Village Fete 1941
This photo was provided by Mary Law (nee Morrison), who is in the photo with her younger brother David, from the days when the fete was held on the Well Green. This was opposite where the Dunshalt train is now situated. Mary remembers the fish filleting shed on Ladybank Road and the yard off Main Street where Fred Lockhart, the fish merchant, kept his horse and cart. The Lockhart children, Freddy and Elizabeth, also feature in the photo.
Mary’s other childhood memories of the village include the market garden which ran from the rear of 12 Ladybank Road north towards Plains Farm, Elder’s shop at the north end of Main Street, the Co-op, Post Office, cobbler’s shop, John Duncan’s garage and petrol pumps immediately north of the Village Hall opposite the Smiddy, Mrs Christie’s sweet shop at the corner of what is now the entrance to Dumbreck Park and going down the Ford Road to play by the River Eden.
Village Park 1960
Mike Grieve grew up in the first house to the right of the Park. He remembers the roadman’s cottage and roadman’s hut with the gate to the Park between them. He also remembers the day the huge tree behind the cottage was cut down, with the bare ground still showing in this photo and some of the roots still visible until the recent Playpark redevelopment.
Dunshalt School 1960
The first Dunshalt School was situated at the south end of the village in what is now the End House. This was owned and the schoolmaster’s wages paid for by Falkland Estate. The school roll in 1861 when plans for a new school were lodged was over 100. By the time the time the new school opened in 1875 this had fallen to 56. Compulsory education having been introduced in 1872 the ownership of the new school passed to the Auchtermuchty School Board. Ownership in turn passed to Fife Education Authority around 1920 where it remained under the guises of Fife County Council (est. 1889), Fife Regional Council (est. 1975) and Fife Council (est. 1995) until its eventual closure in 2007, when the school roll had fallen to only seven.
The final cohort of staff and pupils, in 2007
Linda Ford (Administrator), Janet Collins (Janitor), Margaret Hodge (Teaching Assistant), Ina Robertson (Teacher)
Lisa O’Hara, Joe Hurley, Lewis Stevenson-Duckworth
Kayleigh Carson, Arthur Gudgeon, Tabitha Gudgeon, Siobhan Carson
Village Fete 1990 - 1995
Liz Macaulay has provided a number of photos and videos of young people from the village in the early 1990’s. These include Village Fetes, School Plays, Xmas Concert and Playgroup trips.
Many of the parents still live in the village or nearby – even some of the children! If you recognise anyone in any of the photos or videos, drop us a line at dunshaltvillage@gmail.com

