DUNDEE SAVINGS BANK - PART 1

2 items from the mid 70's featuring the Dundee Savings Bank.
Top one is an ad dated 1974.
In '74 the DSB had loads of banks spread around Dundee as well as plenty further afield.
One of the local branches was this one above in Arbroath Road at Craigiebank shops.
This image was captured in May 1976 when the bank shut its doors to move into new premises just a few steps away, with this corner location turning into a bookies.
In 1975, Dundee Savings Bank merged with other banks dotted around Scotland and formed the Trustee Savings Bank. The 2 existed in tandem for a while, as you can see by the TSB sign present, top-right of the entrance area.
Click onto the picture for a closer look.

Photo by DC Thomson.

CRAIGIEBANK POST OFFICE - 1983

This image of Craigiebank Post Office in Arbroath Road appeared in the local press in February 1983.
The reason it was receiving attention back then was because the place was robbed.
I have a hazy memory of this and think this may have been the time when a guy was hiding in a recess around the back of the shops, then when the owner was letting himself in - he leapt out and did his "Get the loot out of the safe" introduction.
Looks like the robber also made off with the "EM" from the chemist and the "I" from the chip shop - then possibly started up a mediocre record company!
I'm pretty sure this P.O. has been done more than once during its history.

Photo by DC Thomson.

GROSSETT'S OPENING DAY - 1978

2 days ago I put up film footage showing Grossett's (next door to The Hap) being demolished in the mid 70's, well here is their other shop further along Arbroath Road at Craigiebank shops, preparing for their grand opening on 15th May 1978.
The shop is still going strong, although it has since had a bit of a facelift.
Photo by DC Thomson.

70'S AIR SHOT - CRAIGIE / CRAIGIEBANK

The main focal point in this picture is the Kingsway circle.
Branching off from it is Arbroath Road going up to the 12 o'clock position. Running parallel to the plane's wing is Douglas Road & Greendykes Road, and cutting across the middle of the image, right to left, is the Kingsway & Strips Of Craigie Road.
Tucked away at the very bottom right of the photo is Kemnay Gardens cul-de-sac, where I used to live.
The square roof nearest to the roundabout is where Scott Fyffe Motors is.
Aaahhh, but is it?! I have a couple of old photos that show it spelt as Scott Fyfe, with NO double-F, yet their website has a photo with the double-F variant. To confuse matters, my old Dundee Directories have BOTH spellings, as does Google. So come on guys, what the F is going on?!
Moving further up Arbroath Road to the rectangular roof sitting beside the corner edge area of the cemetery, that became a supermarket called Presto.
On the far left of the picture at the end of Greendykes Road is the church I used to go to when I was in the BB in the late 60's. I'd be about 10. I only stuck it about a year though as I wasn't quite so keen on the formal marching stuff. I much preferred playing in the football team and helping out at their jumble sales!

70'S AIR SHOT - STANNERGATE / CRAIGIEBANK

The Stannergate (bottom left area) was a place we'd occasionally hang out and muck about. This was in the early 70's aged 12-15.

You got a good game of Skiffies there. Throwing flat pebbles across the top of the water and counting the bounces!

It was also a place we went fishing.

When it was high tide however, you couldn't get down onto the shore, so we would move further along to the docks area to fish off the pier. To get there, we had to shuffle precariously along the top of a sea barrier wall which was also fenced off, leaving only about a 2 inch ridge to balance on. The wall was around 12 feet up and we named it "The Wall Of Death". If you lost your grip on the wire fence while tip-toeing along, you'd drop into the Tay. Although it was dangerous, you didn't dare wimp out of it, and I'm pleased to report, we all survived to tell the tale! One of us made up a story that if you fell and drowned, your body would be washed ashore, covered in whelks, with your eyes pecked out by gulls!! That was good enough incentive to tread carefully!!

The green patch at the bottom right corner of the picture, we called Craigie Home farm (not sure if that was it's real name), which was just a grassy wasteland kind of zone where we also messed about. It now has houses.

To help get your bearings, the roundabout above it is the Greendykes Road / Craigie Avenue circle.

THE STANNERGATE AND DOCKS - 1970'S

After fishing for small fry up at the Swanny Ponds in the 60's, we progressed to bigger catches down at the Docks in the 70's. This would be the 1970 to 1974 period in our young teenage years.
We would start off at the Grassy Beach first when the tide was out to dig our own bait. Horrible creatures we called "rigger" (rig worm), they looked like millipedes. When the tide came in we'd go back again with our fishing gear to Stannergate. I had what was called a "Tope rod", but I ended up calling it my "nope" rod because I never caught a thing with it! We often discovered going along to the Docks was more productive. We didn't even need to cast, just dangling the line over the edge was enough to hook pollack, gurnard and eels.
The Docks area was still pretty active back then. Names I can recall from that period are - Kestrel Marine - Briggs - Yorkshire Imperial - Robb Caledon and Esso, Shell & BP had depots there too.
This footage below was taken in 1974 and shows the launch of a floating crane bound for Poland. Not sure who built it but some of the guys are in shot.
Photo by the Scotsman.Tints by GG

THE CRAIGIEBANK SHOPS - 1962

This is a section of the Craigiebank shops located on Arbroath Road near the Kingsway circle. The picture was taken in December 62 and the shops in the image, starting at the far end corner, are :
DPM - Dairy
Patterson - Butcher
Yeaman - Newsagent
Post Office
MacFarlane - Chemist, Optician & Photography.
These are the local shops I went to throughout the 60s & 70s. I remember the Post Office sold wee kids knick-knacks such as plasticine, crayons, magic slates and stuff like that. One of my favourites when aged about 4 was Magic Painting Books. They were just plain white pages with simple illustrations drawn on but when you filled in the illustrations using a brush dipped only in water, the colours would appear on the page, like magic!
The other aspect of the picture is the wee boy with the ball. I used to take a ball along to the shops too. The idea being to skillfully keep the ball on the pavement away from the road. When a pedestrian was coming towards me, I would imagine it was an opposition player and play a 1-2 off the wall as I ran past them, pretending to be Pele!
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

THE BOAR'S ROCK - CRAIGIEBANK 1973

This is the Boar's Rock's first day open for business and Bob McLaren (seated) awaits his first customer.
It's February 1973 and the transformation from grocer shop to pub is complete.
I didn't start drinking until around 1974 when I was 16, going to places like the Hansom Cab in town. Being underage meant I chose to stay clear of the Boars Rock because it was our local and I didn't want to bump into my relatives or neighbours! I didn't mind risking the town centre ones underage but I didn't think it was such a good idea to get banned from your own local!! So I just held out until I did turn 18 and along I popped to the Rock to sample it which then lead to me visiting there quite often on Sunday lunchtimes.
The pub, situated in Arbroath Road, is still going strong today.

Photo by DC Thomson.

McLAREN'S - CRAIGIEBANK 1960's

Back in the 60's, Bob McLaren used to run this wee grocer shop called VIVO.
It was located at the Craigiebank shops in Arbroath Road and he & his family also lived above the shop premises.
The picture above was taken in Feb 1969, but in the early 70's Bob fulfilled an ambition he had, that was, to run a pub.
He achieved this in 1973 when he converted the grocer shop into The Boar's Rock, a pub which I'll feature next.

Photo by DC Thomson. Tints by GG.