Postcards found in Fife hotel revamp reveal 150 years of local history

The collection of old postcards were found while work went on to transform the Old Manor Hotel in Lundin Links after it was taken over by the Wallace family, which also owns Pettycur Bay holiday resort in Kinghorn.

The discovery led them to rename the hotel lounge the 1864 after the year that the building, then known as Airthernie House, was constructed. It has now assembled a fascinating collection of old postcards, showing the Leven area as a holiday hotspot over the decades.

Steven Carleschi, operations manager, said: “It’s another fascinating glimpse of the past for local historians, or indeed anyone of a certain age who may remember some of the scenes depicted on the cards. Most are from the 60s and 70s, but some are clearly much, much earlier.

“We have a real variety, a mix of sepia, black and white, and colour. We’ve scanned them all, to preserve them for our guests to look at if they wish.”

Some of the postcards show the hotel when it was called The Beach Hotel in the 1960s, and there are also cards showing the beach, caravan site, children's paddling pool, the famous Leven Shellhouse - a big attraction in its day - the beach pavilion, putting green, Letham Glen, the Buckie Bus, and the Scoonie Burn.

Mr Carleschi said one card shows Leven beach looking west with Methil Docks in the distance. One of his particular favourites is a black and white one depicting golfers in plus fours at some type of Open championship which must have been held on one of the local courses.

“It looks pretty early, due to the clothing they are wearing. It would be great to know in what year the photograph was taken,” he said. “Lundin Links and Leven were, of course, very sought after destinations, and still have a lot to offer today’s holidaymakers.

“The cards depicting the old caravan site show just how much this sector has modernised and changed to offer much more sophisticated holiday parks.”