Kirkcaldy (And District)’s Lost Art Deco Heritage. 3. The Fidelity Garage.
Posted in Art Deco, Kirkcaldy at 12:00 on 4 March 2012
When I first moved to Fife there was a Thirties building in Kirkcaldy on the corner of Abbotshall Road and Wemyssfield.
You had a great view of it as you came out of the library or museum, on the other side of the road at the bottom of the War Memorial Gardens. A perfect example of Art Deco garage construction, complete with white rendered concrete, curved walls, glass bricks, the lot, this was the Fidelity Garage, run by Norman Rollo as I recall. It was lovely, if in need of some attention.
A few years after I took up residence here this distinctive building was (shamefully, to my mind) demolished.
This is what it was replaced with.
A bog standard, rectangular-canopied petrol station of little or no architectural merit.
The Fidelity is given a mention on the Scottish Architects website.
I have tried to find pictures of the Fidelity on the internet, with no success. What a pity.
Tags: Abbotshall Road, Art Deco, Fidelity Garage, Kirkcaldy, Norman Rollo, Scottish Architects, Wemyssfield
mark c
5 March 2013 at 12:50
Hi do you have any pictures of Fidelity motors ? my father worked there in the 1970’s.
jackdeighton
5 March 2013 at 19:13
Hi Mark
Sorry. I’m afraid not. It got knocked down before the days of digital cameras so I don’t have a photo of it. I haven’t been able to find one on the internet either.
Pity it’s gone. It was a fine building.
John Rollo
10 February 2016 at 23:14
I’ll have a look through the family archives. It was sold to Esso when the company moved across the road.
hugh c
15 November 2017 at 22:48
i worked at cordiners garage 1977 to 1980 as a apprentice motor mechanic when cordiners went from ford to new franshise volvo dealers befoe norman rollo motors we had characters like jim honeyman tarzan he got called he was strong as a ox his job handyman.jimmy frame always happy whistling all the time his job petrol pump attendant manager.and jimmy wise ex g.p.o mechanic auto electrician mechanic top class mechanic
jackdeighton
16 November 2017 at 19:41
Hugh C,
It sounds like you have fond memories of the place!
Thanks for looking in and commenting.
hugh c
2 December 2017 at 19:46
thanks jack was a great place to work full of characters
hugh c
2 December 2017 at 19:52
there was a colour photo of the art deco garage in the general managers office before norman rollo 1980
jackdeighton
2 December 2017 at 20:53
Hugh C,
Oh. I wonder what happened to that.
hugh c
8 December 2017 at 23:48
dont know what happened to the photo
Edwin Reid
29 November 2018 at 14:28
I’m from Kirkcaldy myself & I know the building your talking about as my parent’s had Volvo’s for years & apparently bought their first 2 from Norman Rollo when they were based at Wemyssfield. Admittedly, I only remember them when they moved further along Abbotshall Road to just below the railway station but if your on facebook, there’s a page called Old Kirkcaldy & Dysart Photos where I’m positive I saw a photo of the former showroom & garage your on about. It was posted last year so you will have a lot of scrolling to do.
jackdeighton
29 November 2018 at 20:15
Edwin,
Thanks for this. I’ll need to scroll through facebook then…
Thanks for looking in and commenting.