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

VIEWS FROM THE ATTIC

Many of you will have had a Viewmaster as a kid, the plastic toy binoculars you put card discs into to view 3D images.
Probably not so many of you had one of these gizmo's above - a slide viewer.
This was more of a photographers specialist gadget than a toy, allowing you to view photographic slides through a magnified lens. You'd pop the slide into a slot in the top, it would light up inside and you were able to see the slides like ordinary photographs, something you couldn't do with the titchy slides on their own.
This is our family one dating from around the late 60's/early 70's - a Halina Paramount Viewer to give it its full name.
This, along with a big bundle of original slides were found in our attic just a few years ago, after having been hiding there for over 3 decades. I actually thought the slides had been thrown out many years ago because I hadn't seen them since the 70's, so it was a great surprise when they resurfaced after all that time.
It was this recent find that after viewing the content, I thought would be worthwhile sharing on the Internet, because these were the original slides that contained those 70's aerial shots around Dundee, the David Bowie concert, Victoria Road demolition an so on.
So here - many still in their original Agfacolor box - are some of the slides that kick-started me into doing Retro Dundee in the first place.

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.

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.

FACES LAND - 1986

Here's a nice gritty urban scene looking along North Ellen Street towards a rather intimidating Jamaica Tower.
This place, as most of you will know, is called "Faces Land", with the housing on the left having gargoyle-like structures of human heads protruding from the window frames.
I also spotted a "Pola Cola" advert on the empty shop above a tag by Kinzie of the Hulltoon Huns.
Then there are the 2 black cars in the foreground - a cool Capri on the left and a lame Lada on the right.
Not forgetting the coal lorry making a delivery.
All this screams "1970's" to me, but in actual fact the photo was taken on 15th April 1986!
Click onto the image for a closer look.
Photo by Neale Elder.

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.

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.

IT'S THE JIF LEMON TREE!

Well Peter Ustinov may have written a play called "Halfway Up A Tree", but halfway up this tree was a strange fruit that I mentioned on Retro back in April - plastic Jif lemons!
We weren't hallucinating after all - here is the evidence from 1974.
Photo by DC Thomson.

PETER USTINOV IN THE NETHERGATE

Here's a fine shot of Peter Ustinov having a wee chuckle to himself in the Nethergate.
The 2 shops in the background are the Civil Service Stores and Patterson's shoe shop.
Peter Ustinov was rector at University of Dundee from 1968 to 1974, the era the photograph was taken.
It's quite an amusing image because Peter was really world famous at the time, what with his numerous film awards, his plays, books, his witty one-man shows etc etc etc - a gigantic list of achievements and a colossal all-round entertainer - and here he is in the city centre with a bench all to himself, none of the locals aware of his presence!
Photo by DC Thomson.

DUNDEE SAVINGS BANK - PART 2

Just along the road a wee bit from their previous location, this branch of the Dundee Savings Bank in Arbroath Road was photographed in May 1976 - the month it opened for biz.

The building was brand new and purpose built at the time - this spot being where Johnston's Stores was situated in earlier years.

Sometime around the early 80's the "Dundee Savings Bank" wording was ditched and it became a fully fledged TSB.

Photo by DC Thomson.

DUNDEE SAVINGS BANK - PART 1

2 items from the mid 70's featuring the Dundee Savings Bank.
Top one is an ad dated 1974.
In '74 the DSB had loads of banks spread around Dundee as well as plenty further afield.
One of the local branches was this one above in Arbroath Road at Craigiebank shops.
This image was captured in May 1976 when the bank shut its doors to move into new premises just a few steps away, with this corner location turning into a bookies.
In 1975, Dundee Savings Bank merged with other banks dotted around Scotland and formed the Trustee Savings Bank. The 2 existed in tandem for a while, as you can see by the TSB sign present, top-right of the entrance area.
Click onto the picture for a closer look.

Photo by DC Thomson.

ADAMSON'S - ARBROATH ROAD - 1972

Adamson & Son had this workshop/factory at 140 Arbroath Road.

It was a place I'd pass regularly as a schoolboy, but didn't have a clue what went on inside!

Well after recently finding an advert for them dating from 1970, I can now let it be known that in this Wire & Metal Workers building they called Riverview Works, they made a wide variety of items.

Their wire based products included - guards for windows, fires, fans and similar stuff - then there was fence enclosures for sports grounds, animal pens, works security etc and they also made more general items like baskets, sieves, trays and so on.

Their sheet-metal products included - lockers, bins, pipes, signs, storage tanks, things like that.

This picture of the premises was taken in March 1972 - but not long after, they had moved biz to Clepington Road and by around 1973/74 this building was demolished.

Photo by DC Thomson.

McLEISH BROS - ARCADE - EARLY 70'S

One of the well known shops in the city arcade in Shore Terrace was McLeish Brothers, who were a fishmonger/wee grocer.
This used to be the spot of another popular fishmonger, Cantrell's, but McLeish Bros took over in the early 70's, around about the time of this image.
Photo by DC Thomson.

HILLTOWN DETAIL - 1970'S

A couple of snapshots showing a section of the Hilltown taken around the mid/late 70's.

On the top photo, the photographer was standing in Stirling Street looking over at a few shops near the corner of North George Street.
The dark terracotta coloured premises on the left is The Auld Dundee Pie Shop owned by David Wallace. Next door is G.Page, shoe repairs. The small stone building with the large chimney stacks is Robert Gibb who was a joiner/DIY supplies shop, and the store catching the sunlight on the corner is the Co-Op.
This small group of buildings is still there today, although the shops are now different.
On the other photograph, however, the buildings further up past the Auld Dundee Pie Shop, have all been demolished.
Photos from Gordon C.

ACTING TROUPE IN HILLTOWN - 80'S

This is an acting troupe posing near the demolition site of the Tap O' The Steps pub on the corner of Hilltown/Victoria Road, sometime around the mid/late 80's.
That's Alison Burns far right, and possibly Derek Thomson far left but not too sure who the others in her company are.
Just wondering if this might be the group of actors who performed up at the DRCU in the Hilltown before Alison joined the more well known Wildcat cast.
All a bit hazy, but if you think you can supply further details, feel free to drop them into the comments.
Photo by The Bear.

3 GLIMPSES OF CHARLES STREET - 70'S

Here we have 3 shots taken in the early 70's showing the area around Charles Street.

Top image is the upper stretch of the Wellgate with Charles Street junction on the right.
Some of the shops around this location, such as Ken's Bazaar (far right) have called it a day and have the boarding up, while others seem to be hanging on in there just a wee bit longer.
The middle image is from the remains of Charles Street looking back over to the Wellgate. The street itself was connected to Idvies Street which would be further back behind the photographer.
The street sign visible on the building on the left is Charles Lane.
The bottom picture's view from the Hilltown reveals that the demolition work has nearly reached the corner of Charles Street, and so almost the end of its existence.
Photos by Gordon C.

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.

JUNK INTO ART - ART INTO JUNK - 70's

[Sometimes it is almost impossible to say - or to remember - from where exactly an idea originates. Is it, for example, associated with a dream in the depths of the sub-conscious or closer to the surface of one’s awareness? Whichever, Pete Horobin awoke with the concept of amassing a vast quantity of junk material and inviting a number of artists to work with this pile of waste turning it into art objects over a period of time before returning everything back to source. A cyclical process - a life cycle of sorts - a metaphor for the perpetual never ending continuum of creativity.
Horobin at this time - 1978 - was a member of the Dundee Group (Artists) Ltd based at Forebank Studios - an extant Catholic primary school. The Dundee Group was established in 1975 by a small collective of Duncan of Jordanstone graduates - Bob McGilvray, Jack Morrocco, Barry Mitchell, Peter Gibb and Pete Horobin. The group recruited new members and attracted the financial support of the Scottish Arts Council. By the time Horobin proposed his idea of transforming waste materials the group comprised around 15 members - not all of whom had sympathies with the project’s aspiration. However the project had already been endorsed by Cairn – an artist-run collective in Paris - who were interested in participating in the recycling process and exhibiting the documentation in their gallery. Unlike DGA, Cairn was self-financed and autonomous and comprised creative people from all disciplines, not just the visual arts.
The collected waste materials came from Dundee industries and domestic sources and was deconstructed over a two-week period in April 1979 by those who accepted an invitation to participate - they included Arthur Watson, David Mach, John Macallum, Phil Barker, Andy Stenhouse and Frances Pelly. Dominique Haneuse and Bernard Crespin came over from Paris as guests of Pete Horobin.
The event, unlike other exhibitions at Forebank, was not a commercial venture. No artworks were for sale - instead they were further deconstructed as waste in a radical anti-art statement, which was ground-breaking in Scotland. For the first time the complete creative process - which always includes destruction - was conspicuously demonstrated publicly – not behind the closed doors of the artist’s studio – and spectators were forced to consider the transience of the art object as well as its cultural worth when fabricated from waste materials.
The documentation of the event was later installed in Cairn’s gallery where all the photographs and associated texts were laid on the floor and covered with a layer of clear industrial polythene so that viewers had to walk over the data to examine it in detail. This had the effect of demonstrating the ephemeral nature of waste materials and the non-commercial value of the documentation itself. The documentation had taken on a life and identity of its own quite separate from the event that it recorded and historicised. Now condensed within a small box made from recycled cardboard and relocated at Dundee University Archives it forms an intimate installation that can be explored on a tabletop or exploded to fill a gallery.]

Photos featuring some of the works and artists involved...
1st & 2nd - Installed photographs by Dominique Haneuse.
3rd - Arthur Watson at work.
4th - The Cairn installation.
5th - Phil Barker at work.
6th - The Warrior by Andy Lang.
7th - Welded steel & jute by John McCallum.
8th - Work by David Mach.

Courtesy of The Attic Archive.