Thursday 29 January 2009

ANGUS HOTEL #1 - 1960'S

Built in the early 60's, The Angus Hotel, on the corner of Marketgait and Nethergate (now Debenhams), was Dundee's top city hotel for around 3 decades. It was THE place for visitors to stop off at, whether they be royalty, politicians, rock stars or celebs. It wasn't only for out-of-towners though, locals used it too, for functions, weddings and so on. It even hosted gigs occasionally. I remember going to a few jazz concerts there in the late 70's - early 80's.
The building was part of the overall Overgate Centre design, and adjoining the hotel on the Nethergate side were 2 pubs, The Glamis and The Nethergate Bar. Then around the back of the hotel was the Overgate shopping area.
The short piece of footage below, from the mid 60's, gives a better view of it's position and layout, showing the front of the Angus and the shops at the rear.
 
Photo by the Scotsman.Tints by GG.

16 comments:

  1. Where are all the cars and people? Must have been filmed on a Sunday during the summer. The hotel looks huge and I think it looks much better and stylish than the new overgate. All those little shops side by side far better than the Overagte as it is now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Had an occasional drink in there myself, it was quite plush at the time

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fantastic.
    I thought the Angus Hotel was fab. Me and few mates used to regularly start a Saturday night in the ground floor bar, Winston's. It had a fantastic juke box with loads of obscure stuff on it and there was a life size teddy bear thing sat on one of the bar stools.
    Drinks were cheap but the carpet was latterly a bit sticky!

    After a good few years living away from Dundee I returned and my parents took me for a welcome back lunch at the Angus...we were the very last paying customers before the Angus closed.
    A bit of a bitter-sweet occasion.

    ReplyDelete
  4. In the early 1970s the Angus was hired by the Teacher Training College which was then in Park Place for dances (usually on a Thursday night perhaps once a month)and held in the huge upstairs function suite
    I saw some pretty good bands there including Status Quo,Nazareth,Tear Gas, Brinsley Schwarz (with Nick Lowe)as well as Radio One Club regulars like the Montanas,Californians, Harmony Grass and the ubiquitous Chris McLure Section.The Sleaz Band were also regulars. Usually there would be 3 bands on-2 under the upstairs bar part and the star turn at the end of the hall. That wall had the biggest liquid bubble show I had seen projected onto it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was at teacher training college 1969-1972 - I saw David Bowie between those years, but I'm almost positive Marc Boland did an impromptu gig as well one night at the piano .

      Delete
    2. I met a girl who was at teacher trying college at the status quo gig it was fab. We dated a couple of times she lived in clement Park multistorey with her granny. Happy days

      Delete
  5. Do you have the original of this picture? My grandparents lived in a flat on the roof of the far end of the Angus, from 68 until 85. That could well be the family on the top.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks so much! Of ALL the pictures I took when in Scotland and having spent a month in The Angus, I never took ONE picture, inside or outside! I was there in '75 with my family (missed the good music, NOTHING was going on when I was there). My dad worked for BP/Conoco and if he was gone too long they would send the family over from Texas to visit. We got the Queen's suite, well, my parents did! Us kids got the small rooms, natch, which you can see in that picture. Our rooms were on the end toward the river and the front side. I well remember the area surrounding the Angus, the shops, the Bangladesh restaurant on the opposite corner (we had some black humor about that at the time, but the food was quite good, actually), and great fish 'n chips (well, what did we know but we liked 'em) close to The Bangladesh. We taught the Angus kitchen staff how to make iced tea and big Chef salads and kept going over to the Wimpy Bar, a few blocks up, to no avail; they never got any better. :) We did eat well, though, just missed our natural American diet. Gained a few eating at the Angus all the time, though! Good food and lavish tea, and you had to dress up (yes, it was very plush then). We got kicked out during the British Open, which was at St. Andrew's that year. They put us up in what was left of Admiral Lamb's estate, which was quite interesting. I stayed on a few more months after the family as I had a boyfriend by then, so I got a taste of the residential section of town and stopped being an ex-pat. Worked as a waitress and secretary while I looked for a job in my field. I loved Scotland, saw it all, great place for road trips. I've gotten back to the London area a couple times but not to Scotland (blasted Hadrian). A truly gorgeous country!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Glad you're enjoying the blast from the past, LL!
    There are quite a few images of the Angus on Retro - from all angles, as well as a few interior shots.
    You may recall the large metallic mural on the stairwell?
    Just use the Retro search, where you'll also get the Bangladesh, Wimpy etc.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cool. I don't recall a lot of details except our rooms and the restaurant, lol. Hey, it was 36 yrs ago! I will enjoy the shots very much. I have some looking out of the Angus I will send. I mean, I had to have The Bangladesh! Good shot of that row.

    ReplyDelete
  9. i remember the angus as a very upmarket hotel ( at that time ) went there quite a lot with j.l.stewart. the manager at that time was john furlong. we were there the night david bowie and his entourage came in after their gig in the caird hall must have been 1973? i remember the hair dye running down d,b's neck as he sat at the next table. happy days

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. was that the john furlong who opened a wine bar in reform st ? great bloke

      Delete
    2. yes john and frank hendry opened furlongs wine bar reform st great place

      Delete
  10. Dave and Grace Barter (Adamson)2 February 2014 at 05:49

    I have great memories of the Glamis lounge my girlfriend now my wife and I used to spend many nights in there. Wednesday night was our regular night .I seem to remember there was always a group of T A guys used to come in. This was in 1968 -70

    ReplyDelete
  11. I was a waiter in the Angus from 1972 to 1974. I also saw David Bowie in 1973.
    Worked with some great guys.
    Good times.

    ReplyDelete
  12. My Grandparents lived on the roof at the far end. He was the caretaker of the Overgate development and they had a flat literally on the roof 1965- 1985

    ReplyDelete