THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Cowdenbeath municipal housing scheme is to be commenced in a few days, the successful contractors include – Fife Building Co, Cowdenbeath, brick work, £26,437; Charles Bryson & Son, Dunfermline, joiner work, £17,791; John Haxton & Co, Kirkcaldy, glazier work, £361 12s 11d; J. Paul & Sons, Cowdenbeath, slater work, £5.071; Messrs D. Thomson and S. Binning, Cowdenbeath, plumbing work, £7,245. The estimates are for 76 houses, the first instalment of 500. The estimated cost per house is £864.

50 years ago

A violent thunderstorm and torrential rain, which flooded greens and fairways and made the Old Course at St Andrews unplayable, caused play in the first round of the Open golf championship yesterday to be suspended until this morning. Over two-thirds of the field had completed their round, but Tony Jacklin, the defending champion, was heading for the greatest round of his life and on the threshold of shattering all records. The players still on the course had their golf balls marked and play should resume today.

25 years ago

The quick actions of a Carnoustie physiotherapist and his two teenage sons undoubtedly saved the life of a five-year-old asthmatic boy in a Spanish holiday resort. David Rankine is more used to administering first aid to footballers as he is the physio at Tannadice. He was holidaying with his family in S’Illot, Majorca, when the little boy, Shane Johnson of Cardiff, got into difficulties at the pool, having taken off his water wings. Shane’s father Chris said: “If they hadn’t been there Shane would have been dead.”

One year ago

Scotland would not rule out decriminalising illicit substances in efforts to stem the crisis of drug-related deaths, the public health minister has said. Dundee City West MSP Joe FitzPatrick said such a “bold move” may be necessary to stem the country’s spiralling drug-death emergency. He told MPs the subject “kept him up at night” and revealed Scotland’s drug harm death rate could reach a record high of 1,200 people when official figures for the year are released next week.