The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
THE ARCHIVES
100 years ago
The strike of Fife miners has taken a very serious turn. There are now more than 15,000 men idle and the strike movement is spreading so rapidly that urgent steps are being taken to avert a complete paralysis of the industry. The districts affected are Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Donibristle, Hill of Beath, Kirkford, Lumphinnans, Bowhill and Kirkcaldy. The streets of the towns are thronged with colliers. At Auchterderran a holiday spirit prevailed with brass and pipe bands in the streets.
50 years ago
Joy Adamson, authoress of Born Free, narrowly escaped death when her Land-Rover plunged 40 feet down a steep escarpment 175 miles north of Nairobi. Thick bush at the side of the cliff trapped and prevented her vehicle continuing down into a ravine another 80 feet below. Mrs Adamson was rescued by a bus driver and driven to hospital in Nairobi by John Baxendale, assistant to her husband George Adamson. She has multiple abrasions and a badly damaged right hand, but is reported to be reasonably comfortable.
25 years ago
Rosyth dockard yesterday secured a contract, worth over £20 million, to complete a major refit on HMS York. Work on the MoD contract for the Type 42 destroyer starts immediately. It is the first of the programme of 18 large warships scheduled for the Fife yard as part of their workload announced by Defence Secretary Malcolm Rifkind last June. HMS York will be the fifth Type 42 fitted at Rosyth and follows a successful work programme on a similar Type 42, HMS Gloucester.
One year ago
More than 100 jobs could be lost in Fife if a major employer goes ahead with plans to close its Kirkcaldy plant. Commercial laundry firm Berendsen UK is understood to be in talks over shutting its site in Randolph Industrial Estate within a matter of months after the firm was bought over by a French rival in the summer. Staff claim they have been left in the dark about the company’s future plans following a recent consultation to downsize, amid rumours the firm is planning to pull out of Fife as early as March.