I have put up a couple of items on Retro in the past showing the buzz there was at the Haparanda in Arbroath Road - the haven for Dundee's fashionable youth in the 60's.
Well here below is some film footage showing the moment in the mid 70's when the building was demolished.
The shop to the right of The Hap was Grossett the butcher and Andrew G Kidd was the baker on the left of it on the corner of Baffin Street.
The area has of course since been rejuvenated into...er...a car park!
You'll love me for this, Retro! I'm gonna nit-pick about the date, because I'm sure it was nearer to 1975 these buildings were pulled down. (Andrew G Kidd and a couple of other businesses are still shown as trading in the 1974 'DD'.) Whenever it was, I remember going along the Arbroath Road on a Douglas bus one day - maybe the one in the film! - and being surprised at seeing the back of the 'Glebie' revealed.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise The Hap WAS demolished. I always thought the building was still there. I was one of the team who helped 'rebuild' The Haparanda for the Back to the 60s Exhibition at McManus Galleries during the 90s. If only we'd had the internet back then ... instead of poring over badly reproduced B&W photos for reference, we'd have been a couple of clicks away from glorious technicolour.
ReplyDeleteYeah you're right Neale, the muddle was caused by the Hap closing in 72, not the building being demolished.
ReplyDeleteCiano gave me a tumbler of fizzy orange in the Hap when I was but a tot. If it closed in '72 he must have gone straight from there to open the Washington, then.
ReplyDeleteIf it's one thing that Dundee does really well, it's demolition. Sadly.
ReplyDeleteBTW - I hope the neighbouring Ross's Bar is still standing - scene of many an illicit lager before the Morgan 6th Year dance?
Not that i`ve ever set foot in it, but i can confirm that Ross`s bar is still alive and kicking!
ReplyDeleteCiano was one of Dundee's gems.
ReplyDeleteAndrew G Kidd, on the corner of Arbroath Road and Baffin Street, was an enormous baker's shop which also sold their own boiled sweeties. The Hap was formed from part of those premises. I loved Ciano's ice cream, but popped down to the café only once, on an errand. I would have been around 26 at the time, but felt like an old-age pensioner amongst all those kids... couldn't get out fast enough! I am fairly certain the café comprised the entire baker's basement, along to Baffin Street, but I could be wrong. To the west were butcher, greengrocer and Brough Baxter's wee grocery shop which kept the former name 'Mackay' above the window.
ReplyDeleteFurther along, on the corner of Lilybank Road, was 'Forbie' - Mr Forbes' paper shop, who also sold pears and apples - hard and sour, but cheap! Beyond that, in 'the dip', a newsagent later owned by former Tannidice player George Hill, and next that, Bethshan Pentescostal Tabernacle - I always loved rolling that name around my tongue!
The entire area was opened up, providing a splendid view of my old school, Glebelands, although an extension was recently added parallel to Arbroath Road. Ciano's memorial bench vanished during the works but has now been reinstalled.
On the opposite side of Baffin Street, Ross's bar and John (or James) Anderson the Chemist, later owned by Jean Wishart and now a chipshop. Jean, a lovely lady, lived on the ground floor of the tenement on the corner of Park Avenue and Baxter Park Terrace, and was burned to death when her home caught fire.
I have a colour transparency of the area prior to demolition, but am unsure if it can be uploaded here. Jester, Dundee
My post of a few minutes ago had a bit missing, so nothing mysterious, folks. Here I go again...
ReplyDeleteFor my rather flickery 5m 42s epic (?) of Dundee Students' Charities Day in 1957, here's the route map...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91PZ2FMCGjc
You can also find a more up-to-date (2011) view of our city under 'Dundee Landmarks'...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK31nY6lmHU
Just copy and paste. Jester