HUNTLY SQUARE SHOPS - 1963

It doesn't look particularly wintery, but these photos were taken on 19th December 1963.

The square is located between Aboyne Avenue running along the top, and Huntly Road at the bottom.

We just called this place Craigie Shops rather than Huntly Square, this being my neck of the woods back then, and when schoolboy age went there almost every day as they were also on our school route.

Amongst the shops were - Jack Chalmers, butcher - Moore, grocer - Primo, chip shop - Black, baker - Steele, household goods - Stan Gordon, newsagent - Wallace's, baker - Gowans, draper, some of which show up on the pictures above. Needless to say, during the course of time, some shops disappeared and new ones opened, so later there was a Tudor Crisps warehouse - V.G. Store - Farmfoods shop - Dempsey's, hairdresser - a Police Station - Nan's, chip shop - Church of Nazarene, and no doubt a few others that have slipped past my memory.

It wasn't just a place we shopped, we also hung out there and turned it into a play area - football, hide & seek, pitchie, the usual kind of stuff. We also indulged in a game called "Follow The Leader" which was almost like a pre-cursor to present day Parkour. A snake of us would line up and we'd all have to copy the exact movements of the leader in front. Wherever the leader went or whatever they did, everyone else behind had to do the same, so there was a lot of running around, jumping over objects, balancing on structure, that kind of stuff - a bit daring at times, well for primary age kids!

Oh yeah, and it was also a great place to go stot your Superball..!!

Click on images to enlarge if you want to nose around.

Photos by DC Thomson.

DUNDEE'S 70'S BRAINIACS

1978 saw Dundee University win TV's "University Challenge".
The winning team above for the 77/78 series were - Tom McGhee - Isabel Morgan - Alistair Thomson - Enid Anderson.
I'm fairly sure this was the Dundee team who had a captain (so it would be Alistair) that answered every single music question that cropped up. What was amusing about it was he always supplied much more information in the answer than Bamber had written on his card, so generating a more enthusiastic applause from the audience each time!

The other quartet underneath is the Craigie High School "Top Of The Form" team of 1974.
This, however, was not the TV version or the radio version of the show, but a general knowledge contest between local secondary schools organised by the Dundee police.
In the photo, L to R - John Muir - Rab Gordon - Richie Robertson - Craig Methven.
CHS got through to the final but were beaten by those pesky swots at Morgan!
The Morgan winning team were - Kenneth Millar - Alex McMichael - Gwendoline Bowden - John Todd.
Thanks to Craig for the CHS snap.

CRAIGIE HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE - 1981

Now some pages from a 1981 Craigie High School magazine.

This issue covers the period from the end of 1980 to the beginning of 1981, and because 1980 was the 10th anniversary of the school, the first couple of pages take a look back over the decade. It refers to things like the first 300 pupils to attend CHS back in '70 (my mob) and also has a reminder of the 4 Houses that were set up in the early 70's. However, for some reason, CHS didn't retain the House system for very long.

Also news about new teacher arrivals and a couple of retirements, including Mr Higgins, the art teacher who designed the school badge.

The next couple of pages are an interview with Radio Tay DJ, Graham Stuart, the chit chat conducted by Mandy McQuire & Karen Conway.

Lastly, it's party time at CHS - 3 different parties in fact - first being a Fancy Dress Disco for Hallowe'en, followed by their Christmas Masquerade Ball, complete with visit from Santa, and finally another good night was had at the St Valentines Day Disco.

A few photos of the pupils in costume too - just click onto the pages to view the larger size.

I can tell the DJ played The Gap Band's "Oops Upside Your Head" anyway!!

Thanks to Neale Elder.

GG IN WRANGLERS - 1973

Anybody who worked in the Levi factory, better look away - here's a picture of me wearing their rivals jeans - Wranglers.

This would have been 1973ish, having a game of shootie-in aroond the backies - meh turn to go in goal!

VIEW FROM MONTGOMERIE SQUARE - 70'S

The map is to help you out with the area mentioned in this item.

Montgomerie Square was located on the Kingsway in a patch of ground between Milton Of Craigie Road and Longtown Road.
There used to be a huddle of old prefabs there in the 60's that were still lived in, but by the time they reached the early 70's, they had all disappeared.
The photo above was taken in the mid 70's and you can just make out the remains of one of the corners of Montgomerie Square in amongst the wild growth (bottom left).
The main focus of attention is the Kingsway East Fire Station which was built in 1972.
Sandwiched in the middle of the shot is the car park used by Timex employees - but later in the 70's, Timex extended the car park further up and in doing so, covered up the grassy area above with tarmac.
So now Montgomerie Square has been lost forever in the mists of time(x)!

SUMMER SANDALS IN THE SIXTIES

Every kid in the 60's knew when summer had arrived - when your parents told you it was time to put on your sandals. As you can see, they were as common as muck! I think I wore a pair the same style every summer up till I was about 10.
The photo was taken in June 1962 when I was 4. That's me (GG) on the right with my wee brother on the opposite side. The star of the picture though is the little cutie-pie in the middle, Susan, looking dead Scottish in her tartan troosers. She also had ginger hair, completing the - dolly from a tartan souvenir shop in the Royal Mile look!
We are sitting on the kerb in the culdee of Kemnay Gardens by the way.
Another amusing aspect is - see the togs I've got on, well if you forward-wind 20 years to the early 80's, I was wearing similar shirts fastened at the neck without a tie along with similar shabby breeks, when it was a post-punk kind of fad. Then I'd be sitting on the pavie outside the Tayside Bar 10 o'clock at night, lighting up a joint!!
A case of fashion going full-circle!
Changing the subject for a moment, an additional observation in the photo is that the 2 doors in shot are their original dark brown colour they'd have been when Craigie was first built. However, later on in the 60's, a team of council decorators came along to repaint the entire scheme. Some of the lucky ones had their doors painted pale blue, but we were one of the unfortunate ones who got theirs done in pink!
Anyway, got lots of Dundee related fashion items to pop up over the next few days. Some toppers in fact!

POWER PLANT A TREE IN '73

Last year I put an item up on Retro about the time I got involved in the national "Plant A Tree In 73" campaign at Craigie High.
Well here's another tree from 1973, our family Christmas one.
It was a bit on the puny side compared to today's standards, but at least my brother managed to make it look brighter than it was with the aid of lens filters on his camera. You may recall we had power cuts in winter 73 during a period of industrial disputes, so there may have been a bit of topicality behind the reason for the photo in the first place.
Our corny wallpaper seems to be rather Christmassy too, with what looks like baubles incorporated into the design. Never noticed that back then mind you!
So what did I get for Xmas that year? Well I can't recall with precision accuracy but being 15 I was too old for toys, so it would have been mostly made up of clothes, albums, art materials, books and if all went well, a couple of selection boxes!

GREENIELAND - 1973

An amusing postcard from Greenieland...or is it the North Poly...either way, it's aroond the backies at my old hoose in Craigie, 1973.
The main feature is the snowman my wee brother made which, if you look closely, ended up with a polar bear's head! Pot luck by the way, but quite appropriate.
This was taken from Kemnay Gardens looking over towards Douglas Road. The fir trees are the ones on Douglas Road at the Electricity Sub Station.
Back then, most of the back greens still had an open plan look with "imaginary" borders. These days however, everyone has their own individual space partitioned off and so the area in the picture doesn't bear any resemblance to how it looks now.
You can see at the corner of the house on Douglas Road the old style metal bins we all had - remember the corrugated design with rattly lid!
Why they should have THREE coal bunkers is a bit odd though. Maybe winter that year was quite a severe one and they decided to stockpile their fuel!
Having said that, the son of the family who lived there may have been inspired by the snow because he went on to live in Norway, and the last I heard, still lives there with his own Scandinavian family.

TIMEX - END OF AN ERA

When your time's up, it's time to depart, and Timex's time at Milton of Craigie ended in the 1980's after around 3 decades of having a presence there.
This photo taken at the tail end of the 80's, shows where the Timex factory once stood, looking over the barren ground to Douglas Road, with Longtown Road to the left.
Shortly afterwards, it was ASDA's turn to keep the area ticking over!
Big thanks to Ecky.

BALERNO PRIMARY PANORAMA

Although this photo of Balerno Primary School was taken in the 80's, it looks exactly the same in the picture as it did when I was there in the 60's.
The headmaster in the 60's was Mr Elrick, and the jannie was Mr Bowman.
One thing I can remember about Mr Bowman was when I was helping him out delivering the milk around the classrooms one day in 1968. When I was picking up the milk bottles outside his jannie's room, he had the radio on, and a newsflash came on about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. He told me to go tell all the teachers. So when I went around all the classes with the milk, I also had to deliver this gloomy news!
I can't recall where I was when the famous JFK assassination took place, but I always remember his brother's!
The school was demolished in the 90's and now has housing built on the site.
If you want to zoom into a bit of detail, click on the image to enlarge.
Photo by DC Thomson.

MID CRAIGIE SCHOOL - 1960

This image of Mid Craigie School comes from an advert for Bett Brothers, the builders, dated 1960.
In the 60's, the school's head teacher was Norman Reid, and the jannie was Mr Taylor.
The last time I looked, the school's windows were all boarded up, although I don't know if it was about to be done up or demolished!

VIEW FROM CHS CLASS - 1982

Here's a view from Craigie High School, taken on 19th May 1982.
It was taken by Neale Elder, just shortly before leaving CHS.
However, he can't recall now whether it was taken at the Met Station or from the window of Mrs Meakin's English class. Either way, you can tell it's from 3 decades ago by the Caledon shipyard cranes and Carolina Port chimney stacks in the background.
Not that much of a difference though with the school ground and nearby area, apart from the trees being bigger now.
I have a hazy memory of using this small athletics area only once, one summer period. A bit of hop, skip & jump and some shot-put! In the main though, all our PE stuff was done around the other grassy areas.
I also remember painting a view almost the same as this image when one day we were allowed on the roof for art.

CHS DOMESTIC SCIENCE - 1970

Well here's a Craigie High School classroom I was never in - the Domestic Science room. I haven't even got a clue who the teachers were. In fact, this image is the first time I've seen inside the place.
The photo was taken on 17th August 1970, just before the school first opened, hence the bare look.
What's the "Science" in it refer to anyway? Learning how a can opener works?!!
Photo by DC Thomson.

CRAIGIE HIGH LOLLIPOP MAN - 1972

This would have been near the end of the lollipop man's stint on Arbroath Road because the photo was taken in November 1972, the same month Craigie High School's subway opened along at Monymusk Road, doing him out of a job!

I don't have the lollipop man's name, but the pupil 2nd from left is Pete Baruffati. The last time I spoke to him was in the early 80's when I bumped into him in the Murraygate. He was telling me then that he was with, or ran, an Advertising Agency and had been working on an ad with Russ Abbot at the time.

He was also a pretty hot table tennis player, I recall from my CHS days!

The 3 pupils on the right of the picture I recognise but can't remember their names. Sorry guys! I know I'm gonna kick myself if someone passes the info on in the comments.

I've no idea who the the other 2 chaps either side of Pete are.

Just a reminder, I put a picture of the brand new subway, taken around the same time, up on Retro and can be found in the October 2009 archives.

Photo by DC Thomson.

KINGENNIE TERRACE - 1985

Beh goad, this is a pretty bleak image of Mid Craigie's Kingennie Terrace... and it's just how I remember it!

In the 70's, I used to visit friends who lived in Blacklock Crescent in Linlathen, which meant having to pass this part of Mid Craigie on my way up and down Pitkerro Road.

Words like grim, desolate, stark, scary, would spring to mind and I never really felt safe until I reached back onto the Kingsway, where I'd let out a big sigh of relief knowing that I made it without getting jumped by the Mid!!

This picture was taken on 30th November 1985.

None of the buildings in shot exist anymore, all gone, even the street name has changed to Kingennie Court, which now has individual houses with bonnie gardens.

Photo by Neale Elder

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!

WASHING CLOTHES IN THE 60'S

LUX - OMO - TIDE - FAIRY SNOW - OXYDOL - DREFT... just some of the washing products that were popular in the 60's, but now I think all have disappeared.

I have 3 items relating to the subject here, so starting first with the photos above.

These are some of the greenie poles aroond the backies in Kemnay Gardens where we lived. They were standard council installations that everyone in Craigie had in the 60's. However, none of the ones in the snaps exist anymore. All the garden areas have been partitioned off from each other and everyone uses whirligigs now.

With old style tenements, many had pulley systems outside the windows on the upper floors which were attached to a large main pole that held many clothes lines.

Which brings me to the 2nd item. Some examples of these pulleys crop up in a short film I have (below), the footage of which was taken around various locations in Dundee in the 60's.

But before we go on a retro tour of the backies, item 3 is a wee reminder of how washing powder was advertised on tv in the 60's, with the one below being for Fairy Snow, who's slogan some of you may recall... "Forces Grey Out - Forces White In!"

THE TUDOR CRISPS VAN

In the 70's, Tudor Crisps had a warehouse at the Craigie shops in Huntly Road.
I'd see their van passing our way quite a lot. It had the face of Henry VIII on the side of the van, and it was one of those portraits...you know how on some paintings the eyes appear to follow you around the room...well it was the same with Henry. When the van was coming towards you, you'd see Henry staring at you from the side of the vehicle, and when the van had passed, he would still be looking at you, even if it was from a different angle - as if he swivelled his head around keeping an eye on you!
Always amusing thing to observe at schoolboy age.
What he didn't manage to catch the sight of however, was when one day, a couple of Craigie High pupils nicked a box of crisps from the back of the van when it was being loaded up at the warehouse and they ran back with it into the playground at lunchtime for us all to dip into!!

LAND O' CAKES IN CRAIGIE

This was probably one of the lesser known Land O' Cakes shops in Dundee - the Craigie one in Huntly Square. These shops were built in 1962/63 and Wallace's were one of the first to move in.

The top picture was taken in December 1963 and as you can see, shows the full window display. However, it was a very short lived stay because by September '64, when the other picture was taken, it had a "Closed Down" sign on the window and nothing but empty doilies inside.

The sign also informs everyone that the nearest branch can be found in Baluniefield Avenue, but they meant Baluniefield Road!

Photos by DC Thomson.

WARNING - PAINFUL SMOKING STORY!

 

My brother took this photo around 1973ish - Embassy Tipped and Younger's beer being very common around that era.

The picture was actually taken at home so I can only assume the ashtray was nicked from a pub!

I'd only be 14/15 years old back then, so I hadn't started to indulge yet. However, some of the tuff-nuts at school the same age as me were already hooked. Embassy Tipped & Embassy Regal were their favoured fags. They used to keep their fag packets in the chest pocket of their Ben Sherman shirts or their gang jerseys, in class without the teachie knowing!

One day, when we were all making our way back home from Craigie High, a few of the Toddy guys were mucking about in Ruthven Road. One was absolutely GASPING for a fag and kept nagging his mate who only had twa left in his packet, so kept refusing the guys gasping pleas. In desperation the guy who was pleading ended up saying - "I'll let ye punch iz in the puss fir ain!".

"A'right then" was the reply.

So the one who was about to be punched had his hands held behind his back by a 3rd guy to prevent him guarding himself - then WALLOP!!! - he got a crack in the jaw from the one who had the fags!! He never even flinched. He was given his ciggie and off they all went up the road together, as if nothing had happened.

So let THAT be a real health warning!!!