Transport
Thomas Tuckett, Victorian Road Surveyor
This article was inspired by an inscribed stone on the side of the road bridge at Rumbling Glen. George Robertson was intrigued and his investigation has resulted in a brief biography of the man those name is recorded there, “Thomas Tuckett and the Puzzle of the Inscribed Stone“. This interesting article also gives us an insight into the life of a successful professional in the mid 19th Century and of how the roads were maintained in those days.
David West, Road Haulier
In the next in his series on Dunfermline’s Industrial and Commercial Past, George Beattie relates the history of David West & Son, Road Haulier of Rumblingwell and Touch. This business started in 1920 using ex-army vehicles and grew steadily. Early in the Second World War it was placed under the control of the Ministry of War Transport to prioritise war work and later it was briefly nationalised. The company was re-started following de-nationalisation and continued to thrive until merged into a much larger UK business in the 1960’s. The article shows the scale of the economic changes made by the needs of wartime and also the subsequent changes in the UK economy as national companies superseded local ones.
Harleys Acres
Sue Mowat has researched the history of the development of another part of Dunfermline. In “Harleys Acres” she describes how the area which lies roughly between James Street and Campbell Street has developed over the last 250 years, how it was brought into the administration of the town and how its use has varied from rail and bus stations to retail parks and shopping centres. She also makes a plea for proper archaeological assessment before any future developments closer to the centre of historic Dunfermline are carried out.