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.

VICTORIA ROAD BACKIES - 1970

A couple of interesting photos showing the back of the buildings along Victoria Road.

You may recall a similar view of this section of the Vicky I posted back in November 2010, but the difference is, on last years, the buildings were all empty - on these 2 photos here however, there is evidence that they are still being lived in.

The pictures were probably taken around 1970ish, so they didn't have that much longer to go before the arrival of the bulldozers.

The top photo shows the segment where it joins onto Idvies Street.

The image below it is further down a wee bit going towards Wellgate, with the tell tale sign of life - the washin' hingin' oot!

Not quite sure what the small building in the foreground beside the lampie is mind you, because I don't know what address it would come under. If it's in Charles Street then the only place that crops up in my 1970 directory on that side of the street is D. Todd, a coal dealer. Could be - could no be - hopefully maybe one of you will be able to nail that one.

Photos from Gordon C.

DERBY STREET MULTIS IN THE MID 80'S.

Love them or loath them, those of us who grew up during the 3 retro decades are the ones who lived with multis most. There were none before that period, and since that time many have come a tumblin' down into oblivion!

The ones in the photos here are the Derby Street multis, themselves due to be demolished next year.

The top picture makes a very satisfying abstract image to me and is of Butterburn Court, snapped on 2nd April 1985.

Middle photo was taken from the corner of North George Street & Church Street, and captured on 20th September 1984.

It features a hotchpotch of Hilltown housing, from the corner cottage at the front, to the derelict tenements on the right, with the multis at the back of it all.

Quite a lot of wasteland in-between as well, but one place that was active in amongst all this, was the cream coloured building - The Ladbroke Social Club.

The bottom picture is of the same area but from higher up, this being the view from Carnegie Tower on 30th July 1985.

You'll notice the rough bit of land beside the corner cottage has become modernised, and in fact wipes out half of Church Street.

The road running from the bottom-left with the empty tenement, is Caldrum Street.

It's good to view these Hulltoon humdingers on a grander scale, so to bring up the enlarged versions, just click onto the pictures.

Photos by Neale Elder.

THE GRAND TOUR OF WHITFIELD - 1986

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1 - ABERLADY CRESCENT
2 - WHITFIELD DRIVE
3 - HADDINGTON CRESCENT
4 - DUNBAR CRESCENT
5 - DUNBAR CRESCENT
6 - TRANENT CRESCENT
These pictures around Whitfield were taken in March 1986 and should bring back a few memories.
Since then, the Skarne blocks at Aberlady, Haddington and Tranent have all been demolished, as have the multis, and the Dunbar Crescent area is now Dunbar Park.
The good old days or bad old days?
A mate of mine who lived in Whitfield in the 70's was telling me he has a hazy memory of when the all-weather pitch had an inauguration match between DFC v United to officially mark the switching on of the floodlights, which was the first of it's kind back then.
Anyone recall this?
Photos by Neale Elder.

LOWER WHITFIELD - 1986

This is how I remember Whitfield, the 80's being the last time I was there.

It's difficult to get a similar angle on Google Street View for a comparison, but I reckon this was probably taken around the Murrayfield Place area, looking over to the shops in Whitfield Drive. You can make out the building that is the Library & Learning Centre, just at the base of the tower block.

Not sure if the Whitfield Bar is in shot.

Most of the "flat roof" look has since disappeared or been redesigned. So much so that I've been told that some Whitfield residents now refer to it as being the West Ferry!

They must have redesigned the map while they were at it!!
Whitfield was also featured in a 1 hour TV documentary in Feb 1981, as its construction was under investigation by the Dept of Architecture at Dundee University.

This image was taken on 8th March 1986.

Photo by Neale Elder

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

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 - ARDLER MULTI'S

The last time I was up at Ardler, this is how it looked. I don't think I'd know my way around it now!

The school on the left of the picture is Blackshade Primary School. Around the time this photo was taken, they had a head teacher called Miss Brodie. Not Jean, but Doreen!

The other 2 primary schools nearer the centre of the picture are St Fergus, who's head teacher was J.Kirkwood, and next door was Ardler, who's head teacher was A.M.MacLean.

Get a load of those bare patches on the playing field. These are where the goal posts are. Obviously seen plenty of futba action!

At the back of the multi's is St Mary's, and beyond that you can see Clatto Reservoir.

Click the image to view the large version.

Unfortunately, this is the last picture I have in the set, and sorry if your place didn't crop up on any. Lots more comments have been added to some of the previous 70's air shots I put on in 2009, so still a few more memories to catch up with.

OLD MUSEUM ROOMS

You may remember in the old layout of the Museum in the 1960's & 70's, they had 2 house interiors from the late 19th century on display. They were next to each other to show the contrast in living conditions between the poor and the rich.

The image on top is the example of the grubby poor hoose which was called the Dundee Kitchen, the decor dating from around the 1870's. Although it's not shown in the illustration, I can recall this room also had a mouse running across the floor.

Next door to it was the shiny posh hoose called the Victorian Parlour, with decor dating from the 1890's. Again, not shown in the drawing but I remember in the room there was also a pedal organ.

Although the difference in the two lifestyles was plain to see, they did have something in common on display - the Wally Dugs on the mantelpiece!

The illustrations were done by Margaret J Webb in 1970.

MENZIESHILL MULTI'S IN THE 60'S

This image of the Menzieshill multi's was captured around the mid/late 60's.
The view from Dickson Avenue, running along the left, shows that a lot of the nearby ground was still a building site at the time, while the multi's and their circular garages had been completed.
The same area was also caught on film around the same time.
Below you can see the junction/corner area of Balgay Court and the comings and goings of everyday life, albeit briefly.
A great view of the circular garage from above, the design of which really does look so 60's, in fact I'm always half expecting to see Emma Peel drive up in her Lotus Elan every time I watch it!!

AAGA - CELL CASSETTE - 1983

In contrast to the bright and breezy AAGA track I put up a couple of weeks ago, on this outing AAGA take us all on a trip to the dark side.
The CELL cassette was done in 1983, and although all the material is untitled, I think I will call this one "Council Scheme Nightmare" ...for rather obvious reasons.
It's not a tune you're gonna be whistling along to, oh no, in fact you better go find some health & safety gear for protection.!!
It starts with a piercing shrill, a noise that undulates throughout the full 7 minutes like somebody grinding a piece of corrugated iron in a manic workshop. The pace is kept at a slow steady pulse by a menacingly hypnotic rhythm created on a drum machine, and then slicing their way through it all like a circular saw on overtime are the scathing lyrics, dissecting the ugly scenes encountered.
A bit of a tour de force I reckon. Dare you check it out?
Thanks to Mike Kane.

THE LEMONADE VAN

Early every Saturday morning in the 60's & 70's, the cul-de-sac where I lived was awakened by the sound of rattling bottles. It was the lemonade van with the lemonade boys doing their door to door deliveries. We'd leave the empty lemonade bottles on the doorstep like we did with the milk bottles and the lads would take away the empties and replace them with fresh ones, flavour for flavour.

It looked hard graft mind you, the boys always running back & forward to the van, and for those who had more bottles to carry than their fingers could manage (as above) they had to struggle with heavy crates. Didn't fancy that job, especially with all those closies! We did give the lads a bumper bonus payment at Christmas for their years hard work I recall. Standing on the platform at the back of the lorry looked fun though!

Bottles of lemonade were in "deposit" bottles back then, that meant when you returned the bottles you got money. Returning them to the van got you your fresh batch cheaper and taking empties to a grocer got you cash in hand. This was a situation kids took advantage of to get some spending money. I remember during the 7 weekies we went around the block asking neighbours if they had any old bottles, and the ones we collected we went straight to the shops with and cashed them in. An easy way to make a couple o' bob!

Photo by Lloyd Smith.

MID 70'S AIR SHOT - MENZIESHILL

Flying over Menzieshill and coming into land after another journey back in time.

The only change in scenery I can spot is the grassy area to the left of the multis along Dickson Avenue where a few additional buildings have since been built.

And so that concludes the second wee aerial trip around 70's Dundee.

I do hope you all had a very pleasant flight!

MID 70'S AIR SHOT - ARDLER

Built on a section of the Downfield Golf Course, this photo of Ardler doesn't bear much resemblance to how it looks nowadays. The main streets are still there, but that's about it.
Bottom left has the prefabs running along the length of Harrison Avenue. All appear to be lived in judging by the washing hanging out!
The school in between the white blocks of flats cutting diagonally across the photo, is Blackshade Primary School. The other school in front of the multis is St Fergus.
The image does remind me of how stark the place looked back then, this being how I remember it when visiting relatives who lived in the flats off Turnberry Avenue. In fact, one of the relatives I visited then still lives in Ardler. My Auntie Bette, who this year received Dundee's "Citizen of the Year" award for her work helping transform the area into becoming the award winning Ardler Village as it is now known. A more visually appealing place to live these days, in comparison.

MID 70'S AIR SHOT - KIRKTON

The basic layout of Kirkton is the same now as it was back here in the mid 70's.

Today most changes to it would be more noticeable from ground level than the air, however, a couple of obvious changes from this picture are the schools.

The one at the foot of the photo I'm fairly sure is Gillburn Primary School, which if it is, then it has since been demolished. The other blue/grey building to the left of Balgowan Avenue I'm pretty certain is Kirkton Nursery School, which I also reckon no longer exists. Kirkton High School which has survived, albeit with a new name, is just visible top left in the hazy distance.

You can also make out the shops near the centre of the photo no problem.

A piece of trivia from this era of Kirkton I can add is that, back in 1979, the place was featured on BBC TV.

This was a show called "Roadshow Disco".

The quirky thing about it was that when the show visited other cities around UK, they all had the programme broadcast from proper discos and nightclubs, but when they came to Dundee, they ended up doing the show from Kirkton Community Centre!

As well as the local disco dancers that were filmed, Dundee funk act, Rokotto, were the band supplying the dance grooves.