MISSION COMPLETE

That's me done.

My wee offbeat look back at what life was like for my generation growing up in Dundee during the 1960's - 1970's - 1980's has now reached journeys end and so I'm away to put the time-machine back in the garage and chuck the cover back on.

For those of you who find Retro Dundee for the first time after this date, here is a quick overview.

It started up back in summer 2008 and all the items I have posted (over 1300) are still available to view in the Blog Archive running down the left side of the main layout. You can click on the dates to open up the content and you can scroll through the material month by month or by their title. There is also a Search Box top left if you are looking for something specific where you can scroll through the posts it finds.

You'll find a mixture of photographs, adverts, audios, film footage, publications & ephemera on all sorts of subjects relating to Dundee's retro decades - school, fashion, bands, events, pubs, art, sport, restaurants, gigs, shops and on and on. So if you were kicking around town during this period, there's a good chance you'll spot a few things here you'll enjoy seeing again.

You won't find much in the way of official academic historical accounts as this is more of a retrospective trip off the beaten track than an everyday visit to the museum and library.

The majority of stuff has come from my own personal collection but quite a few others have contributed too.

As for the "Followers" who have been keeping their eyes on Retro Dundee for a while, well there will be no more new posts, so I suppose nothing else for you to follow here anymore.

Thanks for visiting it regularly, and also for those who supplied genuine comments, much appreciate the added extra info.

I will, of course, keep Retro Dundee up & running for as long as I'm around, or as long as time will allow, so unless Google's Blogger shuts down or something, Retro Dundee will remain on the Internet to bamboozle researchers & historians and it will still be kept active for you to drop in, send stuff or leave comments.

I'll also keep my Retro email open should anyone want to get in touch - and stating the rather obvious, you'll find the address top left of the layout where it says "Contact".
Remember, it is just the regular daily posts I've stopped, not the site, I will still be continuing to add fresh content to Retro, so keep sending material in - there's lots of gaps to fill..!!

Anyway, can't stay here yacking all day, I've got a ton of other things lined up ready to be cracking on with, so it's time for me to set off for cyber-pastures new and move on to my next bundle of Internet activities.

That's yer lot then.

Eh'll awa now.

GG

P.S. - Check out my other Retro Dundee related sites...

Dundee Band Index - Dundee Gig Time Machine - Tayside Bar - Bruce's - The Bowlin' Alley - Word From Dundee (fanzine archive) - Associates Gigs.

Lots more Retro Dundee music goodies to dip into!

Links to all at top of page.

AND A BIG SHOUT OUT TO...

I was originally planning on doing Retro Dundee for around 2 years, that being how long I thought I would be able to post items regularly based on the amount of material I had in my collection, however, because of all the items I had sent to me, I managed to keep going for another year and a half!

So to all the people who chipped in with their stuff - a big THANKS - great to know that lots of you kept all those old rarities tucked away after all that time.

Here is a list of those who helped contribute to Retro Dundee...and in no particular order...

MIKE FRASER - EDDIE G - CRAIG METHVEN (R.I.P) - THE SCOTSMAN - YVONNE J - STUART BETTY - NEALE ELDER - DREW RAMSAY - JOHN GURVAN - FRANK BOYLE - JIM GRIEVE - BRIDIE - MAC CARNEGIE - JOCK FERGUSON - NICHOLL RUSSELL STUDIOS - MIKE KANE - STEPHEN SMALL - GARY ROBERTSON - CAMERA KEN - BOB McGOULDRICK - ANDY GURVAN - DC THOMSON - GERRY MITCHELL - THE BEAR - ALI STRACHAN - RONNIE CHALMERS - THE ATTIC ARCHIVE - YVONNE McKINNEY - BRIAN WILSON - DEREK THOMSON - JOHN LUNAN (R.I.P) - JOE OGILVIE - PETER ROSS - EWEN ALLARDYCE - MARK MECHAN - KEVIN L GUTHRIE - AL McKEWAN - GORDON COBBAN (R.I.P) - GILLIAN JORDAN - DAVE McDONALD - JIM AIR - MIKE GALLACHER - SCOTT McKINLAY - GRAHAM GURVAN (R.I.P) - GORDON WALKER - LLOYD SMITH - JIM WILKIE - LYKEN - LORRAINE WILSON - COLIN RAMSEY - WILLIE FORREST - LAURA WALKER - GORDON BAND - BILLY GRAHAM - ANGUS RAE - CAROLYN LOTHIAN - ECKY COCHRANE - DAVID ROBERTSON - MOIRA BIRD - LUDA ALBIT - DONNY COUTTS - VIKING STUDIOS (R.I.P) - MARK RITCHIE - BRIAN HUTTON - NEIL MENZIES - PETER ASHWORTH - JIM FARRELL - MARTIN KIELTY - ALLAN BROWN - RICHARD ROONEY - GEORGE DUNCAN - DEK McHUGH - DAVID PENTLAND - RICHARD C. - KENNY MACKINNON - ALAN WESTON - DEREK HIGH - MARTIN DUDLEY - ANGUS CARNEGIE - GRAEME WHITE - GEORGE ARTHUR RONEY - BRIAN PERRIE - GRAHAM KENNEDY - DOUG B - MOIRA BERNARD - NEIL HOWIE - ALISTAIR LITTLEJOHN

ARNCHORY IN THE UK

A couple of publications I'd have been lost without during the course of doing Retro, were the old Dundee Directories and old street maps.
The directories have been particularly useful because they list all the shops, pubs, schools, businesses and so on - a very handy aid for fuzzy memories!
I have 3 in my collection, 1966, 1970 and the 1974 one in the photo above, which was the final year of their print run.
Having said that, despite the fact that many of us depend on such official publications for research and fact finding, I've discovered you can't always totally rely 100% on what they print.
Take for example, the street map in the photo dating back to the beginning of the 60's. When I was having a wee look around my old stomping ground - Craigie - I couldn't help notice what appears to be a spelling mistake. The road connecting Aboyne Avenue to Balerno Street, I've always known as BANCHORY Road - but they have it down as ARNCHORY Road, as you can see by my red arrow. They also have it listed in the map index as Arnchory as well.
Forward wind 2 decades to their 1983 map and by heck they still haven't sorted it out properly - now they've printed it out as BARNCHORY Road..!!
Looks like the Geographia Cartography office would have benefited by employing a Dundee taxi driver to help them out!

Since writing the above caption, the entire map has been scanned in and pieced back together again.
So if you want to download the 1960 map for your own research, here is the link... 1960 Dundee Map
It weighs in at 20MB and is good enough quality to zoom in and view all the detail up close.

THE SNOWY SEVENTIES

3 shots here that'll make you want to snuggle up in front of a coal fire - all from the 70's, and maybe even the same winter.

Not sure if the guy in the top image is someone in particular, like a well known skier, but I have a feeling that he was an ordinary member of the public who came up with the idea of skiing to work. Which ever it is, he was stopped in his tracks by a photographer up beside the Morgan.

Middle picture, taken along Meadowside, has the traffic sliding tentatively passed the museum.

And the view at Samuel's corner shows that it might have been a better idea to have had a cosy day in that day!

Photos by DC Thomson.

PIZZA GALLERY AD - 1984

I suppose students could have gone straight from their days stint at Kingsway Tech and popped down to the Pizza Gallery in Peter Street pend to take advantage of the discounts they had on offer.
I can remember visiting it a couple of times - a pretty decent place to dine - and it had a "Famous Artists" theme for you to view while waiting to be served.
The advert is dated 1984.

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.

VANISHING VICKY - EARLY 70'S

Another group of photos from the early 70's showing the demolition around Victoria Road.

Top picture is of the upper area of the Vicky.

2nd image, from the edge of the crater, was taken in Charles Street off the Wellgate. The derelict building at the opposite end, was the Kings Road location.

The 3rd view is where the buildings I displayed on yesterdays post would have been positioned.

Lastly, a look back over from the other side - the photographer was standing in Kings Road at the time.

Photos from Gordon C.

WELLGATE LIBRARY IN THE 80'S

No idea if the Wellgate Library still looks the same these days, but this is how things were back in the 1980's.

Top image is of the Childrens Library - and judging by the pencil case setting, I think the kids may have been having "The Borrowers" read out to them at the time!

The other photo is a view of the general lending area, which I remember had a brilliant book of Picasso Linocuts that I kept going back to over and over again. Must see if I can buy a copy now that this has jogged my memory.

The advert is dated 1988 and is for the Video Libary, located in the main foyer.

Membership was free and for over 18's only. The content consisted of Hollywood blockbusters, TV shows, music, documentary, old Dundee and hobbies, with prices ranging from 50p to £2 per night.

THE DISAPPEARING CORNER - 1980'S

These images were all taken around the corner wedge area where City Road meets Milnbank Road.

Most of the main buildings you can see in the photos have vanished, replaced now with landscaping.

If you want to do a Google Street View comparison, here are their locations.

Top pic - Baxter Street shot from City Road in April 1986.

2nd pic - Baxter Street looking back down towards City Road in March 1984.

3rd pic - Blyth Street on a rainy day in November 1984.

last pic - The back of Blyth Street and Fleuchar Street in February 1985.

Photos by Neale Elder.

THE OVERGATE SILHOUETTE

A scary tale for Hallowe'en...
I was told this story in the 70's from the girl it happened to, but to be fair, she was tripping on drugs when it occurred!
You remember how the 70's Overgate between Dixon's corner and Boots was often like a wind tunnel - well this one time, because of her hallucinatory condition, the scene had become really exaggerated, and so in her mind she thought she was battling against a powerful storm as she made her way through the passage.
She then spotted a hazy image of a guy in front of her, silhouetted against the light at the end of the tunnel.
As she got closer, she could hear a metallic jingling sound with every footstep he made, and this became louder and louder the nearer she got to him.
By now she had conjured up the image of a Frankenstein monster type of creature, one that had shackles & chains attached to his ankles.
Then when she got right up beside him, that's when she made her horrific discovery!
Here below is a recreation of what the poor lassie was going through - with the real explanation.
Sleep tight..!!!!!

CENTRAL WATERFRONT AREA - 1980's

This aerial photo is from the late 80's and shows the familiar layout of the central waterfront area our generation will remember it by.

Yes it soon will only be a memory as it's time to say ta ta to Tayside House, the Leisure Centre and other surrounding features because the zone is currently in the process of being redesigned and modernised with a flashy new look that's gonna dazzle us all!

CRAFT CENTRE ADS - 70's

Here's a couple of ads from the 70's for The Craft Centre in the Nethergate.
They specialised in arty gifts made from a variety of materials.
The basic top ad with just the shop name on it is from 1978.
The one underneath with the Beatrix Potter style mouse, is dated 1977.

GATE MICROSYSTEMS AD - 1984

An ad from 1984 for computer dealers, Gate Microsystems, who were based in the Nethergate.

That typeface they used is called DATA 70, and still looks futuristic despite it being decades old!

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.

THE WORKSHOP AD - 1988

An ad for The Workshop in the Nethergate from 1988, a place I know absolutely zilch about.

If any of you can do the biz on this one - the comments section is all yours.

HUGH FARQUHAR AD - 1978

I forgot Hugh Farquhar also had a place in Crichton Street - although they themselves seem to have forgotten to put Street in the ad!

I automatically think of the High Street salon anytime Farquhars name crops up.

Anyway, this one is from 1978.

JOHNALAN ADS - 70's/80's



The top Johnalan ad is from 1979 and lets you know the whereabouts of their salons.
You also may have noticed that the image is a merged photo of both John & Alan - John with the mouser, Alan with the beard.
I assume they didn't offer this look to their customers, but it does remind me of the time Jimmy Savile made an appearance on Top Of The Pops in the psychedelic 60's, with one half of his hair white and the other side black!
The middle ad is dated 1984 and just has their Crichton Street salon on it - but it does display their futuristic "Countdown" typeface logo which I've always liked.
As regards their outlandish third ad - well it's not often I'm lost for words on Retro but on this occasion, I'm completely dumbstruck!!
All I can add is that this bizarre creation was published, large sized, in the Tele in March 1977.

RICKSONS ADS - 70's/80's

A couple of adverts for Ricksons in the Nethergate.

Top one is from 1979 and the one underneath, 1980.

Two well known local hairdressers who were doing their apprenticeship at Ricksons at the time of the '79 ad, were Graeme Merchant and Norrie McDicken - but in 1980 both moved to Salon 51 to finish their training there.

Norrie now has his super-duper place in Reform Street - Salonori.

No idea how long Ricksons itself lasted.

SALON 51 AD - 1984

Don't know if Eddie went here to be shorn, but this is Salon 51 in the Murraygate - going for it!

Ad is dated 1984.

WHITFIELD'S AD - 1966

This ad from 1966 is for Whitfields' in Crichton Street, who were navy specialists.

Is that the only colour they had then - navy?!!