The photographs in this week’s trip down West Fife’s Memory Lane look at the Abbeyview housing estate in Dunfermline.

The first image is of the flats in Inchkeith Drive. The area in the distance that was very much in the country and undeveloped when this photograph was taken is full of housing today and also the site of St Columba's High School.

The images bring back memories of that street and living in Dunfermline for Norman Aplin: “We lived on the top right balcony flat, number 101, between 1960 and 1965. I attended Lynburn school and remember the winter of 1963, Calais Muir woods, the steam trains, the burn, the Glen, the model shop up the New Row... basically too much to mention. Loved it!”

The image also evokes memories from as far afield as America for Kathy Suvia: “My aunt and uncle, Dougie and Martha Philp, lived there from when the flats were new through the rest of their lives. Fond memories of visiting from California.”

Craig McGurk thinks the area compares well with today: “Look at how amazing the paths and roads are... you don’t get that these days even in new housing estates."

Ian Turnbull stayed nearby on the Abbeyview estate and recalls a humorous story from that time: “I stayed in Mackie Place around the corner until I was two… Pitcorthie was just being built at the time. This was when the stairwells smelled of bleach, and were all sparkling clean, because all the mums took turns to scrub them daily.

"I remember a time when I was about nine months old. My Mum left me out the front in my pram (you could safely do that in those days) and some wee toe rags taught me to say ‘shut yer puss’!

"I said it to an old lady on the bus into town, who complimented my blond hair, and my Mum tried to convince her I was saying ‘sugar puffs’!”

Dunfermline Press: Wedderburn Crescent street party.Wedderburn Crescent street party. (Image: Contributed)

The next photograph shows a street party taking place in Wedderburn Crescent in June 1953 on the occasion of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and Suzy Burnett recognises some of the people in the image: “My mum, gran and uncle are in the photo - what a lovely memory.”

Dunfermline Press: The flats in Allan Crescent.The flats in Allan Crescent. (Image: Contributed)

The next image is of the flats in Allan Crescent that Andy Harper remembers: “I lived in number 48 for most of the 1960s and left in 1969. Great place to be brought up - all started changing when they built the shops and houses on our bonfire ground - million memories of the place.”

Dunfermline Press: Construction work on the Abbeyview estate.Construction work on the Abbeyview estate. (Image: Contributed)

The final photograph shows construction taking place in the early days on the Abbeyview estate at a time when health and safety wasn’t a consideration as can be seen by the lack of protective clothing and the workmen perched precariously on the roof of the flats without any scaffolding.

More photographs like these can be seen in Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries.

With thanks to Frank Connelly