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.

BROWN STREET ARTWORK - 1985

Here's a couple of examples of public artwork that sprang up in the 80's, and both done by the same artist.

I took the top 2 pictures in 1985 in Brown Street near the junction of Miln Street.

They are the work of Stanley Bonnar, who is now more known for his sculptures.

The tree shadows were freshly painted when I snapped them but a quick glimpse at the same area on Google Street View shows that although the trees are still there, they have faded quite a bit and the wall itself is rather grubby now.

As for the dog, well it seems that has since been put down.

The bottom image is from a leaflet I have and lets you see what the place looked like when they were side by side.

A-Z OF THE HILLTOWN - 1989

"This is a local book, for local people!" could have been the phrase used when this publication came out - an A-Z Of The Hilltown, published in 1989.

There were a few contributors involved but Niall McA Robertson is the chap getting the credit on the front cover.

I've put the index up on view to give you an idea of the variety of content inside its 50 pages - history, trade, buildings, characters, photos, pubs etc - just in case some of you fancy tracking down a copy, because it's a very useful reference source.

It was even produced locally within the Hulltoon boundaries, by the Grey Lodge Urban Printers.

BRIDGE DAY - THE CROWD - 1966

Down at the scene where all the action was taking place on 18th August 1966, here's the crowd scattered all around the bridge area, waiting patiently for the grand opening.

The top image has quite a lot of folk gathered around the Dock Street bridge approach section, and you can make out the masses away in the distance over at the enclosure where the official ceremony was going on.

The middle picture catches the moment the Queen Mother's car drives up onto the the bridge, with plenty of flag waving as she passes.

The last snapshot shows the initial excitement over with some of the spectators choosing to depart, while most of the others hang on to watch the royal wheels return.

I can remember being driven across the bridge on this very day, only in the evening - along with thousands of others who decided to cross it on opening day!

Photos from Gordon C.

STOP THE BUS!

Buses feature in all 3 of these city centre pictures from the 80's.

Starting with the top one of the High Street and the Dryburgh bus outside McColl's.

This was taken on 2nd June 1986, just as World Cup fever was kicking in. You can see on the news board on the pavement, The Scottish Daily Express had the headline "Mexico 86 - We're Shouting For Scotland!" As usual, Scotland never made it past the first round in a group containing Denmark, Uruguay and West Germany.

The bus heading for Fintry seems to be popular in the middle shot which was taken in Reform Street on 25th July 1985.

These blue local buses were Volvo-Ailsas.

Back to the High Street for the third image, snapped from the city square on 23rd April 1988.

The bus in the Jaffa Cake colours is a recycled London Routemaster operated by Strathtay Scottish.

The board in the square was reminding folk that there was an Antique Fair going on at the Caird Hall that day.

Now, all 3 buses themselves have become an antique fare!

Photos by Neale Elder.

CAMPERDOWN PLAY PARK - 1985

One day in 1985, I went up to Camperdown Park with my camera with the intention of snapping some of the colourful autumn foliage on display. On my way there I passed this kids play area that I'd never seen before which seemed to be half adventure complex, half public art space.

The top picture has large ship shaped climbing frames in the background. I didn't discover until I read a Dundee guide book some time later that they represented the "Battle Of Camperdown". I've no idea who the 2 sculpted characters are supposed to be in the foreground but they look a bit on the depressed side to be in a kids fun zone!

Guaranteed to bring a smile though, were the leaping dolphin sculptures a bit further along - a couple of decades before the real thing started to re-appear in the Tay.

HRH AT THE GALLEON - 1966

Well I may not have had the exact year when the previous 4 photos on Retro were taken, but this one here is easy - 18th August 1966.

The car is whizzing along Dock Street with The Galleon in the background, the pub being on the corner of Dock St/Whitehall Crescent.

The VIP in the back of the car is Her Royal Hatness the Queen Mother on her way to the ceremony podium to give the speech that officially declares the Tay Road Bridge open.

Photo from Gordon C.

DALLFIELD MODELS - EARLY 60'S

It looks like an aerial photo at first and then you realise it's an architects model.

This miniature dates from the early 1960's when the idea of multi dwelling was forward thinking and ultra modern.

At the time, these new plans for the foot of Hilltown were to have 376 houses and a day nursery on site.

WRESTLING IN THE PARK - 70'S

I've heard of all-in wrestling before but here's an example of all out wrestling!

Not got any info on this photo at all but a couple of guesses has me thinking it may be Baxter Park in the early 70's. Baxter's used to put on events like this during the summer weeks, and I've gone for the 72/73 period based on a boy in the crowd wearing what could be the Dundee FC "penguin" strip (near the bottom left corner standing to the right of the girl with the patterned coat). Also, the car in the background could be an early 70's Vauxhall Viva.

I'm not 100% certain on any of these statements, but that's the best I could come up with using what possible clues there are available in the picture.

The other obvious alternative is Camperdown Park.

If you fancy a stab at it, drop it in the comments.

OUTSIDE JOHN MENZIES - 1987

John Menzies moved away from their own well known position on the Murraygate/Commercial Street corner and took over Woolies prime spot further along the Murraygate in 1983, as above.
This shot of the activity outside it's main entrance, along with a few other nearby shops, was taken on 6th February 1987.
I do remember the guy in the picture across from John Menzies though, busking away on the accordion in his scruffy flannels and the wee money pouch attached to his squeeze-box.
As usual, if you want to have a closer look, just click onto the image to enlarge.

Photo by Neale Elder.

THE 2ND DUNDEE MARATHON - 1984

Here's 3 great shots capturing some of the masses who ventured down to the city centre to cheer on the runners taking part in the 2nd Dundee Marathon on 29th April 1984.
The top image is the City Square which was used as a base-camp during the event. I don't know who the band is, but I'm sure someone will be able to fill in the details on that. What I can tell you though is that the yellow poster in the background is for Cannon & Ball who were appearing at the Caird Hall the following week.
Middle picture is a view along the Nethergate towards the finish line.
The bottom photo is of Don MacGregor, the ex Olympic athlete who won the Dundee Marathon for the 2nd year running! (couldn't resist that wee pun!)
If you want to have a nose around the crowds to see if you can spot someone you know, just give them a click to enlarge.
Photos by Neale Elder.

THAT OVERGATE SCULPTURE - 1985

This concrete piece of 60's abstract public art also doubled as a climbing frame for kids to play on. Not sure if that was the original thinking behind it but it seems like an obvious additional use.

It was the work of Dundee artist, Iain Eadie.

The other thing about the 2 photos is you'd never guess they were taken on Christmas Eve!
There's no sign of any festive decoration at all.

The images were captured on 24th December 1985 by Neale Elder.

KENNY MUNRO AT WORK - 80'S

In November 2008 I put a couple of pictures up on Retro featuring the transport panels Kenny Munro designed for the wall of Tay Valley Coaches in Bellfield Street in the early 80's.
Well here's a photo of Kenny installing those very panels, busy at work with the spirit level, making sure the tiles are gonna fit ok.
The transport theme is quite apt as he has since gone on to travel all over the world with his art, exhibiting and educating.
You can check out a few of his ventures on this link www.kennymunrosculpture.com/ and view many of his works, which includes everything from celebrity sculptures to neon light installations.

PETER FLYNN'S LOCHEE ROAD FENCE

Many artists were involved in revitalising certain spots around Dundee in the 80's when the Public Art Projects were on the go. I've already posted a few examples up on Retro over the past couple of years, you may recall.

Well here's another one for the collection.

Lots of you will be familiar with the Lochee Road fence, but you may not be quite so familiar with who did it. Well the chap who painted all that snazzy artwork was Peter Flynn.

The top image is Peter in full flow!

The picture underneath it is a section showing the finished design.

The last I heard, he was, and maybe still is, an art teacher at St Johns.  

DUNDEE'S EXOTIC MURALS - 1970'S

Back in the mid 70's, it was decided that an area around Tannadice Street needed cheering up a bit, so they got an artist to paint large murals on the gable end of 2 buildings on Wolseley Street and Court Street.
The pair depicted 2 exotic semi-abstract jungle scenes and were the work of Robert McGilvray, done in 1976.
The one with the large orange bird flying is called "Intro" - Court Street.
The one with the giraffe neck is called "Outro" - Wolseley Street.
Not sure how long they lasted because although the buildings are still there, they're back to being blank walls again.

THE OPENING OF RICHARD SHOPS - 1961

This sequence of photos, taken on 6th October 1961, captures the official opening of Richard Shops in the Murraygate.

The top image shows the big crowd that had gathered around to witness the event.

The middle picture features the moment the grand opening occurred, which was at 11:30 am to be exact!

Incidentally, this is Lady Isobel Barnett doing the ribbon cutting honours, and being a high profile media celeb at the time, helped attract the large turnout.

The third photo is a general shot of the store after the days commotion had settled down and was now open for business.

The shop would have looked very modern too back in '61, especially compared to its surroundings.

Big thanks to Richard.