Gimmes and Gimmers – Ferryhills Golf Courses from 1890 to 1940

Introduction

Maps of the village from the 1890s to the 1940s (this one is from 1927) all have the words “Golf Course” on stretches of land on either side of the old road from North Queensferry to Jamestown, but give no detail as to the actual extent of the course.

There were actually several courses over these years, starting with a 9-hole course very close to the railway station. This was rapidly extended further north to become 18 holes. The course then migrated to a new layout on Crooks estate, bordering the fledgling Crooks Quarry. In the 1920s the Quarry crept south, forcing the golf course to retreat, spreading west towards Gallow Bank, then east towards Port Laing, before finally closing in 1940.

In a further layer of complication, the course was owned by Dunfermline Golf Club from 1890 until 1929, when they moved to a new course at Torrie. From 1929 the course was owned by the newly-formed Ferryhills Golf Course. There were three separate club houses over the years as the course evolved.

The courses were not actually owned by either of the Clubs; a succession of Land Owners leased the lands to the Clubs.

You can follow the evolution of the Ferryhills Course on this set of Golf Course Maps and read the whole story in the chapters below.

Index

01. Ferryhills Golf Course – a potted history
02. 1887 – the Founding of Dunfermline Golf Club.
03. 1890 – Ferryhills 9-hole course
04. 1891 – a new clubhouse
05. 1892 – first 18-hole course
06. 1892 – first Golfers Railway Concessions
07. 1893 – expanding to Cruicks Estate
08. 1897 – Cruicks House becomes the new clubhouse
09. 1898 – increasing membership
10. 1899 – course layout and description from “Cunningham”
11. 1900 – the first extension to Cruicks House
12. 1909 – Tilbury Contracting and Dredging Company leases Cruicks Estate
13. 1910 – School Boys as Caddies
14. 1911 – second extension to Crooks House
15. 1914 to 1918 – the war years
16. 1917 – Food rationing
17. 1918 – Navy Cups
18. 1920 – Club handbook and course layout
19. 1920 – The Admiralty buys Cruicks estate.
20. 1921 – the club seeks new land
21. 1921 – July, the first quarry encroachment
22. 1921 – November, Mackenzie’s first plan
23. 1923 – November, the second quarry encroachment
24. 1924 – MacKenzie’s second re-arrangement
25. 1926 – the third quarry encroachment
26. 1927 – the fourth quarry encroachment
27. 1928 – a new course at Torrie
28. 1928 – the Admiralty sells Ferry Hills and Cruicks
29. 1929 – formation of Ferryhills Golf Club
30. 1931 – Course layout
31. 1931 to 1934 – further improvements
32. 1935 – South Queensferry Club at Ferryhills
33. 1938 – A German Spy?
34. 1940 – the end
35. 1943 – Gimmers
36. Today – has anything survived?
37. Bobbie Banks – reminiscing on the old golf course

Appendices

Land Owners
Golf Course Maps
References

Boyd Williamson – January 2020