STOP THE BUS!

Buses feature in all 3 of these city centre pictures from the 80's.

Starting with the top one of the High Street and the Dryburgh bus outside McColl's.

This was taken on 2nd June 1986, just as World Cup fever was kicking in. You can see on the news board on the pavement, The Scottish Daily Express had the headline "Mexico 86 - We're Shouting For Scotland!" As usual, Scotland never made it past the first round in a group containing Denmark, Uruguay and West Germany.

The bus heading for Fintry seems to be popular in the middle shot which was taken in Reform Street on 25th July 1985.

These blue local buses were Volvo-Ailsas.

Back to the High Street for the third image, snapped from the city square on 23rd April 1988.

The bus in the Jaffa Cake colours is a recycled London Routemaster operated by Strathtay Scottish.

The board in the square was reminding folk that there was an Antique Fair going on at the Caird Hall that day.

Now, all 3 buses themselves have become an antique fare!

Photos by Neale Elder.

OLD SCHOOL BUS - 60'S

Remember these?

Well many of you who went to school in the 60's probably do.

They were the buses that used to pick up the handicapped school kids.

The minibuses were grey and had "Corporation of Dundee Education Committee" on the side.

When we went to Balerno primary in the 60's, one of these buses used to pass us daily, down Banchory Road and along Balerno Street, picking up the kids who needed special treatment.

You couldn't help feel sorry for them mind you, while at the same time reminding yourself how lucky you were to have your full health.

Not that us able bodied kids had it all easy.

I remember the pupils who wore metallic callipers on their legs. Then there were some who had the big pink hearing aid. The majority of specs worn were the wire penny roonders, which often had one lens covered up with elastoplast due to their lazy eye. When we did P.E. that's when we discovered some kids had verrucas, ganglions and chilblains. Not forgetting those who had lice or the ones who breathed with snot bubbles popping out and in. There were also guys who would regularly faint, but only when at assembly. I also recall we had our fair share of pee-the-beds and keechy breeks.

Ah yes, it's all coming back now.

And just remember - we were the lucky ones!!

PITKERRO ROAD - 1985

Another snowy scene from 30th November 1985, taken this time at the bottom of Pitkerro Road.
It's also another example of buildings in shot no longer existing.
The premises, front left, and the tower block, front right, have disappeared. As have the 2 multi's in the background.
From what I've established it's only the group of Fintry houses, top left, that remain, alongside that brown building (school? church?), which is nowadays out of view hidden behind trees.
If you click onto the large version, you'll see some kids sledging, centre of the picture.
Photo by Neale Elder

70'S AIR SHOT - SEAGATE / DOCK STREET

Retro regulars will be aware that I have put up quite a few air shots taken by my brother around 1974/75. Well there were half a dozen or so I wasn't going to bother about because the plane's wing cut across the image and made it awkward to crop. However, I have changed my mind as I reckoned they'd be better on the net than tucked away in a storage box at home out of view. So here's a wee bonus batch...

This one here is really good actually once you zoom into the large version.

On it you can see Seagate Bus Station with some yellow Alexander buses waiting there.

Across the road from the bus station was the Reo Stakis Olde Worlde Inn.

Moving east you can clearly see Allan Street, which at that time, on the corner of Seagate, had the Quarter Gill Bar.

On the other side of the road along from the Quarter Gill was the Tayside Bar. A path which was to be well trodden a few years later!

Further right, is the Corporation Bus Depot on Dock Street, and if you look closely you can see the transition from green buses to blue ones had just started.

Down at the bottom right of Victoria Dock is the Timber Yard.

These are just a few of the sights, I'm sure you'll be able to spot plenty others.

You can click on the photo to view the larger version, and once on, right click to save, then view it using the zoom on your PC.

I have a Dundee Directory from this same period, so can help name places should you be struggling!

2 DUNDEE BUS ADS - 1970'S

Me not being a motorist meant that buses were my main mode of transport back then for getting from A to B.

These 2 ads are from the 70's

The top one is for Alexander's, the rural service who's yellow buses were based at Seagate Bus Station.

Something I can remember about the bus station when I was schoolboy aged was using the grubby photo booth a few times. One such session was in 1972 when me and my mate (both Slade fans) went in and got our photo's taken, pushing our fists up close to the camera with our thumbs out sideways, copying the "SLAYED" album cover!

I also have a memory of there being a Nestles chocolate vending machine that was always empty!

 

The other ad is for the local Council bus service who had a depot in Dock Street and an office in Barrack Street.

The 70's was when they changed from green coloured Corporation buses to blue Tayside Regional Council buses.

Does anyone know what product it is advertised on the side of the bus in the picture? The slogan is "Make Your Pins Look Sharper", but I haven't the foggiest what they are referring to!!

You may need to enlarge the image.

ON THE BUSES #2

This bonnie mess may rekindle some pleasant trips for a few of you and unpleasant ones for the rest of you!
This was mostly an early 70's scene when gang culture was the thing.
With no bus conductors to watch out for anymore, out came the felt pens & knives. The green leatherette seat covers would be slashed, exposing the yellow foam stuffing. Sometimes it was so bad that often there was no seat padding remaining and you had to sit on the bare wooden board underneath. The slashed leatherette was used to sew patches onto jeans as a kind of gang fashion trophy!
Windows would either be panned in from the outside or kicked out from the inside (good to know there was a choice involved!!!). I can also recall a couple of journeys when the large emergency window upstairs at the back was opened and stuff got chucked out along the route, fag packets, cans, stuffing etc and of course the usual gang signs & chants presented to the passers-by in the street..!!
They introduced a driver periscope mirror to try and monitor upstairs, but 1 driver facing up to 20 gang members didn't stand much chance. Despite this going on for years, we all just seemed to take this carry on in our stride.
Shit happens!!
Although I didn't indulge in bus vandalism, I did have a way of leaving my mark. For I was..."The Phantom Window Scribbler"...!! Actually, what it was, was when the windows steamed up I would do wee doodles in the condensation, like most kids did. However, as I got older I took it a stage further and drew full cartoons on the windows. So subjects like having a pop at Maggie Thatcher & Ronnie Reagan would go up. A bit of satire to cheer the passengers up!! The cartoons really did get a laugh, so it was a good bit of practise for later in life.
A free blank canvas, some harmless fun and no damage done.
Better to knock the stuffing out of politicians than nick the stuffing out of seats!!
Incidentally, the above snap is only an artist impression of such a scene, not the real thing!

ON THE BUSES #1

These Dundee bus tickets go back to the early 70's. Old money was still in use in 1970 hence the 8d one.
In the era of bus conductors, I remember a wee schoolboy prank we'd sometimes try. When passengers got off as you went on, they'd sometimes leave their used ticket in the back frame of the seat in front of where they were sitting. So just before the moment came for the conductor to ask for your fare, you'd grab the ticket from the seat frame and flash it to the conductor to indicate you had already paid. It has to be said though, as scams go, this one had a low success rate!
There was a also jokey quip about conductors doing the rounds back then. It was about how they would confuse passengers by shouting "Come on, get aff!".
Another function conductors had was to stamp their time-card at the bus clocks that were dotted around the routes, and the short clip below shows that very aspect in action.
Conductors were eventually phased-out in the early 70's when the one-man/driver only buses came into operation.

SPRINGERS AND SEGS

In 1969 when I was aged 11, I got to buy a pair of shoes called Springers. What made them different to the shoes I had worn up to that point was the fact they had leather soles. There was a mad rush with most boys to get Springers because one of the things that made them popular were the segs that went with them. Segs were metal clips that were hammered into the soles to protect the leather. Adults would usually put in about 4 segs on their brogues, but kids being kids, we ended up buying 2 packets worth and putting the whole lot on, resembling the photo above. You could always tell when someone was wearing Springers because of the clickety-clack racket they made walking along the pavement...again another aspect that made them appealing to kids!
Style-wise the upper had a wider than normal brim where the stitching was connected to the sole, so they were quite distinctive visually too.  
However, one of the dangers of going out in these shoes was when we used to jump off the back of a bus when it was still in motion. I think you can guess the outcome...skitin' all over the pavement out of control, sparks flying and ending up smacking into a lampie..!!

MID 70'S AIR SHOT - DOCK ST / PRINCE'S ST AREA

Continuing the mid 70's flight over Dundee, here we are at the area around Dock Street, Arbroath Road & Prince's Street (all the way up Albert Street).
The green patch, bottom left, is Corporation buses parked in the depot.
Quite a lot of demolition being done around here too as you can see by all the voids where there were once buildings. One such building that I used to go to that is not in this image was located in Robertson Street, just off Arbroath Road nearest to Prince's Street crossroad. This was the late 60's period. There was a large works called Taybridge Products and in this building they had the "Dundee Alsatian & Training Club". Well the room the club used also doubled as a 5-a-side football venue. I used to go there once a week in the evenings, which was organised by the BB, and had some brilliant games of football there. The photo just has it as wasteland but it is now the site of Taybank Medical Centre.
You can also make out the red & cream Tay Spinners mill in Arbroath Road which is now flats.

YELLOW ALEXANDER BUSES

The yellow Alexander buses were the ones we used in the 60's & 70's to go to places like Arbroath and Fife. What I remember about them is that it seemed like everytime I went passed the Seagate Bus Station, the place was always full of them, but on the occasions I needed to go to the Station to actually travel on them, the Station would be mysteriously empty and had to wait ages on one!
The above photo featuring an Alexander's bus was taken in the early 70's. Nobody was hurt in the accident but the funny thing about it is that it's my brothers Austin Maxi that's crushed and it was him that took the picture. He was the only one in the car and as soon as the collision occurred he just stepped out the car and took a few snaps. Not even any camera shake!!
The car was a write-off and the photos were used in my brothers favour when it was insurance claim time!

BUS STOP CLOCKS - 1960'S

Back in the 60's, the bus routes around Dundee had time-card clocks placed at terminus stops. This was also the era of bus conductors, and their routine would be to lift the lid on the body of the clock, put in his time-card, and pull a lever to stamp the time on it. Sometimes when a bus was early, it meant having to hang around one until it was the right time to depart, which passengers always moaned about, especially when the driver joined the conductor for a natter & a fag!
I remember there being a clock at Keith Place/Ballindean Road terminus, and us being primary school kids would lift the lid up to pull the lever because it used to go "DING", and then we'd scarper.
The clocks became obsolete when one-man buses became the norm around 1970.
For a reminder of the green Corporation buses, here's some footage from the 60's below.