largo and Lundin Mill were known as sea-bathing destinations. The extract below from the 1877 Worrall's Directory speaks of the "considerable number of handsome villas at Lundin Links which are let out to families in the bathing season." These were the early developments at Crescent Road and close to the station.

The list above indicates that the majority of visitors came from Edinburgh - a trend started by the steamers that ran in the early 19th century and accelerated by the arrival of the railway in 1857. However, during this era it was also common for visitors to come to Largo from the inland Fife towns and villages such as Cupar and Auchtermuchty, seeking some sea air and bathing. Some properties are named (such as Viewforth, Marine Villa, Craigie Bank, Goodsir House, Sea View, Drum Lodge and Murree Lodge) while others are recorded by the proprietor's name (e.g. Mrs Davie, Mrs Butters and Mrs Clunie). 

One of the visitors mentioned in the 1875 visitors' list is T.C. Glover at Bombay Cottage. Also known as Bombay Lodge, this property was at the Temple (likely number 23) and was owned by well-known civil engineer Thomas Craigie Glover (pictured inset). He owned the property during the 1860s and 1870s and named it after the part of India where he had lived for a long spell and where some of his children had been born. 

His obituary below from the 16 July 1904 St Andrews Citizen tells his interesting life story - from his birth in Leith, to his training as a civil engineer, spell in America and three decades in India where he directed many large engineering projects, including railways, Bombay docks and a huge dam at Tansa. He frequently returned to Scotland for holidays and owned a fine yacht.

He eventually retired to Earlsferry, where he purchased Earlsferry House and became Provost of the place. There is a Glovers Wynd named after him in the village. You can read more about his time there here:

http://www.eliehistory.com/explore/earlsferry-house-part1/
http://www.eliehistory.com/explore/earlsferry-house-part-2/
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He sold Bombay Lodge in 1877, with its five bedrooms, coach house and stable, croquet lawn and vegetable garden (see 1 June East of Fife Record advert at foot of this post). 

The postcard scene above, from the Valentine's series, has much going on within it worth comment. It can be dated to between 1911 (when the flat roof was created on the seaward end of the Crusoe Hotel) and 1914 (when the postcard was sent). A huge Union Jack flag can be seen flying from the hotel's flag pole. The tide is fairly high and there are fifteen boats within shot - a mixture of working vessels and pleasure craft. A couple of rowing boats appear to be setting off via the channel between the pier and the Lundies (the rocks to the right of the pier). 

Below we can see a woman in what is probably the uniform of a domestic servant or nanny - black dress, white apron and white lacy cap. Whether she is in charge of the boy to the right is unclear. The road surface is rough and uneven, and the obstacles in the shape of mooring posts, ropes and baskets are many. Cart wheel tracks can just about be made out rounding the corner past the Railway Inn onto Main Street.
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​The other area of zoomed in detail below shows the structure and surface of the pier in good detail. There are several mooring posts and some evidence of fishing gear. People including a boy plus a dog are enjoying watching the hubbub of the harbour. Also notable are the long wooden poles and laddered 'A' frame structures piled up against the harbour W.C. wall. Perhaps someone can comment on how these would have been used?  

All in all, I love this atmospheric scene and only wish I could step back in time and walk through it - taking in the sights, sounds and smells!

Here is Thomas Graham Wishart posing with his creation - the 'Largo' 2 H.P. motorcycle. Manufactured within his own workshop at East End, Upper Largo, this model featured a battery, coil ignition and a belt drive. Boasting a maximum speed of 45 mph, this vehicle managed 150 miles to the gallon. Wishart was born in 1871 and, while still a young man, set up a 'made to measure' cycle business. This flourished and over time developed into a motor business. He became well-known for his invention - the Wizard Carburettor - which saved petrol and increased acceleration. 

The photograph above appeared in a 1977 East Fife Mail, as it had been part of an exhibition at Kirkcaldy Industrial Museum. A member of the Wishart family had donated a series of photographs and accompanying family history to the museum. The EFM article also notes that the original photographs were gifted to Largo Library. Does anyone know of these?.

The photograph below shows Wishart in the driving seat of his motor car. Registered SP for Fife (and 349 for the 349th registration within Fife), it is unclear whether he had a hand in the creation of this particular vehicle. Many early cars were developed by cycle engineers and Wishart's car below illustrates this connection with its spoked wheels and handle-bar style steering.

Back in early 1898, the builders of Largo were experiencing brisk trade with "feus being taken up and built upon with almost mushroom-like growth", particularly in Lundin Links. The 24 February Leven Advertiser continued:

"....a visitor after an absence of five or six months takes a few minutes to find his bearings, new streets and villas having multiplied rapidly.

The newspaper piece went on to describe a number of villas under various stages of construction, including the following:

"There is now nearing completion a double villa for John H Bennet Esq, which is of a style common in England but not often seen here. It is called the Queen Anne or half-timbered style. The lower storey is built of red Cleghorn bricks, with freestone dressings; and the upper storey, though brick beneath, shows a timber structure on the face, with spaces between filled in with harl colours. The roofs are covered with red tiles from Peake & Co.'s Tileries, Stoke on Trent and the chimneys are finished with red chimney cans from Alloa. Each house contains five rooms, kitchen, bath, hot and cold water and the usual offices. Messrs Farmer Bros have executed the mason work in a very efficient manner; and the joiner work by Mr Robert Suttie, Methil shows good quality workmanship. Messrs C. Neaves & Son have made a first-class job of the tiles, and the same may be expected of Mr John Knox who is just commencing the plaster work. Mr Andrew Walker is the plumber; Mr R.B. Forrester the painter; and Messrs A. and A.C. Dewar the architects."

This describes the houses named Eastfield and Mayfield at numbers 16 and 18 Leven Road (pictured above). Built for John Harper Bennet, an Edinburgh gas meter manufacturer, 'Mayfield' was named after the area of the city from which his family hailed. Bennet had trained as an architect and worked as such in Edinburgh and London before changing career to join the gas meter business of his father in 1886. Perhaps discovering the delights of Lundin Links as a fashionable summer resort, as many city professionals did at the time, John Bennet decided to invest in the expanding village. He became increasingly involved in local life and was a director of the Largo Gas Works. It was he who officially opened the facility in 1909, giving a speech about the history of gas supply in the area. Bennet was Managing Director of Alder & Mackay Ltd gas meter manufacturers, Edinburgh, who supplied the meter at Largo.  In 1900 he and his family occupied Mayfield while renting out Eastfield to a Mrs C.R. Fleming.

​Although a former architect himself, Bennet had employed architects Alexander Cumming Dewar and Andrew Dewar of Leven to draw up plans for his double villa.  The distinctive style was clearly unusual at the time (as commented above it was "not often seen here"). And yet the Lundin Golf Club House had two years earlier been built featuring red brick, half-timbering and red roof tiles to a design by Peter L. Henderson. Further similar buildings followed in Lundin Links in the form of the Lundin Links Hotel in 1900 and what is now Peacehaven in 1907.  

Below is an advert from the 11 September 1931 Dundee Courier for the sale of Mayfield, with a description of the facilities at that time. Some further images of the properties follow further below.
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On 3 March 1944 a meeting was held in the Lundin Mill School to discuss arrangements for "Salute the Soldier" week. As the Second World War approached the five year mark, this latest themed national savings campaign was hoped to be "a victory salute to our soldiers". Fife set a target of £3,000,000 and ear-marked 17-24 June while suggesting that local areas may vary their dates throughout June (in order to avoid events competing with one another and to make it easier to book pipe bands and the like). 

Largo and Newburn held a meeting on 3 March to "consider arrangements for local effort" (see notice below from that week's Leven Mail). At that meeting it was agreed to hold the local programme of events 3-10 June and to aim for a target of £15,000 (for comparison the target set by Leven was £50,000).  Several sub-committees were set up to organise the various events. The overall Chair of proceedings was W. Lindsay Burns, managing director of Henry Balfour and Company Durie Foundry in Leven, who lived at Linburn on Leven Road, Lundin Links.
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Central to Largo's programme of events was a 'Grand Concert' in the Montrave Hall on 8 June, where Lord Elgin would give a speech and the Polish soldiers would, as in previous years, play a key role in the entertainment. The 'Grand Dance' at La Scala boasted a six piece dance band (see notices below from the 31 May Leven Mail). These events were supplemented by: bring and buy sales; whist drives in the Simpson Institute and at Coates House; children's sports on the Lundin Links Common; a parade of services; a baby show; a fancy dress parade; and a treasure hunt.

In the end, Largo exceeded its £15,000 target by more than £5,000. Moreover, a number of additional donations given during 'Salute the Solider' week, enabled the committee to gift an ambulance and portable x-ray machine to the War Office. These were handed over at a special ceremony on 11 November 1944, where a demonstration was given to the public of the x-ray machine and the ambulance made a tour of the Largo villages. 
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With the growing sense that the war was drawing to a close, many local authorities inaugurated a 'Welcome Home Fund'. The 'Largo and Newburn Welcome Home Fund Committee' was set up early in 1945 and a series of functions were arranged, the first being held on 9th February in La Scala featuring Les Gordon and his band (see below). This was clearly successful, as another dance was held for the same cause at the same venue the following month. In fact, these dances were held regularly at La Scala right through into 1946 - all in aid of the Welcome Home Fund - which was maintained for a period after the war ended.
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By 1943, support for the war effort through National Savings had built up momentum and a new campaign entitled 'Wings for Victory' was launched. This was designed to recognise the part that the Royal Air Force had played in the war and followed on from the previous campaigns: Spitfire Week in 1940; War Weapons Week in 1941; Warship Week in April 1942; and a less high profile 'Tanks for Attack' campaign late in 1942. The patriotic advert below for the Trustee Savings Bank ran at the top of the front page of the 9 June 1943 Leven Mail.

Fife's 'Wings for Victory' campaign was set for 5-12 June with a target of £3,000,000 overall (half a million more than the 1942 Warship Week target). Each individual local area could set a target of their own as part of that overall objective. Largo and Newburn agreed on a target of £20,000, which at the time was considered to be equivalent to four spitfires. As with previous wartime fund-raising programmes, a committee was put together and a series of events arranged. 

The notices below from the 2 June and 9 June 1943 Leven Mail show that this programme had some variation from the previous years' activities. This time an exhibition of pictures, a bring and buy sale, a children's fancy dress parade, a baby show, darts and a display by the local fire service featured along with the intriguing 'bomb for Hitler' which was 'available all week'. The local effort also had a slogan - 'Birze Yont' - an old Scots phrase meaning something along the lines of 'forge ahead', 'press on' or 'push boundaries'.

The programme was greatly supported by the local Scottish-Polish Society and their committee (the members of which are shown below, from 5 May Leven Mail). The exhibition of photographs in the Montrave Hall featured the work of Polish and other servicemen, with the "display being arranged in artistic manner by the local 'Wrens'". Colonel Saloni opened the exhibition. The grand concert at the same venue on Thursday was hosted by the Scottish-Polish Society and comprised dancing items, songs, pianoforte solos and violin selections. The display by the Fire Service included demonstration of rescue methods and incendiary bomb treatment, as well as humorous antics by the 'firefly' men (source 16 June Leven Mail). The Grand Fete in the grounds of Largo House had to postponed from 5th to 12th June due to weather. This featured games and races for school children, a baby show for the under threes, clock golf, tugs of war and a display of various physical exercises by the Polish troops.
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​Ultimately, these local events were hugely successful with the £20,000 target being exceeded. As the Leven Mail records below on 16 June, Largo and Newburn reached £24,017 by the end of the week's programme. The overall Fife target was also smashed, with £3,179,613 having been reached by the end of the week (Fife Free Press, 19 June). 

The next post will conclude this series with details of the 1944 'Salute the Soldier' campaign.

During World War Two, across the country, local authorities were asked to designate one week each year as a 'war savings week'. The previous post looked at the first two campaigns - 'Spitfire Week' (1940) and 'War Weapons Week' (1941). The next focus, in 1942, was on supporting the Royal Navy through 'Warship Week'. In Fife, 'Warship Week' ran 18-25 April 1942. The county was specifically tasked with raising sufficient savings for a cruiser - H.M.S. Bellona - the construction of which had already begun.

The advert above from the Dundee Evening Telegraph (21 April 1942) details some of the ways that this could be supported. In addition to investment in bonds and certificates, communities came together to put on programmes of fund-raising events. Towards the end of February 1942, Largo Community Council formed a Warships Committee to plan a programme of events similar to the previous years' national savings efforts. Below is a notice of a meeting of the Committee, plus details of the Warship Week Programme for Largo and Newburn, which appeared in the 15 April Leven Mail.  
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The Parade of Services on the Monday began at the east end of Upper Largo, proceeded down Donaldson's Wynd (now Durham Wynd) to Lower Largo and then to Lundin Links Common, where the salute was taken by Commander Moore of the Royal Navy. Wednesday evening's event at La Scala was crowded and Mr Clayton the cinema owner gave permission to interrupt the programme with a speech on the need for warships by Flight Lieutenant W. Lindsay Burns, convener of Largo's Warship Committee, which created a "deep impression". Another inspiring speech was given at the concert in the Montrave Hall the following evening, this time by Brig. General J.D. Crosbie.

The 'cinema van' did a tour of the Parish, with showings at the Common, Lundin Links, the Orry, Lower Largo and the Green Upper Largo, as well as Woodside and New Gilston. This showed "propaganda films accompanied by descriptive commentaries on their loud speaker" (Leven Mail 29 April 1942). Other activities included a poster competition for children, a slogan competition (I wonder what that involved?) and enthusiastic door to door collecting. 

All of this resulted in Largo doubling their original target, with around £30,000 being raised. Fife as a whole also exceeded its target of £2,500,000 by raising almost £3 million. Construction of the HMS Bellona (pictured below) had begun in Govan in November 1939 but it didn't launch until September 1942 and didn't enter service until early 1944. Named after the Roman goddess of war, her motto was 'Battle is our Business'. Notably, she supported the D-Day landings. The ship was eventually broken up in 1959. 

Largo's contribution to the Bellona was recognised with a certificate. As the Leven Mail piece from 10 November 1943 below details, after being displayed in the various local Post Offices, the certificate was to be hung in the Simpson Institute, Upper Largo. Can anyone confirm that this was the case? Does this still exist?
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The 29 March 1944 Leven Mail confirmed that the H.M.S. Bellona was now in service and revealed some further detail regarding how this particular ship became the focus of the Fife Warship Week effort.
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The next post will remember the 1943 'Wings for Victory' week....

With origins dating back to 1861, when it was known as the Post Office Savings bank, National Savings allows individuals to save while providing the government access to funding. Notably, savings certificates issued during the First and Second World Wars helped to finance the war effort. Sometimes focused campaigns were used to rally public support for specific needs. For example, during the First World War a "Weapons Week" was held in 4-9 March 1918 in England and Wales and 8-13 April 1918 in Scotland. Each city, town or group of smaller places was tasked with buying war bonds or savings certificates to purchase an instrument of war. A city might be asked to aim for a super dreadnought while a smaller place might be expected to raise enough for an aeroplane, submarine or tank depending upon its population size. 

This concept became a key feature of World War Two on the home front. Across the United Kingdom, local authorities were asked to designate one week each year as a 'war savings week'. These events were nationally led but regionally co-ordinated and involved locally organised events to raise funds to support the war effort. An early public appeal from May 1940 was focused on the production of Spitfires. Funds were set up by local councils, individuals and other organisations to raise enough for a plane, a wing, a gun or even a spark plug or rivet - whatever was a realistic target. Read more about that here.

Largo set up its own Spitfire Fund Committee in October 1940 (see Leven Mail 16 Oct below). The Largo Community Council had had "their activities very much curtailed by the war" and so they turned their attention to whether they, like so many other places, should set up a local Spitfire fund. They voted in favour of appointing a committee for that purpose. Two weeks later the committee had been formed, a flag day set for 23 November and a number of supplementary activities arranged (including a series of whist drives, a dance at La Scala and a beetle drive). Contributions could be sent to the National Bank in Lundin Links or to the committee treasurer, Mr John Adamson. The flag day went on to raise over £38 and events up to the start of December over £165. By the time that the fund was closed in February 1941, £289 8s 6d had been forwarded from Largo to the overall Fife fund.

The Spitfire Fund for Fife raised enough for two Spitfires. As the 1942 Fife News Almanac clipping below describes, these were named "The Thane of Fife" and "Kirkcaldie" - the former being shown in the image below.

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The next big savings campaign of the war was 'War Weapons Week' that ran during different weeks at different locations  between September 1940 and April 1941. Fife designated 7-14 June 1941 for their effort and once again Largo Parish played their part. The 30 April Leven Mail reported upon the early work of the local committee.

The official programme for Largo's week is detailed above. Once again, whist drives played a part, with the Polish soldiers making "their presence felt" by winning many of the prizes (see 11 June Leven Mail below). Official events were supplemented with various privately arranged activities including a dance in the Simpson Institute arranged by the Home Guard, the selling of flowers by local children and a treasure hunt, won by a young Peter Saunders.

​Ultimately, Largo raised £29,600 towards Fife's War Weapons campaign. The 18 June 1941 Leven Mail below tells of how a third of a million was generated between the localities from Largo to Wemyss. Further below is a piece from the 1942 Fife News Almanac that details Cupar's efforts. The ground work had been done for subsequent national savings drives that would follow in the later war years - more on these to follow.

The photograph above, from the book 'Seatoun of Largo' by Ivy Jardine, features the yacht 'Semiquaver' which was designed, built and sailed by brothers William and Robert Gillies. This scene of a crowd gathering, to see the impressive vessel launch, was captured around the turn of the century. There were in fact two 'Semiquavers', plus a predecessor named the 'Quaver'. The unusual names reflect the family's great love of music. In fact, they made violins as well as boats. According to 'Seatoun of Largo', the 'Quaver' had a few bars of the song 'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep' on her starboard side and the opening bars of 'The Boatie Rows' on the port side.

Among the early mentions of the Quaver in the local newspapers, is a piece in the 7 July 1877 Fifeshire Advertiser, noting that she participated in the Kirkcaldy Annual Regatta. The six ton yacht competed in the Kirkcaldy Regatta again in 1878 before that particular event lapsed for a number of years. When revived in 1889, the Quaver returned and won first prize in its category. What ultimately became of the Quaver is unclear but in 1895 a new yacht was built by the Gillies brothers in their workshop at the east end of Main Street close to Cardy House (pictured below when reincarnated as the Gillies Art Studio in the 1980s). Named 'Semiquaver', this yacht is mentioned later in 1895 as winning the Star Cup at Aberdour Regatta.