Gallery: Pictures from the Fife Free Press archives

There’s news from 50, 25 and ten years ago, and you can also click on the link to take a look at a selection of retro pics.

50 Years Ago – April 20, 1968

Work is about to begin on an ambitious restoration project which will transform a derelict stretch of foreshore at Dysart into something of a show-place. The scheme began three years ago as a project to restore a picturesque group of 17th century houses on the seafront. Rapidly-rising building costs made that plan uneconomic in its original form; it has been possible, however, by adding a group of five new houses to the site, to make financially practical the restoration of the six old buildings, and the rehabilitation of the immediate area. The building works involved with this project will cost £95,000. Towards this, Kirkcaldy Town Council have agreed to make a donation of £6,000, and to pay the costs of the demolition necessary; access roads and landscaping.

25 Years Ago – April 23, 1993

Jimmy Nicholl is staying to lead Raith Rovers in their first-ever season in the Premier League. Rovers’ player/boss signed a lucrative two-year deal on Tuesday following detailed negotiations with the club’s board. And in a parallel move, his assistant, Martin Harvey, also agreed to stay at Stark’s Park, keeping the management team which guided Raith to the First Division title intact. The double re-signing coup has left the Rovers’ board delighted after days of speculation in the national media that Nicholl was being tempted by big-money offers from other clubs. Nicholl admitted that he was happy to put the lid on the rumour machine, and he was now looking forward to being in at the birth of a new era in Raith’s proud history.

10 Years Ago – April 24, 2008

Panicking motorists caused chaos at Kirkcaldy’s petrol pumps at the start of the week. However, by Wednesday, when they realised that stocks were not running dry, the situation had eased slightly and the forecourts‘ although still busy, were nowhere near as hectic as they had been. On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, queues of cars blocked roads and angrily sounded their horns whilst the pumps ran dry at many petrol stations as drivers flocked to fill their tanks following the news that the BP refinery at Grangemouth was being shut down in a dispute over pensions. ‘And although the stations were still receiving their normal deliveries, the panic buying caused many to have to close off pumps for short periods as they ran out of supplies.