The East of Fife Railway brought the line from Leven to Kilconquhar, which was opened on 8 July 1857. Kilconquhar was the terminus of the line until extended by the Leven & East Fife Railway Company to Anstruther Wester. This extension, with intermediate stations at Elie, St Monans and Pittenweem, opened on 1 September 1863 and connected Elie to the railway network. The line was built by Thomas Bouch, who had built the St Andrews Railway and the Leven Railway – along with the ill-fated Tay Bridge!
The construction of the extension line to Anstruther was let in three contracts; from Kilconquhar to Ardross; Ardross to Pittenweem and
Pittenweem to Anstruther Wester. John Sang of Kirkcaldy was the engineer and built all three sections. A large portion of the rails was delivered to Elie Harbour in two vessels and other building materials came in through Anstruther. On completion, the line was inspected by Colonel Yolland RE from the Board of Trade on 13 August 1863 and opened for passenger traffic on 1 September.
So, at last and after some delay, Elie finally had its station and was connected to the national rail network. This was a momentous occasion and considerable crowds assembled to witness the novelty of a railway in operation.
Elie eventually had a goods yard with four sidings along with a small dock platform with a 3-ton crane. There was also a large water tower, which was relocated to the end of the newly extended down platform in 1900. Elie Station was the only source of water for locomotives between Cameron Bridge and Anstruther. 1899 saw the introduction of telephone communication between Thornton and Anstruther.
Camping coaches were introduced around the country in the early 1950s. Elie and Lundin Links received one each in1953 and one was installed at St Monans the following year. A second camping coach was placed at Elie from 1956-1963. At the end of each season the coaches were taken through to St Rollox in Glasgow for an annual overhaul.
For over a century the line served the East Neuk of Fife and carried coal, fish, farmers and tourists along its length. Many local people have happy memories travelling on the line, whether to shops or school in Anstruther or further afield to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee.
The line between Leven and St Andrews was closed to passengers on 6 September 1965 as part of ‘The Reshaping of British Railways’, Dr Richard Beeching’s infamous report of 1963, which changed the face of transport in the UK.
The station quickly fell into disrepair after closure in 1965. Before long the demolition contractor had lifted the track and all other metal of value, leaving just the buildings.
On 22 June 1968 the station was gutted by fire, which – allegedly – was started by a former employee. Plans were already in hand to redevelop the station and goods yard site and build new houses – and so Baird Place was created. There are still many signs of the railway if you look around for them.
Well researched and very well produced. Very interesting piece although it made me feel very old. I remember the holiday carriages but not where they were sited. Another excellent piece from a hard working group.
I remember going with my granny to the top of Park Place to watch for the steam trains. Sometimes we went to Edinburgh by train. I remember the carriages.
What I can’t really remember is, when we went to Elie from Arbroath would we have changed trains at Leuchars? But then again I remember my grandfather waiting for us at Leuchars.
I loved being in the train and looking out at the sea. A beautiful ride.
I remember my granny letting us know about the fire.
You have rekindled memories. Thank you.
I recall the sugar beet being loaded into the old open wagons in the siding, presumably headed for processing into sugar in Cupar.
Also noted that the map shows the old outdoor toilet blocks at the Primary School which, at this time of year, would frequently be frozen over and would need the Janny (Tom Meldrum’s dad as I recall) to break the ice in the pans before they could be used.
I was working in Elie when the station closed. It was like a pending death. Nobody wanted it but it was inevitable.
Have you any photographs of the station afrr closure, or Elie in the seventies Bob?
I spent some time with a Aunt who lived in Woodside Crescent No2 Mum said, then visited Pappas Mum and Dad who lived in a House called Belvedere Fentiman Rd ? Now I think a Listed Building, when may mother was young she went to school in Elie, the Family name was Poustie, there is something about Elie that wants you you keep on coming back, but alas age says NO.
Look often at various web sites on Elie and Crail.
Correction to my comments on Elie my mothers they lived in Belvedere 6 Stenton Row and my mother said there was a butchers next door when she visited when she was a young girl.
Here is my memory if early times in Elie 1962 or thereabouts
In 1953, when I was about eight and in primary school I was intrigued one day to smell burning in the boys cloakroom by the back playground. On investigation I found a man dressed in white crouching by the door to the outside. He was burning off the green gloss paint from the back door of the cloakroom. I was intoxicated by the hot burning smell, of the paint and the roar of the blowtorch, and watched transfixed as the paint peeled off in great chunks and he brushed it up. I got lost in the moment and startled when the janny put a hand on my shoulder and said “So this is where you are” and marched me back to the classroom.
Perhaps it was a portent of things to come because one of my first jobs as a painting and decorating apprentice was on a big outside work in Leven. There were gates and fences to paint and I had to shimmy in behind the hedges to paint the backs. The journeyman did all the main parts, doors, windows and eaves all finished in Dulux Brunswick Green Gloss and I got all the other bits, backs of the sheds and even ventured up a ladder to paint the gutters. My first day at work was at a house called Baronald, on Leven prom, home of Miss Wilson. She was a throwback to Victorian times and wore long gowns complete with mob hat. She had one servant or home help. The house was exactly opposite Doriano’s Ice Cream van so we were in good company for the odd treat. It was a beautiful house and when we had a cup of tea in the kitchen, I was amazed to see that one wall was covered in Victorian brass bells highly polished and each one connected to wires that disappeared behind the wall. They were all individually labelled with rooms in the house. Pantry, parlour, dining and sitting room, bedroom 1 and so on and connected to pull handles throughout the house, mostly beside fireplaces or above beds.
It was a very quiet start to the day. We unfolded our dust sheets and pinned them one by one round the entrance hall and staircase walls. We were only painting the ceilings and cornices. Lastly, we sheeted the floor. I wasn’t doing much work but was told to look busy as customers always thought apprentices were a waste of their money! On the bright side and once a couple of years in to the job, I was never happier than when sent to work in the East Neuk. I just loved the smell of the harbours and the sight of piles of rusting chains and fish boxes. Water being hosed about, boats being painted or nets repaired and everywhere the smell of the sea and seaweed and all that a fishing village had to offer. Painting in a flat high above Pittenweem harbour watching fishing boats come and go, loading empty creels and unloading the catch in the days when it was a fully working harbour. Anstruther had a co-op branch and we were sent one day to upgrade the upstairs department store. It was right on the edge of the harbour with lovely sea views beyond to the May Island. We covered up all the beautiful panelled walls and showcases in paint. I didn’t enjoy that at all!
At a big house called Ravenswood in Lundin Links, we stripped the pine staircase from top to bottom of all its old varnish, washed it off, bleached and then waxed all the turned balusters, stringers, and handrails before papering the walls with a heavily inlaid wallpaper. The house was four storeys high so It was a big job and took several weeks. The owner was a dentist and he had a waiting room on the side of the house which we also had to decorate in between patient appointments. Again, the views across the Forth across to the Lothian hills were staggering. Fife has so many attributes.
Elie. Early one morning, I went to the store garage in Waggon Road in Leven where I was to get a lift to Elie and the convalescent home there. I helped load the butchers van with some huge milk churns bound for the home and we set off, me in front with the butcher. I would watch from the comfort of the passenger seat as working life gradually stirred in various locations as we drove round the coast. We arrived at the home, Elie House, a big imposing building with a huge annexe. We were to paint all the guest bedrooms. The place was pristine with the smell of Mansion polish heavy in the air and the hum of vacuum cleaners or floor polishers near and distant. I met up with the journeyman who was from Colinsburgh and we gradually set to work sheeting floors and moving steps and planks in to place.
Morning tea was something else here. We assembled with all the other staff in a small room off the kitchen where delicious smells of dinner being cooked filled the air. There were shortbread biscuits and cheese rolls and we tucked in with the cleaners and the gardeners and anyone else who was around. The banter too was to be shared, with innuendo and jokes being related. The matron ran the place with a rod of iron, everyone knew their job. There was a still room where I had to paint some shelves. A quiet dark place where great jars of jam and pickles, flours and tinned good were stored. I’d never seen such amounts of food. The kitchen was huge with a cook and several assistants preparing and making meals all day. The patients were well looked after.
One day I watched as a visiting lady from Glasgow crouched all day at work on the stair carpet. Wear had taken its toll on the edges so she was stitching in strands of wool matching the design, to the threadbare edges and trimming it back. It looked like new and was something I’d never seen done before. It was Christmas so decorations were going up in readiness for the Christmas party to which we got an invite. It was a lovely meal with all the trimmings and staff entertained the guest by doing a turn. The journeyman was convinced the turkey carcasses hanging under the building were still dripping in meat so he dispatched me under the wire netting surrounding the building to get hold of one. I crawled under and across and untied one and brought it back to him. Close up he could see it had been cleanly stripped so the carcasses were just to make soup!
Every night I got the bus at 4.20 opposite a French Patisserie and bakery called Boulet’s. They made the most delicious cakes, pastries and baked breads. I always had a few shillings in my pocket so would nip in and buy one of their coffee creme delights and eat it on the bus back to Leven. I remember too, another time there when Elie Station closed for the last time. It was like a death, everyone knowing it was happening, not wanting it to happen but powerless to do anything about it. I remember walking down to the deserted platform that day, just for old time’s sake. Empty waiting room and ticket office, abandoned luggage trollies and an eerie air of quiet everywhere. Things were never the same in the East Neuk again when all the stations became silent.
:Photo of Doriano’s ice cream van on Leven Prom with ‘Baronald’ Miss Wilson’s house in the background where I spent the first day of my apprenticeship in 1960.
That is a lovely anecdote and in your own distinct couthy style. I was thinking about you this week when I was collecting brambles at Ovenstone.
Thanks for that. Good to hear from you. B