The photographs in this week’s trip down West Fife’s Memory Lane were sent in by Dunfermline Press reader Alison Ferguson.
The first photograph is of Alison as a child outside the Douglas Hotel that was situated across from the Post Office on the corner of Douglas Street and Queen Anne Street. The hotel can be seen in the background and is now the Commercial pub.
Alison explains who took the photograph: “My grandfather had a little box brownie camera and he took this picture around 1956-1957."
The next photograph is of a nativity play from Christmas 1961 and was called 'Led by a Star'.
The Congregational Church ran a Sunday School in Crossford Village Hall for many years. Mr John Campbell led it, helped by Miss Betty Williamson, who went to India as a missionary. There were Sunday School picnics also.
The next photograph was in June 1963 when three beautiful and traditional Clydesdale horses and carts took the Sunday School children to a field belonging to Pitliver, between Crossford and Charlestown.
The horses belonged to Mr Headrick who lived in Newmills and the horses were stabled there. It was on the left hand side right before the bridge over the burn.
George Smith remembers the farm and an unusual aspect of it: “I was living in Newmills back then. Mr Headrick had a farm and delivered coal. There used to be a grey monkey in their yard that used to spit at us and throw stones. The farm buildings were opposite the Post Office”.
Peter Williamson also remembers this: “My gran lived on Durham Terrace across the road from the Headricks farm and I remember the monkey well. I used to love going over to the horse stables and looking at the tack and the ribbons he won and playing in the hayloft-great times.”
Alison describes the final photograph: “This is a photograph from the Children's Gala in Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline from June 1959 and shows Miss Goodlad's class from Crossford and Cairneyhill Primary School - probably Primary 1, 2 and 3.
"The school was at the top of a small hill between Crossford and Cairneyhill, nearer Cairneyhill. Miss Goodlad later married and became Mrs Finlayson. Girls from Fod House doing pre-nursing courses often helped at the Galas."
Ian Hamilton attended the school and has the following memories: “I remember Mrs Finlayson as my first teacher at Crossford and Cairneyhill. I was there from 1969-1973 when the new school in Crossford was built. I remember when the ‘Witches Stone’ in Tam Turnbull’s field got blown up."
The log book of Crossford & Cairneyhill School recorded details for the removal of this feature in February 1972: "The local farmer blasted the ‘Witches Stone’ situated about 300m east of the school at 2.30 this afternoon. Children vacated both buildings and sheltered at West End of main building. All windows were opened. Police informed that further operations of this nature will be carried out at the weekend."
More photographs like these can be seen in Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries as well as at facebook.com/olddunfermline.
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