THIS summer is the 70th anniversary of the Festival of Britain, which was celebrated throughout the UK including in Cowdenbeath.

Local historian, David Allan, said the idea was to reinforce a sense of 'Britishness' in the aftermath of war and saw bands play, a fancy dress competition and a huge parade through the town.

He said: “The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition held throughout the UK in the summer of 1951.

“It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of World War Two and to promote the British contribution to science, technology, industrial design, architecture and the arts.

“It took place 100 years after the Great Exhibition of 1851 at Crystal Palace.

"Thus all around the country, communities came together to celebrate Britishness but also an occasion that was a welcome relief after the post-war austerity.

"The main site of the festival was a 27 acre one on the south bank in London, which also was the location of the iconic Skylon Tower.

“In Cowdenbeath, the celebrations were inaugurated with a gala procession to Central Park.

"Cowdenbeath FC director, Bill Crooks, had been voted onto the Festival of Britain Committee formed by the town council.

“The procession was headed by the forces contingents – the Royal Navy, the RAF, the WRAF, the Royal Artillery and the Black Watch.

"The bands included the Cowdenbeath brass and pipe bands, the Black Watch Pipe Band, and the Band of the Royal Artillery.

"They were followed by the guides, scouts, cubs, rovers, YMCA, ambulance corps, Moss-side mining trainees, the Mines Rescue, the Guthrie Church YO and the fire service.”

He added: ”There were various floats with the Cowdenbeath YMCA being awarded the prize for the best motor vehicle, D Bennett meantime had the best dressed lorry, and the best horse was that of the Co-op’s John Cunningham.

"Lynda Whyte won the best fancy dress prize.

“Some 3,000 people enjoyed the festivities at Central Park.

"There were exhibitions of specialist dancing and country dancing. Mick Paton’s YMCA gymnasts put on a display.

"Later, there was a service in the Guthrie Church and the scouts lit a festival bonfire on Hill of Beath."

David recalled that the football authorities too elected to celebrate the Festival of Britain.

Many teams played foreign opposition or there were England v Scotland club matches.

Airdrieonians went south and beat Birmingham City 5-3 for example.

There were also two competitions run by the Glasgow Corporation and Glasgow FA, which were named St Mungo after the patron saint of the city.

One, the St Mungo Cup was for First Division clubs while the Quaich tournament was for those in the Second Division.

David said: “Cowden took on Ayr United on July 25 1951, in the 1st round of the St Mungo Quaich at Somerset Park.

"Ayr United won 1-0 with an extra time winner from Dougie Stockdale.

“Dougie had played ice hockey for Dunfermline Royals and later played football for Cowdenbeath in 1953.

"Subsequently, he went to Kenya where he was involved in ground nut production and then for many years had a garage in Inverkeithing.

"Dumbarton went on to win the Quaich by beating Ayr in the final at Firhill.

“The St Mungo Cup was won by Celtic who defeated Aberdeen 3–2 in the final in front of a crowd of 81,000 at Hampden Park.

"Aberdeen went two goals ahead with goals from Harry Yorston and Tommy Bogan.

"Charlie Tully swung the game in Celtic's favour, setting up two Sean Fallon goals in the second half and then scored the winner himself.

“The Corporation of Glasgow, who had organised the tournament, provided the cup.

"There was a bit of a scene later though when Celtic weren’t happy with the actual trophy they were presented with as winners.

"The cup was decorated with ornate life belts and mermaids and it turned out the trophy was not new. The cup had been made in 1894 as a yachting trophy.

“In 1912 it had been altered for a football competition between Provan Gasworks and a City of Glasgow Police team.

"Celtic promptly demanded a new trophy to be paid for out of the proceeds from the competition or by the SFA.

"However, the debate went nowhere and today this fairly cheap, third hand trophy proudly takes its place in the Celtic Park trophy room.”