THERE will be an opportunity for people to take a nostalgic trip back in time at the Lochgelly Centre on Wednesday 19th November when a show entitled ‘Old Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath’ takes place.

It will feature a mix of old photographs and postcards as well as vintage film footage. Bill Livingstone, who will be presenting his collection of old slides, is no stranger to doing this as he put on the same show back in the early 1970’s.

Born and brought up in Cowdenbeath, Bill had a keen interest in photography and was a member of Queen Anne High School Photographic Club when he taught there in the early sixties.

When he moved on to become the Assistant Rector at Inverkeithing High School, when it was built in 1973, he used his knowledge and expertise to build up an archive of photographs of Dunfermline which he later donated to Dunfermline Library. These shows went down so well and were so popular that he went on to build up a collection of images of his home town of Cowdenbeath He said this week, “I first showed these slides of old Cowdenbeath in the Co-operative buildings in the early 70’s.

“The response was overwhelming and they were very well received with an audience of over 200 people. Many people in the audience recognised the scenes depicted in the old postcards and remembered the early views of the places where they grew up.

“On many occasions members of the public came up to me afterwards and pointed out themselves or relatives who had been in the photographs. What people don’t realise nowadays is that postcards were an important part of communicating at that time.

“With three deliveries each day a man could send one to his girlfriend in the afternoon if he was going to be late back from his work, knowing that the postcard would be delivered later the same day informing her that he would be delayed for their date at the local cinema. I am looking forward to presenting the show again after a gap of over forty years” Bill’s father ran a painting and decorating business in Cowdenbeath ‘Thomas M Livingstone’ which was situated in the town’s High Street and has many memories of his childhood growing up in the town.

He added, “I remember seeing the High Street almost black at times with the numbers of miners going back and forward to work before pit-head baths were introduced, many with their carbide lamps still on their heads and picks in hand.

“As many people know, Cowdenbeath was once referred to as ‘the Chicago of Fife,’ such was its rapid growth in the early part of the nineteenth century. A story from its early days which always amused me was from 1890 when there were no pavements in the town. When wide pavements were built in Broad Street and the High Street one of the Councillors mentioned how proud he was of this achievement. However, he perhaps got a little carried away when he described Cowdenbeath as then beginning to resemble Edinburgh’s Princes Street!” Bill will present the photographs and images in the form of a tram journey setting out from Dunfermline and passing through the villages on its way to Cowdenbeath.

‘Old Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath’, which is being supported by ‘The Purvis Group’, is on Wednesday 19th November with a matinee performance at 2pm and an evening show at 7.30pm. In addition to the slideshow on Cowdenbeath there will be archive film footage of Lochgelly, as well as music. Tickets are available from Lochgelly Centre box office on 01592 583303.

Our pictures come from Bill’s collection. Top is Bank Street, Lochgelly, from the early part of the 20th century, while staff at famous Cowdenbeath butchers, Gronbach, take a bow. The other shows a scene from Kirkford Colliery, in Cowdenbeath, where pithead lassies are seen seperating stone from coal.