THE first photograph in this week’s trip down West Fife’s Memory Lane is a view over what is now the car park behind the City Hotel in Dunfermline looking over towards Chalmers Street.

The area was concreted over with an access road to the car park created where a church had once stood on Chalmers Street opposite Alari's fish and chip shop, which can be seen in the distance.

Eileen Carrick remembers when the area looked like this before it was filled in: “I used to go to my aunty's on a Friday night and walked over the Glen Bridge. It looked great looking over into the trees below. I left Dunfermline in 1970 to move to Kent. I remember St Margaret's Cave used to have a wrought iron gate at the opening but never went into the cave till maybe 20 years ago. I remember McKissocks though!”

Tradition has it that the cave in the ravine with a small spring well at the bottom of it had been used by Queen Margaret to pray in privately and that it was later fitted up for this purpose by her husband, King Malcolm.

Our next photograph shows the cave in what was then a much more rural setting. At the entrance were one or two small recesses or niches on the sides of the rock. Given the historical and religious importance placed on the cave, there was opposition to plans to bury it completely, and, as a result of this opposition, arrangements were made to maintain access to it for future generations.

The Press reported on progress of the scheme in July 1965 as follows: "The Dunfermline Town Council scheme that sparked off a controversy when it was first proposed, mainly over the effect it would have on the historic Cave of St Margaret, has been started. Officials are so far not able to give an indication of when the new £30,000 car park will be ready for use. However, the first stage of the scheme, which will provide Dunfermline with parking accommodation for something like 250 cars, is on the move with the felling of trees in the ravine which is to be infilled."

Bob Howie welcomed the development for personal reasons: “I remember this taking place and the car park it created gave me the necessary training space every winter to get my winter driving skills dusted off.”

Our next photograph shows workmen putting the tunnel in place before the area was concreted over. Gerard Scott also recalls what it was like before the car park was created: “I used to play in that area growing up and climbing the concrete bridge supports.”

Our final photograph shows the scaffolding in place to create the Glen Bridge which opened in 1932.

More photographs like these can be seen in Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries as well as at facebook.com/olddunfermline.

With thanks to Frank Connelly.