| Until coal mining came to the fore in the nineteenth century, Eastern Fife was something of a transportation backwater. The first wooden railed wagon-ways in the kingdom were constructed in the late 18th century to carry coal in horse-drawn wagons from Fife's inland mines to the coastal distribution ports. The first main rail line opened in 1847 and until the mid-twentieth century, the area was quite well served. Road transport however, was slow to expand and even today the region has no motorway service and just one dual carriage way, built in the 1980s. Local transport solutions however have often been innovative! This photograph collection includes a De Havilland Rapide Dragon 1 six-seater taking off from Pettycur beach in June of 1933 for the Isle of Man TT races, a Mann's steam lorry at the Kirkcaldy Links Market in the 1920s and an elegant horse drawn Landau outside Campbell's Steamboat Tavern in 1904. Alan Brotchie as always provides interesting and fact-filled captions. This is the latest in our Wheels Around series looking at the often quirky, frequently elegant and ingeniously powerful contributions to the history of transport captured around around Britain during the age of photography. Locations featured include Kirkcaldy, Kinghorn, Dysart, Thornton Junction, Markinch, Leven, Coaltown of Wemyss, West Wemyss, Buckhaven, Methil, Elie, Pittenweem and Anstruther. Contents:
Continent: Europe
Country: UK |
