Here's a crackin' shot taken at the bottom o' the Hull in the mid 1960's when work on the Dallfield multis was well under way.This image has "the 60's" stamped all over it - the multis being built, the cars, the red phone box, the community police box and the billboard ad for Consulate cigarettes.
What a whopper!
Photo from Gordon C.
Great photo!
ReplyDeletethe underground bogs inside the railings and it looks like fords were poplar on the hull : )
ReplyDeleteThe Dallfield multis were built by the Scottish Construction Company (Scotcon) and officially completed on 30 August 1966. I've always liked them and it's good to see they are to be retained.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo of the best designed Multis In Dundee.Great characters lived in these blocks and many happy memories here from the late 80s.Pure "Still Game" stuff.Yeah Neale,im glad they have survived the latest round of demolitions!
ReplyDeleteThe demolition programme got me thinking about the use of the word 'multi'. Of course it's short for 'multi-storey block', but its usage is very localised. Now, GG may correct me here, but I've never come across the word 'multi' used in English cities to describe tower blocks. It's a Scottish word, but more than that it's an eastern Scottish word. Glaswegians do use it, but tend to prefer terms like 'high flats'.
ReplyDeleteAnd more than just an eastern Scottish word, 'multi' is a Dundee word. They might use it in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, but not exclusively as in Dundee, where a multi is rarely called anything else, certainly not a 'tower block'.
So I think the word 'multi' is as Dundonian as a mince roll, and something to hold on to in changing times.
Dundonians have probably taken to using the word "multi" for phonetic reasons - we do like to stick the sound of "y" "ie" on the end of many words.
ReplyDeleteThe shoppy, the backie, the poly, the Hackie, the Conshy etc, so what better than to use a word that already gives us the vernacular ready-made! GG
I recall the Caretaker at Dudhope Ct used to have a stock of the rules and regs from when that block opened and im sure they were described even at the start as Multi Storey Developement and not High Rise etc.When i was employed by ddc my job title was Multi-Storey Caretaker.The history of the Multis is quite interesting even down to the names chosen for the 55 council blocks(well except for 9-15 Foggyley Gardens!)
ReplyDeleteYou clearly know your stuff anon! Yes, 55 council blocks plus the four SSHA ones at Dryburgh Gardens.
ReplyDeleteOK, here's one for you regarding names. One of the Ardler multis was originally called Ardler Court North, then in the 1970 Dundee Directory it had mutated into Baberton Court. What was all that about?
Hi Neale, When the Ardler Multis were completed they were not named after Golf courses.Baberton/Barassie & Carnoustie Courts was called Ardler Court North (Baberton) Ardler Ct Mid(Barassie) and Ardler St South (Carnoustie)In a previous job i used to look after the Housing Depts files and saw the original missives etc.The second block Cawdor/Downfield/Edzell was called Blackshade Ct North/Mid/South and if memory serves me correct the 3rd block was or was to be called Baldragon Ct North/Mid/South.HOWEVER the posties were having an absolute nightmare with these addresses so a decision was made to give each entrance its own name and British Golf Courses were chosen because of where these blocks were constructed.Hope this answers your query?Feel free if you want more info- regards
ReplyDeletePS Im trying to remember if Ardler Ct was the name of the 1st Block or was it Blackshade???Memory is going!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that. This is turning into a chatroom!
ReplyDeleteI have also wondered why, when the Ardler multis were named after golf courses, St Andrews didn't feature when relatively minor ones like Scotscraig and Hazlehead did. Was it some obscure 'in-joke' among the cooncil/architecture/building fraternity?
Brilliant! This is where the wee door at the back of Johnny Geddes's shop led to (eventually). I knew Retro would come up wi' the goods.
ReplyDeleteDundee is also the only place you'll hear traffic roundabouts referred to as "circles"
ReplyDeleteSorry Neale, No idea why certain golf courses were chosen and not others.Seem to recall that the idea was to name them after villages north of Dundee but im not 100% sure. Ardler,Blackshade & Baldragon stick in the mind and i do have a hazy memory that Baldovan was also considered and possibly Dronley?? Interestingly most of these place names had either train stations or Junctions on the Strathmore railway line.
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