CENTRAL WATERFRONT AREA - 1980's

This aerial photo is from the late 80's and shows the familiar layout of the central waterfront area our generation will remember it by.

Yes it soon will only be a memory as it's time to say ta ta to Tayside House, the Leisure Centre and other surrounding features because the zone is currently in the process of being redesigned and modernised with a flashy new look that's gonna dazzle us all!

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.

TAY QUEEN AD - 1981

From yesterdays royal visitor to the Tay, to todays royal worker on the Tay - the Tay Queen.

This ad, from a 1981 Courier, lets it be known that the Saturday evening cruise on this particular weekend, also included folk music.

WATER-SKIING IN THE FERRY - 1970'S

Taking advantage of the nice weather one summer evening back in the 70's, my brother nipped along to the Ferry to try out his new Nikon camera and wandered into this scene going on, some locals indulging in a bit of water-skiing. Also enjoying the fun were a few passers-by who stopped off to watch some of the action.

Broughty Ferry hasn't changed that much really, but you can tell it's the 70's by the cars, Carolina Port Power Station puffing away in the background and the funsters messing about on the river without wearing any safety gear!

Click onto the images if you want to view the large versions.

FANCY A DIP?

On a chilly Spring evening in the Ferry, sometime in the early 70's, my brother snapped this guy nonchalantly walking along the water's edge going away for a swim with his specs on!

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.  

TAY BRIDGE OFFICIAL OPENING - 1966

And so we reach the moment the Tay Road Bridge officially opened.
The event, which was broadcast live on TV, took place around midday on Thursday 18th August 1966.
Below is a film clip showing some of the ceremonial palaver.

LARG'S AND SMITHS ADS - 1966

Continuing with the adverts in the 1966 Bridge Souvenir Supplement - here's another 2.

I reckon Larg's missed a good opportunity to have a bit of fun with the wording in their caption, and could have related more appropriately with the images of the musical instruments.

They opted to say "The new bridge is another link in our chain of contacts...". To me, that makes them sound like ironmongers!

How about something like "Larg's - in tune with progress". Much better, and I won't charge a fee for that one!

Smith Brothers department store, on Murraygate/Commercial St corner, saw themselves as a city attraction that would get everyone flocking across the bridge to visit them!

They did have the Globe Restaurant I suppose.

Can anyone remember what their Mannequin Parades were like?

You'll need to click onto the Smiths ad to read the large version.

TIMEX AND WINTER ADS - 1966

Many of the adverts in the Souvenir Supplement I posted yesterday, incorporated the new bridge into their sales pitch.

Here's a couple of examples...

Timex manage to use the idea of "modern engineering and design" to relate it to their own product.

Winter's, in Shore Terrace, go for a bit of witty word play in their ad with the phrase "The Modern Approach To Printing" going along the side of the bridge.

Having all that machinery on the roof looks a bit dangerous mind you!!

Click on images to enlarge.

BRIDGE SOUVENIR SUPPLEMENT - 1966

To celebrate the opening of the Tay Road Bridge, the Evening Telegraph issued a couple of souvenir supplements.
The one above is the 2nd of them which came out on Wednesday 17th August 1966, the day before the official opening.
Inside it has lots of information about the building of the bridge, technical details, a bit about the guys who built it, the workers who died and an optimistic outlook for how Dundee would prosper in the future.
There are also loads of local ads, some of which I'll put up next.
The face on the front of the supplement is one of the men who worked on the bridge, Tony Curran of Inverkeithing.
It also features some of the Fifie workers who would be losing their jobs at Craig Pier's Ferries, but were given work on the bridge as toll collectors, patrolmen and so on.
You can see on the film clip below, some of the construction work being done.

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.

 

THE TAY QUEEN - EARLY 80'S

The picture is of the Tay Queen arriving at the Old Pilot Pier in Broughty Ferry on 13th August 1982.

This pleasure boat, which had a fully licensed saloon bar, used to do return trips from the Ferry to Invergowrie Bay.

In addition, there were cruises to Perth on certain days of the month.

The timetable leaflets, from 1983, give you the lowdown on where to book and so on. You could even have your own private function on it, which sounds like fun!

However, the fun didn't last too long as somewhere between 83 & 85, the Tay Queen stopped it's cruises, and was replaced for a short while in 1985 by the Coral Star, details of which can be found in my March 2009 archive.

Click images to enlarge.

Big thanks to Neale Elder

THE ORIGINAL TAY BRIDGE WALKWAY

The top photo was taken from the observation platform on Tay Road Bridge in the late 60's and shows the view along the original central pedestrian walkway.

In the picture below it, you can see that it was based on a chequerboard design.

This feature was devised by the bridge's designer, William Fairhurst, who just so happened to be an International Chess Master as well!

The pattern depicts a knight's move repeated in 5 different colours of stone.

SHOTCAST - WHITEHALL CRESCENT

Shotcast, in Whitehall Crescent, was a shop me and my mates used to go to in the 60's & 70's when we were school aged. We'd get our fishing gear from here, things like fishing line, hooks, bait containers and so on. This would then see us ready for our angling sessions down at the Stannergate and the Ferry.
The advert above was published in the Tele in March 1977.