Archives » Kirkcaldy

Winter’s Shadowy Fingers? (vii)

This is the seventh time I have used this post title.

The question mark above appears because about two weeks ago – mid-January – we noticed a cherry tree flowering – a sign of the mild winter we’ve been having.

That Sunday, the 15th, I photographed it.

Cherry Tree Flowering in January

The same day the park’s pond was partly frozen over.

Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy, Pond

Further round the park was evidence of the wild storms we endured recently.

Fallen tree, Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy

Some conifers had fallen in the area around the fountain – a fountain whose winter spectacle I featured in this post two years ago.

Fallen conifers, Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy

Kirkcaldy’s Lost Art Deco Heritage. 2. Carlton Cinema, Park Road

Carlton Cinema, Kirkcaldy

The picture is from the Scottish Cinemas website.

This building’s main claim to fame is that the Beatles once played there. I think it was when they were just on the cusp of fame. I wasn’t around at the time. (Not in Fife anyway.)

Like many cinemas it failed to survive the changing times and is now demolished.

Shame it’s gone, though.

Kirkcaldy (And District)’s Lost Art Deco Heritage. 1. Palace Cinema, Burntisland

Former Palace Cinema, Burntisland, Fife

The above image is from Scotland’s Places where there are four more pictures of the former cinema.

I just missed photographing this one for myself. By the time I started blogging it had been demolished. It’s a pity they couldn’t find a way to retain the facade.

A photo of the cinema in its heyday (taken from Burntisland.Net) is below.

Former Palace Cinema, Burntisland

Also in that Burntisland.Net link is a photo of the single remaining stained glass window which was removed before demolition plus two pictures relating to its post-cinema use.

More photos can be seen on the Scottish Cinemas website, including 65 of the interior prior to demolition.

A few years there was a proposal to fill the gap with a shop and flats. I’ve not been to Burntisland recently so don’t know if anything came of it.

Kirkcaldy’s Art Deco Heritage 11b. High Street again.

I’m running out of Art Deco buildings in Kirkcaldy to feature. This one is minor deco at best.

The building is not in the main part of the High Street but in its continuation towards Sailor’s Walk and the harbour.

I can’t remember what it used to be (a baker’s perhaps?) but it’s a baby provisions shop now.

Babyland, High Street, Kirkcaldy

Detail of the doorway is on my flickr.

Kirkcaldy’s Art Deco Heritage 13. Links Street

Minor Deco again.

This is in Links Street, Kirkcaldy, just beyond the traffic lights at the southern end of the High Street’s junction with Nicol Street.

Links Street, Kirkcaldy, building angled.
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The wall beside it has two Deco pillars. The Deco styling continues along the wall’s top. (See my flickr.)

Links Street,Kirkcaldy, wall pillars.
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Kirkcaldy’s Art Deco Heritage 12. Nicol Street.

I’ve been waiting a couple of years to post this one. When I first photographed this building it looked like this:-

Former Vogue Furniture Shop, Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy.

Prior to having been left more or less to rot for a good few years it had been a Vogue Furniture shop – in fact the good lady and I had bought a chair from it not long after moving in to Son of the Rock Towers. Long before that I believe it had been a garage, with those doors that opened very wide so that the cars could be driven in and out. That was many years before we moved to Kirkcaldy, though.

It’s been undergoing refurbishment recently and has now opened as an Undertaker’s – the business moving from a hundred or so yards away round a corner.

So now it’s much more spruce. This one shows a bit of the railway bridge over Nicol Street. And the clock on the wall.

Revamped formerVogue Furniture Shop, Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy, showing clock.

You’ll notice the flagpole has gone. Quite why an undertaker’s needs a clock I don’t know. Here’s the front view. There’s a high tech steel staircase inside that you can barely see due to the reflections.

Revamped former Vogue Furniture Shop, Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy.

Crosbie and Matthew seem to call themslves Funeral Directors. (At least it’s not morticians.)

Two more photos – one of the dilapidated building, the other of the refurbished one – are on my flickr.

Two Cormorants

The day I was in Dysart this cormorant was perched on a rock by the seashore. The photo’s a bit hazy since I had to use the zoom.

A cormorant 1

A few weeks before I had caught this one – perhaps the same one – atop a pole in the sea off Ravenscraig Beach, Kirkcaldy.

A cormorant 2

In the background to the left of the ship you can see the prominent landmark of North Berwick Law on the south bank of the Forth estuary.

Dysart, Kirkcaldy

It’s a while since I’ve posted any photos of Kirkcaldy and its environs.

Just up the coast and originally a separate village but now swallowed up by greater Kirkcaldy is Dysart.

It has a nice wee harbour which the picture below does not show completely. The former Harbour Master’s House on the quayside is now a bistro.

Harbour Master's House, Dysart

Dysart’s main industry used to be mining. This is the winding gear of the Barony Coal Mine as was.

The Barony

There are some striking pan-tiled roof houses in Dysart. This part of the village is known as Pan Ha’.

Pan Ha', Dysart

The tower in the background is called St Serf’s Tower.

St Serf's Tower 1

A couple more pictures of Dysart are on my flickr.

Kirkcaldy’s Art Deco Heritage 11. High Street

Two very minor pieces of deco on Kirkcaldy High Street. I’ve never been inside either of them.

Artistry, High Street Kirkcaldy 2

Above is a close-up of the building housing “Artistry” which as you can see now hosts a hairdressers’. I’ve no idea what it was originally. The windows can’t be original but I like the stepped roof. The street frontage is a typical modern glass and steel effort.

Continental Cafe 2

This is further along, beyond the pedestrianised part. As you can see this one hosts a cafe (which has been refurbished recently.) It has a nice wavy stepped frontage but seems to have been squeezed in between two others. Modern windows again. Curiously the cafe’s entrance is not from the High Street but rather up a side street and in round the back.

Kirkcaldy’s Art Deco Heritage 10. Victoria Road

A little bit further along Victoria Road from the former Nairn and Williamson offices as you go towards the town centre is a fitness centre called Priory Park which has Art Deco features.

Priory Park, Victoria Road, Kirkcaldy

There are lots of horizontals and verticals, especially the chimney. The windows have been messed about with though so it looks a bit weird.

This shows the decidedly non-deco extension.

Priory Park, Victoria Road, Kirkcaldy full view,

Between the Nairn and Williamson offices and Priory Park is Priory View.

Priory View,Victoria Road, Kirkcaldy

There are some minor Art Deco features to this – or would be if the windows hadn’t been replaced. The building obviously needs some care and attention: starting with the missing roan pipes.

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