The above advert appeared in the 17 September 1969 East Fife Mail, to herald the opening of the "Dolly Pop" Boutique on Leven Road, Lundin Links. The venture was run by Mieneke Addison, wife of Ian Addison who would launch the 'Yellow Carvel' in Emsdorf Street the following year (tickets for its opening event were on sale through both the boutique and the Crusoe Hotel, Lower Largo).

Advertising dresswear, knitwear and jewellery, the shop brought contemporary and exciting clothes shopping experience to the village for a short spell.  This was a contrast to the original clothing shop at this location - James Gulland the Tailor, Clothier and Draper. The 'Coro Craft' jewellery mentioned in the advert above was made in the UK from post-World War Two until 1980.

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 previous post touched upon the early history of the village of New Gilston. The above 1930s view of the village shows the Post Office on the right foreground looking west. The Post Office was at the centre of a tragic incident back in 1953. On Saturday 22 August that year a Gloster Meteor aircraft, which had taken off from RAF Leuchars only ninety seconds before, crashed into the Post Office in the early morning around 6 am. The pilot was instantly killed. He was 21-year-old Flying Officer David Ernest Rock (born in Lichfield, Staffordshire in 1932). Amazingly, no one on the ground was seriously hurt. 

The jet which crashed had been flying with a second plane and both had begun to descend from 2000 feet, thinking they were over the sea. In fact they were over the highest village in Fife. The lead aircraft saw ground and pulled up striking some trees and eventually returned to base. The second jet struck the upper storey of the Post Office building and broke up. Occupants of the building, Mr and Mrs Andrew Laing Ramage, had been asleep on the ground floor at the time. ​
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Wreckage was strewn about the village, the blast broke several windows, live ammunition was scattered about, the school roof was damaged and a neighbouring cottage had its chimney knocked off the roof. Andrew Ramage described how he and his wife Christina initially thought that their house had been struck by lightning. When the roof collapsed they were immediately covered in plaster and could not speak for the dust in their mouths. First they tried to get out of the door that led to the shop but found that it was blocked with rubble. Instead they made for the front door but could not get past the flames, so finally they smashed a window in order to get outside, with help from lime quarry worker Alexander Barclay. Their only injuries were cuts from the broken window glass. The only possessions they had left were the night clothes they were wearing.

All but one of the local phone lines was taken down by the accident. The school house line was still intact and was used to call the fire brigade. Engines came from St Andrews, Cupar, Methil and from R.A.F. Leuchars. Mrs Christian Randall, who lived at the school house with her two children took in the Ramages and they three are shown in the photograph below. Firemen recovered very little from the site - only some charred bank notes, some blackened coins and an intact case of 12 bottles of whisky.

On the Monday, Mr and Mrs Ramage moved into a nearby cottage and their friends and neighbours rallied around to provide them with clothes, furniture and bedding. Their shop delivery van survived and was out delivering newspapers as usual the day after the crash - driven by a friend. The image further below shows the destroyed Post Office and workers clearing the crash site. Mr and Mrs Ramage took some time off to recover from their ordeal (which had come only months after they had lost their only son in a motor accident at Teasses Toll). The Post Office eventually moved to the other end of the village, where it was run by a Mrs Winton. 

A view looking east along Upper Largo's Main Street, taken from alongside the Upper Largo Hotel (on the right). The hotel was known as 'The Largo Hotel' at this time - as can just be made out on the nice piece of vintage signage advertising McEwan's shown in detail below. The hotel has a long history and has had a few name changes over the decades. 

Opposite the hotel, on the far left above, is the garage which was once owned by David Ramage and then by Jimmy Purves. This image must have been captured not long before the house next to the garage (with 'no parking' daubed on the wall) was demolished and alterations were made to the garage. The building housing the garage was built around 1843 and was originally the Free Church. 

The unusual perspective, captured by St Monans-based photographer William Easton around 1900, looks up towards Bridge House on Largo Road with Fir Park behind it. To the right is the rear of the Keilside Bakery (once a brewery and bakehouse).

William Easton was a professional photographer, particularly active between around 1890 to 1920. He often captured life in the fishing villages of Fife, especially St Monans, where he ran a chemist and newsagent business. He died in 1929. In this shot he is standing at water level with multiple higher levels above him at different heights: the sluice and dam; the bridge; the Bridge House and the trees of Fir Park. The Bridge and Burnside also featured on a popular postcard from a similar era. This locality was known as Burnside and behind photographer was a clear view towards the flour mill.  

Looking in more detail at the image (see below), the shop is visible on the ground floor of Bridge House. This was run by Maggie Bremner before she became post mistress at the brand new Post Office on Leven Road in 1896. The Bridge House shop was then occupied by Christina Young before she re-located to Emsdorf Street. The zoomed-in view also reveals that seven or eight people are standing looking over the bridge at the photographer!  

Another detailed view (further below) shows children down at the side of the burn to the right of the main photo. A boy is standing close to the tree at the end of the dam, next to a post which marks the spot where a channel diverts water away from the burn to the flour mill further down-stream, to drive the wheel (the map at the foot of this post illustrates the system).  Also, there appears to be two little girls sitting on the bank of the Keil Burn slightly down-stream. The overall photograph above is a charming and peaceful scene and would make a beautiful painting. 

Johnston Wright Swan was born in 1859 in Edinburgh - the son of Janet Wright and George Swan (baker and refreshment room owner). In the 1881 the family were at 'John Knox Coffee House' on Canongate (Royal Mile). A few years beforehand the establishment had caused some controversy when it was reported that "a vandal of a coffee-house keeper who has taken a portion of the house facing the Tron Church has, in glaring black letters on a white ground, painted "John Knox's Coffee House." (The Graphic, 19 Aug 1876).

Aged 21 by the time of the 1881 census, Johnston - the eldest in the family - was a pastry baker at his father's bakehouse, while 15-year-old brother George was a junior baker there. Following the death of George senior, early in 1887 at Sugar House Close off the Royal Mile, Johnston and George junior took over the family business interests between them. Johnston married Mary Brown Wright later the same year, in Dumfries. In 1891, the pair and their two daughters (Janet and Mary) were living in East Adam Street. 

By 1901, Johnston was described as a 'cook and confectioner' at the 'University Hotel' on Chambers Street. The entries above from the 1902 Post Office Directory show the brothers' various establishments in the capital. Throughout this period, over many years,  Johnston was competing in prestigious bakery competitions including the "Scottish section" of the annual "Bakers' and Confectioners' Exhibition" at the Agricultural Hall in London. An example of the many newspaper accounts of Swan's success is shown below (from 9 Sept 1909 Scotsman). 

The 1911 census found the family living in Priorwood House - a Georgian country house in Lasswade, while running multiple business premises in Edinburgh. In 1913 daughter Mary Wright Swan married Hugh Percival (Inspector of the Poor in Largo) and they lived at East Rose Villa in Lundin Links. Once their daughter was firmly settled in Lundin Links  and the once the Swans had sold a number of their business interests in Edinburgh, Johnston and Mary Swan also moved to the village. 

They ran the Victoria Boarding House in Lundin Links from circa 1923. At that time it incorporated a bake house.  Then around 1928 they purchased Bellville on Emsdorf Street and soon set up the shop in the front of this house. It would seem that the bakery element of their Lundin Links business interests shifted from Victoria Road to Emsdorf Street and the boarding house was styled more as a hotel. The hospitality at Swan's Victoria Hotel must have been quite something - with a baker/confectioner/cook/restaurateur at the helm. And his talents did not end there, for Mr Swan was also a musician. The article below from the 4 Feb 1928 Courier tells of him entertaining as a one-man band!

The above advert - for a Methil hairdresser with a branch at Leven Road in Lundin Links - dates to the mid-1940s. Jane Rudd Spinks (known as Jean) was born in 1908 at Malleny Mills, Balerno. However, her parents had been married in Leven, Fife and soon after her birth the family returned to Fife - settling in Methil were her father worked as a coal miner. Jean had a long career in hairdressing, undertaking training in London and gaining an excellent reputation. 

In the early 1930s, Miss Spinks occupied a hairdresser's shop on High Street, Methil. Around that time a curious story was featured in the local paper about how her pet Pekinese dog had been stolen by sailors and spent three months at sea before being taken to Port Said in Egypt. The dog was eventually returned after a six month spell in quarantine. However, it became unwell and it was advised by a vet that the dog should be given "gin night and morning". The dog recovered but was sadly killed by a car in February 1933 (St Andrews Citizen 17 June).

In 1935, aged 27, Jean was involved in a serious road traffic accident near Cardenden, while travelling as pillion passenger on a motor cycle. The motor cycle was hit by a bus and its 21-year-old driver, Ronald Tidman from Anstruther, died from his injuries. Jean was in critical condition for a time, due to serious injuries to her head and leg. 

In 1939, Jean married Albert O'Neil and had a hairdressing shop, with house above, built at 240 Wellesley Road done in art deco style (shown in recent times below). It must have also been around that time that the Lundin Links branch was opened. And the Leven Road premises stayed in Jean's ownership at least into the 1950s. If you know more about the duration of the business's time in Lundin Links, please comment.

Even as late as 1956, it would seem that a woman hairdresser cutting a man's hair was a novelty, as can be see by the article below from the Fifeshire Advertiser of 27 October. The piece concluded that "from all accounts they do every bit as well as the men". Jean died in 1970, aged 62. There remains a hairdresser on Leven Road. If you recall Jean or her shop in Lundin Links - please do share your memories.