This fascinating article is based on a talk about the Obarski Family given by Irene Stevenson to the Elie and Earlsferry History Society on 13 February 2020. It is published, with the kind permission of Irene, to coincide with the VE75 commemorations, which is very apt. It is well worth a read!
The Last Shop in Earlsferry
7 thoughts on “The Last Shop in Earlsferry”
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Very interesting and moving account
Really interesting. I remember the shop and post office well. Always first port of call to buy a bucket and spade and fishing net!
I well recall the Obarski family, but I also remember the shop beside Tony’s café as Inez Moat’s. Would this have been 1950s?
I lived in Earlsferry for the first 8 years of my life until 1957 at Aldersyde, High Street. Next door was my paternal granny at Nelson Cottage. The Smith family had a joinery business in the village for two generations. My grandfather John Nelson Smith was an extremely good golfer who won the Scottish Amateur championship in the 1930s.
I went to Elie Primary school with Andrew Obarski and also remember the shop and post office very well. A fascinating trip down memory lane
Hello Gordon. My name is Les Johnston, and my family lived in Aldersyde during the WW2 years 1939 to 1944 when we returned to Edinburgh. Of course, we knew the Smiths very well and my Mum was a friend of Nessie Smith. I was a bit younger than Eric who lived next door, but we always spoke to each other and sometimes shared a bag of chips from Jimmy Purves chip shop that was opposite Aldersyde. I migrated to Australia in 1955 and joined QANTAS airline in 1958 and was a crew member in the first of the big jets, the Boeing 707. I am long retired now and live on Australia’s Gold Coast in the suburb of Runaway Bay and I’m looking forward to my 95th Birthday next month. I am in regular email touch with Albert Lawrie who lives in his cottage on Ferry Road. We do a lot of reminiscing about the East Neuk and Alberts daily photographs of the harbour, Chapel Green and other areas such as Kilconquhar revive many happy memories for me. It was good to read your comments and it’s good to know the Smith family is alive and well.
My very best to you. sincerely, Les Johnston.
Hi Les
My granny and grandad with their children Ian (my father), Eric and Louise lived at Nelson Cottage for many years before and after the war. My grandfather J N Smith died in 1951, but my Granny continued to live in the house until her death in the 1990’s aged 96.
When my father married my mother(Kathleen) in 1947 they moved into Aldersyde. I was born in 1948 and spent 8 years in Earlsferry until we left in 1956 for the west coast of Scotland. Eric continued to live in Elie until he died in 2008. He was an electrician working fro Fraser’s in Elie
We often visit Earlsferry on day trips and little has changed in the High Street except there are no shops now.
All the best
Gordon
My family and I used to come to Earlsferry on holiday during the 1960s and stayed in Aldersyde. I have so many happy memories of our times there. Earlsferry in those days was full of shops. My brother and I used to watch for the baker’s van coming up from Boullet’s main shop in Elie, to deliver rolls to their shop in Earlsferry, which was across the road from Aldersyde. Best rolls I’ve ever tasted!