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History of Kirkcaldy Aquarist Society


Formally known as Kirkcaldy & District Aquarist Society,
but since 1983 known as Kirkcaldy Aquarist Society, the club has its place in history dating back to 1927.
Some of the past history is very sketchy.
K.A.S has had various club rooms over the years.
The first clubrooms that they could call their own were situated at the far end of
Nicol street next to Bethelfield church.
The “old timers” will always remember the upstairs wooden extension above the K.U.S.I club
in St Brycedale road, opposite the Adam Smith centre.
This club was always smoke filled, due to poor ventilation, and crammed to the door at nearly every meeting.
Even though you came out smelling of a Kipper, it had a fantastic atmosphere.
Alas these great little clubrooms had a fire in the late 80's that destroyed them.
Fortunately, the club downstairs belonging to the deaf society helped us out and we
continued our weekly meetings in their clubrooms.
This went on for approx a year, we then moved to the function room of the St Clair Tavern at the bottom of St Clair street. It was affectionately known as the “The Skittle Alley”.
Although this was an excellent venue, for a club that was accustomed to having their certificates & information displayed for all to see, it wasn't to be.
The “Skittle Alley” was merely a very useful stop gap.
With a lot of searching and discussion with Fife Council our secretary at the time managed to secure a move to
19 Junction road where we stayed for about two years until the upstairs premises, known 21 junction road, became available for lease and proved to be a much more secure and comfortable abode.
KAS remains in these premises to this day.

The history of K.A.S has always stemmed around breeding & showing tropical & coldwater fish with lots of our members having fish houses holding many tanks.
This has enabled the club to move with the times and adapt, collecting both breeding and showing expertise.
Some clubs that have specialised in only one aspect of the hobby have long since fallen by the wayside.
K.A.S always says it is important to listen to its members. This is why we hold 50 meetings a year enabling the members to meet frequently and so they are a family of friends and not strangers.
In the early 80's K.A.S was affiliated to the only Scottish governing body at that time, known as the Scottish Federation, but due to conflicts withing the hobby several clubs broke away & formed another governing body called,
The Union of Scottish Aquarists.
This has enabled K.A.S to continue being one of the leading clubs in Scotland & Britain.
Now we are up to the present history,
K.A.S is one of several excellent clubs in the U.S.A , but has very strong links to Fair City Aquarist from Perth.
Both have members that are affiliated to both clubs, with K.A.S having members from Perth for at least 20 years.
Within the K.A.S membership there are people from Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow and all points in between, we also have exhibitors that travel from Aberdeen, Newcastle & hull.
KAS continues to host one of the largest Open Shows and Auctions in Britain each year and their hospitality is legendary.
Kas meets every Monday night. Within the clubrooms,
Talks by club members or invited speakers
Some talks by club members
More detail on the events page.

The club also has trips to various large tropical outlets in northern England which members can see fish they find hard to obtain locally, plus it makes for a great day out.
one of the drop-offs at Pier Aquatics, Wigan.
As seen in the Practical Fishkeeping

K.A.S holds table shows every six weeks.
These are small shows designed to introduce members to the show scene.
Every show awards place cards & points for 1st, 2nd & 3rd.
These points are collated by the table show co-ordinator and the exhibitor with the most points at the end of the year, in every class, receives a trophy at the Christmas night.



Within this show environment there is a breeding certificate that the junior breeders can attempt & three certificates that the seniors can strive to achieve.
Every member who is successful at the certificates receives a beautiful framed award
detailing the fish they have bred, & this is paid for by the club,
a duplicate is displayed on the clubroom wall.
Some veiws inside our small but freindly club rooms. showing the certificates

This means that every fish that a member breeds is a part of the club history for everybody to see.
The club has a good selection of videos and a vast library of slides covering countless groups of fish.
This collection is always growing.
K.A.S produce unique specialised breeding information sheets that are written by club members on fish they have bred.
This is then passed on to the editor who produces a smart supplement that carries a photo of the fish that has been bred. These are laminated and sold within the club to the members.
Hopefully this encourages more breeding and reduces the number of fish that need to be taken from the wild.

Any questions about the club please contact either
Club Secretary Joe Graham 01592 782964 or Club Editor Mike Dewar 01592 757089

Or visit our web site at www.clik.to/kirkcaldyaquaristsociety

K.A.S meet every Monday night at
21 Junction road, (upstairs)
Kirkcaldy.
Doors open at 7.30 for 8pm start
Please feel free to visit us and enjoy the warm friendly atmosphere that is
Kirkcaldy Aquarist Society.


Send Mail to:-  kirkcaldyaquaristsociety@hotmail.com
 Copy & Paste the email to your own Email, "it's quicker"


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EVENTS    
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