VINTAGE LUNDIN LINKS AND LARGO
  • Blog

Traffic Trouble

26/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Being an old fishing village, Lower Largo clearly was not designed with the motor car in mind, and never was this more evident than back in the 1960s.  At that time, rising car ownership and the continuing popularity of local beaches combined with the narrow streets, blind corners and lack of parking facilities, to result in traffic chaos. Lower Largo might seem like an unlikely setting for road rage but that is precisely what could be witnessed on a warm and sunny weekend. Take, for example, a piece written in the East Fife Mail of 11 June 1969... 

"Brilliant sunshine drew thousands of holiday-makers and day trippers to Fife beaches at the weekend looking for a place in the sun.  And as the temperature soared so too did the tempers as motorists fought to find parking spaces or just find room to move.  One of the worst places affected by the weekend rush was Lower Largo, which had one of the busiest weekends on record.  Hundreds of motorists were jammed in the village unable to move out or in as traffic piled up in the narrow streets."

The report continued to say that this was not a new problem.  Residents had seen "verbal battles" and "traffic chaos" for some time but no solution had been forthcoming.  The one car park (at the Temple) would always be full early in the day, leaving drivers with little option but to seek out elusive alternative parking spots.  All this fruitless crawling around the streets led to congestion  and frustration. 

However, one villager came up with a three-point action plan in 1969 - evidence of which can still be seen today.  Mr Don Beaton of "Sea Brae" on The Temple told the East Fife Mail that the crux of the problem was the physical shape of the village, with one narrow main street and no outlet.  Cars going up towards the Temple and its car park had no choice but to come back down the same way if they could not park.  If cars were parked on the side of the main street, drivers coming back down from the Temple could not pass oncoming cars.  Here are the three suggested changes that Mr Beaton made:

1. On public holidays, make the road between the Crusoe Hotel and the Sailing Club boat park one-way only.  All traffic going out would go up the hill at Donaldson's Wynd (now Durham Wynd).
2. Provide more parking - either by extending the Temple car park or by developing the old railway station into a second car park (and using the old railway line as a path leading towards the beach).
3. Construct a proper turning circle at the Temple end of the village and ban parking there. This would avoid the need for reversing.

Mr Beaton commented that he had seen "people take anything from three quarters of an hour to an hour to get out of the village". He planned to put his suggestions to the District Council.  I assume that he did, as his ideas were all followed through and are still in place (see images below). Of course, problems can still arise - see photo of a bus wedged between a house and a car below, having ignored the one-way restriction!
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About

    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!

    Search

    There is no in-built search facility on this site. To search for content, go to Google and type your search words followed by "lundin weebly".

    Contact

    Categories

    All
    Antiquities
    Beach
    Boarding Houses
    Business
    Churches
    Clubs And Societies
    Drummochy
    Facilities
    Farming
    Fishing
    Golf
    Houses
    Keil's Den
    Largo Law
    Lower Largo
    Masseney Braes
    New Gilston
    People
    Railway
    School
    Shops
    Standing Stanes
    Streets
    Tourism
    Upper Largo
    Viaduct
    War

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Links

    Largo Baywatch Blog
    Fife Family History Society
    ​
    Polish Parachute Brigade Info​

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.