MOOVING ON DOWN TO THE COWGATE

If you backtrack to 24th October 2011 when I posted 3 pictures from around the Cowgate, you'll be able to see many of the buildings that were in these settings in 1970, just before demolition commenced.

The top photo here, taken in the early/mid 70's after demolition, has the area around King Street visible and as you can see, it was turned into a temporary car park before the new construction started.

The picture taken in the Cowgate, if you compare to the October set, you will notice that a huge chunk of the original buildings have disappeared from this location too, and again, a part of it turned into a makeshift car park - you can just make out Wishart Arch poking through in the distance. This image above was captured in September 1984.

Top photo from Gordon C.

Bottom photo by Neale Elder.

3 COWGATE VIEWS - 1970

3 views of the Cowgate area captured before all the demolition began - so 1970ish.

Top one is from near St Andrew's Street junction looking over towards the Wellgate side, with Walsall Conduits sign on show.

Middle image is a familiar view of the Cowgate featuring Wishart Arch.

The wooden business sign top-left of the photo is for Holland House Electrical Co, and the white building next door to it is Mitchell Car Hire.

The bottom picture would have been snapped outside Millett's probably, that's the Gaumont canopy to the right of the image, with the continuation of the Cowgate beyond and King Street curving off next to it.

The Wellgate side of the Cowgate has the Dundee Savings Bank on the corner, and you can just catch a glimpse of the Cowgate Carpets shop sign beside it.

No hint of any boarding going up yet, all premises seem intact and still doing biz!

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Photos from Gordon C.

DOWN WILLIAM LANE - EARLY 70'S

Last year I posted an image of William Lane looking up the steps to Victoria Road.
Well here's the opposite view, this time from the steps looking down towards King Street.
Everything in the picture has disappeared, with the exception of the building with the roof ladder across the other side of King Street.
The photo was taken by my brother around 1973ish.
The previous item on William Lane is in the November 2010 archive, if you want to have a dip and compare scenes.

WILLIAM LANE STEPS - EARLY 70'S

William Lane ran from Victoria Road down to King Street.

It consisted mainly of the steps in the photo, although there was a wee bit of road at the bottom of the lane before reaching King Street.

The building on the left of the steps photo (or to the right of the billboards on the top photo) was a stone engravers called Carnegie & Son. It's a place I remember passing on the bus regularly as a youngster because it's window display was made up of gravestones. No need to stop off there with your pocket money!

You can consult yesterdays map to find the location of William Lane. It was to the left of Dens brae, opposite Wellington Street.

I checked Google's satellite map, and if you zoom into the area you can still see the ghost of the steps showing through from the undergrowth.

EARLY 70'S DEMOLITION

I still have a small batch of photos remaining that my brother took in the early 70's around the city centre area, so thought I'd drop them in over the next few days.
Starting with this one here of 2 Trojan bulldozers shifting the rubble in Victoria Road.
No safety gear in these days, with the guy nearest wearing only a floppy hat! No dust masks either, so unless they had their hankies tied around their faces like we did as kids playing cowboys, then the 2 drivers would probably have pretty dusty lungs at the end of their shift!
There are quite a few photos from this period scattered around Retro, so if you want a wee reminder of how Victoria Road looked before/during & after demolition, there are a chunk of images to be found in the Retro June 2009 Archives.

RAG WEEK POLITICS - EARLY 60'S

A bit of politics crept into this Rag Week procession in the early 60's.
The "Ban The Bomb" symbol was a regular sight in 60's youth culture, and accompanying this particular parade were additional messages pinned to the car making sure their point was getting across to the public. One says "YOU CAN'T VACCINATE CHILDREN AGAINST NUCLEAR TESTS". Another has "JOIN US ON THE ALDERMASTON MARCH".
The location looks like the bottom of King Street to me.

HAIRDRESSERS IN KING STREET

Paynes hair stylists was located at 2 King Street and was there throughout the 60's up to the early 70's when the shop disappeared along with the rest of that section of King Street during the demolition of the Wellgate.

The photo was taken in the early 60's and would have looked pretty modern in comparison to it's surroundings.

Not a place I went to, so unsure if it attracted Dundee's young trendy hipsters or if it was geared more towards the middle age group.

Forward-wind into the 80's and across the road at 9 King Street, Harley Quinns Hair Studio was doing the biz.

The fact that this advert appeared in a local fanzine in 1984 would indicate that it was aimed at fashionable youths rather than the mid-aged.

Mind you, the harlequin illustration looks more sinister than inviting to me.

Maybe it's bald under the skull cap.

Anyway, back in the 60's, years before Harley Quinns, 9 King Street used to be home to the Dundee School Of Ballet.

From ballet slippers to hair clippers..!!

SINATRAS ADVERT - 1986

This ad for Sinatras used to run and run back in the 80's.

Well, I mean the frame with logo and graphic did - the content inside would change over the years.

It was a classy kind of pub, busy at weekends and lunchtimes.

The ad here dated September 1986, emphasises their range of cuisine on offer.