If one had to guess which road in old Lundin Mill was once referred to as "The Cottages" or "Cottage Road", the first guess probably wouldn't be Crescent Road - yet that would be the correct answer. A cottage is normally considered to be a traditional, small, modest, cosy sort of dwelling, yet the houses to which the term applied then were the most substantial (and newest) houses in the village. Perhaps this illogical terminology came about because 'cottage' sometimes refers to a holiday or summer house and these houses could have been used back then as summer residences - a place to go to enjoy the sea-bathing and the fresh air, away from city residences.
The houses on the north side of Crescent Road were built soon after the arrival of the railway in 1857 on either side of the school and school house which sit in the centre of the street. The 'cottages' all had names (no numbers then) such as Sea Cliff, Murree Lodge, Elphinstone and Fir Park. The latter being named after the elevated, wooded area opposite the Lundin Links Hotel. The Fir Park wood was a landmark far and wide - more impressive viewed from a distance. These days the wooded knoll is still there but is no longer covered in firs but rather in deciduous trees. Maybe the firs were cut and used for building?
Back in the late 19th century, only three houses lay further south than "The Cottages" - Norvil, Lindisfarne and Westhall (all still there and bearing the same names today). Esther Menzies, who chronicled turn of the century Lundin Mill, said that...
"All to the west of the road leading down to the iron bridge (now demolished) over the railway was soft, mossy grass covered with wild thyme and hosts of other tiny coloured flowers in summer. Folk who haven't experienced it cannot realise the joy of running barefoot over the soft warm grass. It wasn't poverty that made the children discard their footwear. All winter we had worn thick leather boots...and home-knitted thick woollen stockings. It was heaven to discard them"
The houses on the north side of Crescent Road were built soon after the arrival of the railway in 1857 on either side of the school and school house which sit in the centre of the street. The 'cottages' all had names (no numbers then) such as Sea Cliff, Murree Lodge, Elphinstone and Fir Park. The latter being named after the elevated, wooded area opposite the Lundin Links Hotel. The Fir Park wood was a landmark far and wide - more impressive viewed from a distance. These days the wooded knoll is still there but is no longer covered in firs but rather in deciduous trees. Maybe the firs were cut and used for building?
Back in the late 19th century, only three houses lay further south than "The Cottages" - Norvil, Lindisfarne and Westhall (all still there and bearing the same names today). Esther Menzies, who chronicled turn of the century Lundin Mill, said that...
"All to the west of the road leading down to the iron bridge (now demolished) over the railway was soft, mossy grass covered with wild thyme and hosts of other tiny coloured flowers in summer. Folk who haven't experienced it cannot realise the joy of running barefoot over the soft warm grass. It wasn't poverty that made the children discard their footwear. All winter we had worn thick leather boots...and home-knitted thick woollen stockings. It was heaven to discard them"
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