Visiting Speakers 2026

Alan Crombie

After opening the meeting, President Mike Birkett gave us part two of “The History of English Language Poetry”, taking us through the time of Charles the Second, when numerous broadsheets published ballads for the general population to read and, where able, to memorise. He finished with the Copyright Act of 1710,though this applied only to books, not broadsheets. Our AGM is scheduled for March 18th, and reports and pictures should be with Stuart Rennie as soon as possible. Subs should also be with the Treasurer before our next meeting. Last Friday’s walk was to Aberdour to see the snowdrops while this Friday’s walk will be decided on the day. Bad weather prevented last Thursday’s walk, so we will try to visit Balbirnie Park next week instead, weather permitting. The outing to

the comedy club, preceded by a good meal at Annapurna restaurant, was enjoyable.

Alan Crombie was our guest speaker. His topic was “The Beginning of Beveridge Park”. This involved relating the story of Michael Beveridge, mill owner, then provost. After he died, his bequest enabled the purchase of land from the Raith Estate and the establishment of the

park. Parks at the time were being created to give open spaces to the workers as a relief from the terrible conditions in which many of them worked and lived. When Beveridge became provost of Kirkcaldy in 1886, he wanted to open a park for the local people, to

commemorate Victoria’s Jubilee, but Kirkcaldy Town Council would not provide the money.

Beveridge died in 1890 and bequeathed £50,000 to Kirkcaldy, to buy land and create a park for the public.  Different sites were proposed, but the one at Robbie’s Farm prevailed. This land was purchased and was given the name Beveridge Park in his honour. It was opened in 1892. There was enough money in the bequest to build the Adam Smith Hall at the same time. At the end of his talk Alan distributed leaflets entitled “Kirkcaldy in 50 Objects”, published to commemorate 50 years of Kirkcaldy Civic Society. Ian Gilchrist gave the vote of thanks, stating that the members were very impressed and now had a much deeper knowledge of a facility most people believed had always been there.

At our next meeting, on March 4th, David Caldwell will talk about the Stone of Destiny.

President Mike Birkett took the chair for our 1086th meeting. He began by giving us part one of the “History of Poetry”, taking us up to Chaucer, the first example of

written recorded poetry in English. Our AGM is on March 18th, and reports should be with the secretary by February 18th. Photos should also be with Stuart Rennie before the 18th of this month. This is also the deadline for payment of subs this year.

Our first visit of the new year is to Kirkcaldy’s Comedy Club on Saturday February 6th, meeting for a meal in advance, at Annapurna restaurant at 5.45. We discussed revisiting Fife College for a taster menu and agreed the date of Thursday 7th May. Further potential visits for later in the season were announced. With weather in mind, Friday’s walking group should meet at the Merchant’s House this week, and information about next Thursday’s walk will be given nearer the date.

Our speaker for the day was Keith Mason whose topic was Kirkcaldy Trams. First, he gave us a lot of interesting background regarding the history of discussions about the potential introduction of trams before they finally arrived in 1902. This was after electricity became available. They were brought by train to Sinclairtown Station, before being delivered by horse-drawn buggy to their newly built depot at Gallatown. At this point, Keith began using slides. These comprised an evocative selection of postcards from bygone days. The early trams were open to the elements upstairs and the drivers were not enclosed. Our members who were not Kirkcaldy natives enjoyed these pictures of historic Kirkcaldy as much as the long-time residents. Keith made the photos come alive as he talked about not only the trams in the pictures but also elements to the side and in the background. This provided a wealth of information that we would otherwise not have appreciated. Keith recommended books by Alan Brotchie, if we wanted to know more, especially “Wemyss Trams and Early Buses”. Members are looking forward to seeing Keith again for part two of his talk at a future date.

Mike Simpson thanked Keith for his very interesting presentation.

Our next meeting will be on February 18th when Alan Crombie will tell us all about Beveridge Park.

21 January - CHAS - Ben Morgan

Vice President Mike Stevenson welcomed members and two guests to the 1185th meeting of Kirkcaldy Probus. The Secretary reminded members that the AGM would take place on 18th March and asked convenors to submit their reports to him. The Treasurer presented his financial report for 2025 and recommended a slight increase in subscriptions for this year. This was unanimously approved.

The Almoner gave a report on the health of three of our members and the Chair advised our meeting that the next social event would take place on Saturday 7th February. This would be an outing to the Comedy Club held in the King’s Theatre preceded by a meal in the Annapurna Restaurant.

Ben Morgan of CHAS(Children’s Hospices Across Scotland) was our speaker for the day. He told us that CHAS was founded in 1992 and opened its first hospice Rachel House in Kinross in 1996. This was followed by the opening of Robin House in Balloch nine years later. These hospices provide unwavering care to children and families along with support provided in family homes and hospitals. Ben then went on to talk about the launch of the £20 million appeal “More than a Hospice”. This will involve the rebuilding of Rachel House, the renovation of Robin House and the restructuring of support for children and their families across Scotland. This work will commence in July 2026 and is due for completion by December 2027.

Ian Anderson thanked Ben for his most inspiring talk.

Our next meeting will be on February 4th at the Dean Park Hotel where our speaker will be Keith Mason on Kirkcaldy Trams.