Back in September of 1970, an appeal was launched in Lower Largo to "save the village's 300-year-old pier" (30 Sep East Fife Mail). A weekend of festivities over 25-27 September saw the pier appeal fund £500 better off. A goatskin-clad "Robinson Crusoe" (Bill Archer, pictured below) arrived by boat and unfurled a parchment bearing the message:
"Dig deep into your purses; unlock your coffers and empty your money bags in the name of our cause - the salvation of this grand old pier. Enjoy yourselves generously for Largo! For me! signed R. Crusoe."
And the message hit home as the sum raised over two days was more than double what organisers had expected. Attractions included a display by the R.A.F. rescue helicopter from Leuchars, the coastguards and the Fife Fire Brigade. There were trips in local boats and portraits painted to order. A football match took place, a fancy dress ball was held and a competition was held to cross the Keil Burn over 40 yards of rope in the fastest time. The then pier owner Mr Maitland Makgill Crichton, who officially opened the weekend, recorded one of the best times in this event. Helped by excellent weather, more than 6,000 people attended the fun and games. An extract was read from the journal of Alexander Selkirk, dated April 1660:
"I worked excessively hard these three or four months to get my wall done and the 14th of April I closed it up."
Parallels were drawn between this memoir and the need to shore up the pier and attendees were warned that anyone leaving today with money still left in their pockets would be "ceremoniously thrown into the water from the pier."
"Dig deep into your purses; unlock your coffers and empty your money bags in the name of our cause - the salvation of this grand old pier. Enjoy yourselves generously for Largo! For me! signed R. Crusoe."
And the message hit home as the sum raised over two days was more than double what organisers had expected. Attractions included a display by the R.A.F. rescue helicopter from Leuchars, the coastguards and the Fife Fire Brigade. There were trips in local boats and portraits painted to order. A football match took place, a fancy dress ball was held and a competition was held to cross the Keil Burn over 40 yards of rope in the fastest time. The then pier owner Mr Maitland Makgill Crichton, who officially opened the weekend, recorded one of the best times in this event. Helped by excellent weather, more than 6,000 people attended the fun and games. An extract was read from the journal of Alexander Selkirk, dated April 1660:
"I worked excessively hard these three or four months to get my wall done and the 14th of April I closed it up."
Parallels were drawn between this memoir and the need to shore up the pier and attendees were warned that anyone leaving today with money still left in their pockets would be "ceremoniously thrown into the water from the pier."
One other stall that was there that day was a "Man Friday footprints stall", where folks could leave their footprints embedded in concrete blocks (see inset from the East Fife Mail piece). The plan behind this enterprise was that these prints would be used to line the perimeter of the pier when restoration work began. Do you think people would pay to leave their mark on a restored pier today? I would!
The pier has of course gone through cycles of disrepair and restoration over its existence. Click here for the 1926 winter destruction and here for a 1930s post-repair image.
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