BANGLAR ROBI - DOCKS - 1984

The jute industry was still going on in Dundee in the 80's, but it has to be said, it was nearing the end of its life.

Here was one vessel that was still supplying the foreign fibre back then - Banglar Robi.

This picture of the jute liner was taken on 24th December 1984 at King George V wharf.

Photo by Neale Elder.

DISCOVERY'S TEMPORARY HOME - 1986

This shot was taken on the 4th April 1986, the day after the Discovery had arrived back to Tayside and still wearing it's "Home to Dundee" banner.

The Victoria Dock here became it's temporary home until it was moved into it's now more familiar position on the waterfront.

You won't need me to remind you the name of the other ship in the foreground!

Photo by Neale Elder.

DISCOVERY - BACK HOME - 1986

This was the scene down at the docks exactly 25 years ago today - 3rd April 1986 - the moment the Discovery came back home to Dundee.

The Discovery hitched a lift inside the other vessel in shot - Happy Mariner - then after a few days sail from London, was removed like a Russian doll and placed back into the Tay where it had first originated.

The photos are more or less in "time" order, starting at the top, so those of you who weren't present at the unpacking, as it were, you can conjure up the sequence from the images.

And if it puts you in the mood, you could always backtrack to Retro's March 2010 archives and listen to the Lowland Folk, who recorded a song about this very occasion.

I can see a guy with a TV camera in the crowd, which reminded me that not only did it make the local news, the event also cropped up on national telly.

Kids tv show, Blue Peter, broadcast a feature about the Discovery on 24 April 1986, with host, Simon Groom, who followed the ships progress from London to Dundee.

Photos by The Bear.  

CAROLINA PORT CHIMNEY DEMOLITION - 1984

2 photos taken in fairly quick succession, capturing the moment the 2 chimney stacks at Carolina Port Power Station were demolished.

The top, "chimney A" - bit the dust on 8th April 1984.

Below, "chimney B" - came crashing down on 15th April 1984.

Photos by Neale Elder

CAROLINA PORT POWER STATION - 60'S

On the site where, long ago, Dundee jute sacks were once shipped to the cotton plantations of Carolina USA, they built the Power Station for Scotland Hydro-Electric Board.

As you can see, it was quite a chunky structure, with it's chimney stack easy to spot from miles away.

The images (both from the late 60's) show the building from opposite angles, and according to my 1970 Dundee Street Directory, the power station was located on "Electric Street", which I guess is the road seen in the bottom picture.

Mitchell Construction of Glasgow being who built it.

And to see to which extent the power station dominated that part of the waterfront, below is a short piece of footage from the mid 60's, filmed from Fife.

 

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.

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!

CITY CENTRE AIR SHOT - 60'S

Here's a great aerial photo of the city centre, taken around 1966/67.
In the middle of the picture there is Shore Terrace bus station, and you can see that the Littlewoods area of the Overgate was still under construction.
Top left, past the Angus Hotel zone is the Westport area, with the J.M. and so on.
Top right, south of the multi's, you can glimpse a section of the old Wellgate around the Meadowside/Victoria Road bend.
Have a nose around lots of other nooks & crannies in the image by clicking on the photo and viewing the large version.

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.

BILLY MACKENZIE AT THE DOCKS - 1984

On a snowy winters day back in 1984, Billy Mackenzie was interviewed for TV down at the docks. The show was "The Tube" and Leslie Ash was the presenter.

There were 2 boats used in the 10 minute feature. The one where the interview took place was on a tug boat called Castlecraig, and the other boat was the Unicorn (above) where he performed a song.

Although it was a feature solely on Billy Mackenzie, the song was still by The Associates, and the track was the single "Waiting For The Loveboat".

I reckon the Tube video (below) is much better than the official promo video for the single, which does make me cringe a bit.

Photo by the Scotsman.Tints by GG

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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 INN AT THE QUAY - 1982

Dundee's "floating pub" was a very short lived novelty. In business only for a few months in 1982. The Balmoral (the boats former name) was modified to become The Inn At The Quay around spring 1982 and it sat at Craig Pier, beside the Leisure Centre. It was a good wee pub to visit in the summer months because you could sit out on deck and take in the warm lighty nights. Everytime I was there it was always a young crowd on board and I'm fairly sure it had dj's on at weekends. The funnel had an image of a "key" on it which was a wee bit of visual humour - key/quay. You could say it was an INN joke..!!
I remember in August that year, I arrived back in town after a 4 week tour of France and as soon as I stepped out of the rail station, the Quay was the first place I headed for, then it was straight up to the Deep Sea for some proper food..a puddin' supper!
By winter the floating pub had shut.
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

UGANDA'S SCHOOL TRIPS - 1970's

Popular in the 70's were the "educational trips" on board the ship, Uganda. I wasn't on any myself mind you, but I do recall some Cragie High schoolmates ventured on trips in the early 70's to places like Gibraltar and Malta. These voyages were on offer to most UK schools, Dundee being just one of the stop-off points of departure.
Here below is a short film clip of the Uganda berthed at Dundee in 1973/74 dropping off some local lassies at the end of a Scandinavian tour. You may even recognise someone you know!