VINTAGE LUNDIN LINKS AND LARGO
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Fir Park Feuing

23/11/2017

5 Comments

 
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The bastion of trees that stand opposite the Lundin Links Hotel - shown at the top of the above image and once widely known as 'Fir Park' - was almost lost back in 1914.  Whether this was averted by the action of the local people or by the onset of war is unclear but this area of woodland was reprieved and still survives today. Lundin Links was still in a period of growth in 1914, notably to the west along Leven Road. There was a "dearth of houses" according to a Fife Free Press headline on 30 May that year:

"The famine of houses reported in various parts of Fife is very pronounced in Leven District. Some twenty new houses have been finished lately but the number of families on the search for houses is astonishing. A proprietor a day or two had about thirty applications for a house"

However, a plan to feu Fir Park was met with alarm from the residents of Lundin Links as the article from the 6 June St Andrews Citizen below shows.
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Picture
It seems that Fir Park was well-used by locals. It is celebrated in the names of a number of nearby houses: 'Fir Park' on Crescent Road, 'Fir Park Cottage' on Emsdorf Street, 'Park View' above the former Post Office and 'Park Knowe' adjacent to the Pharmacy.

Although perhaps a little unloved today, the wooded area is still part of the character of the village, which would have taken on quite a different appearance had this elevated site been developed for housing a century ago.

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5 Comments
John Band
23/11/2017 12:10:32 pm

Fir Park wood has within it a bomb shelter just yards from the tiny former telephone exchange building adjacent to Beechwood. I remember as a wee boy you could still access the underground structure, the entrance to which was filled in to prevent access in the early 70's.I am sure it had an access path from the road via a gap in the stone wall. I think the gap in the wall was built up at the same time as the entrance to the shelter was filled in.

Reply
Alistair Bryden
28/11/2017 02:24:34 am

The air raid shelter had a main entrance from the road which was blocked with a gate but also had a vertical access point at the rear with a square hatch and a steel ladder..irresistible. There were also remains of what we thought were trenches up behind the shelter. Perhaps from home guard activities. In 60s there were a number of remaining defence points, that are now gone, for example there was a roadblock site on the road above the Durham Hall and a look out was manned for a while on alargo Law

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John Band
29/11/2017 10:01:21 am

I remember seeing the remains of the road block site in Durham Wind as it was almost opposite my gran and grandad Bands house at 5 Durham Wynd. It was a large steel drum embedded in the verge banking on the field side of the road. My grandad Neil Band told me what it was. He was in the home guard, they had a secure store in a lean too of the old mill in the photo above, the store which was on the corner of the building had a thick steel door which I remember still in place prior to the mill being converted into a dwelling circa 1972.



Reply
Alistair Bryden
6/12/2017 08:17:17 am

Where does the name Fir Park come from? No firs there today and not many in the village or surrounding area. Were they felled at one point?

Reply
Vintage Lundin Links
10/12/2017 03:42:13 am

Yes, it would seem that the trees were previously firs and that these were felled over a century ago. Perhaps some of the wood was used in the building of the expanded village.

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    This blog is about the history of the villages of Lundin Links, Lower Largo and Upper Largo in Fife, Scotland. Comments and contributions from readers are very welcome!

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