Kirkcaldy Aquarist Society

Address
21 Junction Road, (upstairs) Kirkcaldy, Fife. Scotland.

Meetings
Every Monday evening from 7.30pm

Contact details
email: kirkcaldyaquaristsociety@hotmail.com

Formed
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.

History
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 within the hobby several clubs broke away and 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.

Affiliates
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.

Location
 56.124447, -3.144132, Meetings every Monday night at 7.30pm. 21 Junction Rd, Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Events
See Society web page Events for further details.

16th Feb A Talk By Guest Speaker, Stuart Halliday. Stuarts talk & slide show presentation was based around his web site called theaquariumwiki.com This was a very interesting talk & Stuart went deep into the setup & how to access all areas of his very interesting web site.

23rd Feb Round Table Meeting. If you are interested or you children are interested in keeping or breeding Tropical fish then this is a great time to visit a club that will make you very welcome. It will be nice to see you.

2 March Table Show No'3.

Sunday 8 March A Talk/Auction by Ian Fuller at The Scout Hall Dunnikier Estate, Kirkcaldy. For Further Info Contact John Reid on Email:- reid-john2@sky.com or Tel:- 01738 634689

9 March Round Table Meeting. If you are interested or you children are interested in keeping or breeding Tropical fish then this is a great time to visit a club that will make you very welcome. It will be nice to see you.

Saturday 14 March  K.A.S Ceilidth. For Further Info & Tickets Contact Mike Dewar Email:- md010b9020@blueyonder.co.uk or Tel:- 01592 757089

16 March Talk/Slide Show By Mike Dewar.