THE photographs in this week's trip down West Fife's Memory Lane focus on Dunfermline's East Port (or East Port Street as it has also been called in its long history).

The first photograph is an interior shot of the East Port Bar. Although not referring to this particular establishment, an old note states that when the Proclamation of King George 1st was read out at the East Port entrance to Dunfermline in August 1714, “a deal of drinking followed the ceremony".

Next is a picture from May 1891 on the occasion of the jubilee procession of Dunfermline Co-operative Society, taken from the corner of Bonnar Street looking west along East Port Street. This ancient street was one of the entrances to Dunfermline and an extract from the Annals of Dunfermline states that: "The town ports or yetts were opened in the morning by two sergeants or officers at five o'clock, and shut in the evening by the same officials on the ringing of the curfew bell at eight o'clock. The ringing of the curfew bell continued to be observed in Dunfermline until 1844, when it was disused, and began to be rung at six o'clock in the evening to suit factory hours".

An advantage of being able to close off the town, in an echo of the coronavirus pandemic being experienced currently, was in the control of disease. In 1645, hundreds of people in Dunfermline died of the Plague, and in the town buying and selling came to a standstill and the handling of money was deemed to be dangerous. At the Ports, plague-stones or dishes were filled with water and all the money washed carefully.

The next photograph is of one of Dunfermline's most fondly-remembered shops, ironmongers 'Watt and Dewar'. It was taken in 1963 when their premises were in East Port. It was situated where the Bank of Scotland is now, next to the East Port Bar. The shop, run by Jim Craig and his wife, was an institution in the town and an Aladdin's Cave, with everything from the proverbial needle in a haystack to an anchor on sale. They later relocated to the New Row (opposite the Alhambra Theatre) before eventually closing down.

The final image is of the cinema in East Port Street. Opening in 1913, the picture house was a unique reverse cinema with the audience entering from the side of the screen. The street behind (James Street) was at least one storey higher than the front entrance which meant the rear of the stalls were underground. The cinema became an independent in 1982 as 'The Orient Express' and then later operated as 'Robins Cinema' before closing in 2000.

More photographs like these can also be seen at facebook.com/olddunfermline as well as in Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries where 'Old Dunfermline' DVDs will be on sale in the shop when it reopens to the public. Old Dunfermline DVDs are also available online at olddunfermline.com/shop.