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.

IT'S ONLY DROSS 'N' COAL BUT I LIGHT IT

So the coal lorry on yesterdays photo got me raking around for a few related items, because many of us who were brought up in the 60's/70's had coal fires or relatives who did.

Oor hoose in Craigie did, complete with coal bunker for our weekly delivery, and the wee indoor accessories like scuttle, poker, brush and fire-guard.

Above are a few reminders from those days.

Smith Hood & Co, the coal merchant, was on the corner of Union St & Whitehall Cres, with the photo of their premises taken in 1960.

James Hood was also in Union St, a few doors up at #28. He dealt with solid fuel, oil based fuel and chuckies! Their ad is from 1968.

The T.Muir, Son & Patton ad is also from 1968 and are highlighting the fact that they have moved away from the old horse & cart days onto a new modern lorry fleet. The photo of them in action in the ad was taken across from the Queens Hotel.

Ingram's place was in Kings Road on the corner of Whitton Street. They came up with a puntastic slogan - "The GRATE Corner". They weren't a coal dealer but they made your fireplace surrounds, installed your boiler and so on. 1966 is the date of the ad.

One of the aspects of having a coal fire was that it meant you had to have your chimney swept regularly, and chimney sweeps were quite common in the 60's. They would cover the fireplace with a big black cloth, stick their bristly brush through the cover and would add extension poles to it until it eventually poked out the top of the chimney pot. Because of all the soot involved, most of the guys looked like they were in the Black & White Minstrels!

However, I managed to find a wee ad in a 1972 Tele that would seem to do away with chimney sweeps - a product called "Imp Soot Destroyer". It says you just drop a packet onto a burning fire. No idea what happened after that!

Probably the majority of Dundonians had changed over to alternative heating systems by the 80's, so not much call for coal from then on.

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.

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.

CRAIGIEBANK POST OFFICE - 1983

This image of Craigiebank Post Office in Arbroath Road appeared in the local press in February 1983.
The reason it was receiving attention back then was because the place was robbed.
I have a hazy memory of this and think this may have been the time when a guy was hiding in a recess around the back of the shops, then when the owner was letting himself in - he leapt out and did his "Get the loot out of the safe" introduction.
Looks like the robber also made off with the "EM" from the chemist and the "I" from the chip shop - then possibly started up a mediocre record company!
I'm pretty sure this P.O. has been done more than once during its history.

Photo by DC Thomson.

THE DISAPPEARING CORNER - 1980'S

These images were all taken around the corner wedge area where City Road meets Milnbank Road.

Most of the main buildings you can see in the photos have vanished, replaced now with landscaping.

If you want to do a Google Street View comparison, here are their locations.

Top pic - Baxter Street shot from City Road in April 1986.

2nd pic - Baxter Street looking back down towards City Road in March 1984.

3rd pic - Blyth Street on a rainy day in November 1984.

last pic - The back of Blyth Street and Fleuchar Street in February 1985.

Photos by Neale Elder.

ALEXANDER STREET MULTIS IN THE 80'S

Not everyone had the opportunity to look down onto the tap o' the hull, but some of those who lived in Butterburn Court did, because the top image is a view from that particular block taken on 30th July 1985.

The bottom half of the photo shows the Hilltown clock junction, while the central part of the picture has the same wasteland area as yesterdays but from the opposite direction, ie - the Caldrum Street/North George Street location, and in the background are 2 of the Alexander Street multis.

The other image is of Carnegie Towers taken from Jamaica Towers, with a rather sparse play park in shot too.

Little did we know, that when the photos were captured, their time would be up a quarter of a century later, these being the multis that are due to come crashing down tomorrow.

Photos by Neale Elder.

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.

VIEW ALONG CHARLESTON DRIVE - 1985

Cruising on over to Charleston Drive, and this was the view when captured on 23rd September 1985.

The obvious change here being the 2 multi blocks in the background at Hillside Court and Gowrie Court, which have since bit the dust!

Photo by Neale Elder.

LOCHEE HIGH STREET - 1987

Traipsing further up along Lochee Road to the High Street, here's a reminder of how the scene looked on 6th July 1987.

Apart from the church, most of the buildings are still around today, although not necessarily as the same businesses that are in shot. For example the amusements have gone, the bank on the corner has changed and I'm sure there will be one or two others.

To zoom in and have a closer look, just click the pic.

Photo by Neale Elder.

ANN STREET ACTIVITY - EARLY 70'S

These 3 pictures were all taken along Ann Street in the early 70's.

The top image is the calm before the storm as it was snapped just before the main part of the demolition commenced.

The Heatherbell Bar was still open for business in January 1972 but by 1974 all these shops and tenements had disappeared.

The middle shot is further along the street where you can see an old building being demolished behind the modern block. If you go back to the top photo, it's still standing.

Photo 3 is looking back along Ann Street in the other direction with Ellen Street corner behind the JCB that has just reversed into a shop!

Photos 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.

WELLINGTON TOWERS IN PROGRESS

Here's a couple of rare colour photos of Wellington Towers caught during and after construction.

The top one was taken in the 60's from Cotton Road near the junction of Ann Street (going off to the left) and Hillbank Road (straight on).

The second image from the early 70's is taken from virtually the same spot and shows the work on the multi complete, with an additional block added to the Hillbank Road section.

Photos from Gordon C.

DOWNFIELD GOLF COURSE - EARLY 60'S

Both the photo and the map are from the early 60's period and show the section of Downfield Golf Course that was given over for the Ardler multis to be built on.

THE GRAND TOUR OF WHITFIELD - 1986

1
2
3
4
5
6
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.

TENNENTS PUBS AD - 1979

You may be able to spot some of your old haunts in this Tennents Caledonian ad from 1979.
Most of the pubs named, I have no material on - no photo's, no ads - so won't be able to do an individual feature on them.
If you want to give any pubs on the list a mention, feel free to have a wee blether about them in the comments.
I thought the Golden Pheasant was a Chinese take-away!
Just goes to show you can't always rely on your own memory!

2 OLD LOCHEE RAIL STATIONS

Lochee by rail? Well you could once upon a time.

The top picture is Lochee Station, taken around 1970-ish.

It had been closed down for quite a while by then, but the station itself was saved and converted in 1972 into the Lochee Burns Club.

I really like the patchwork quilt stonework. You'd think Gaudi had paid a visit.

The other one, a bit further along the line, is Lochee West Station.

This outpost was flattened rather than rescued, but just before it disappeared it was filmed for posterity in the late 60's.

The footage below doesn't last long, but it lingers long enough to notice that it had separate waiting rooms for the Gentlemen and the Ladies!

THIS IS HUNS LAND - BEWARE

Shifting from yesterday's Urban environment to another urban setting - the Hulltoon.
The scrawl on the wall says it all!
Photo by The Bear.

BALERNO PRIMARY PANORAMA

Although this photo of Balerno Primary School was taken in the 80's, it looks exactly the same in the picture as it did when I was there in the 60's.
The headmaster in the 60's was Mr Elrick, and the jannie was Mr Bowman.
One thing I can remember about Mr Bowman was when I was helping him out delivering the milk around the classrooms one day in 1968. When I was picking up the milk bottles outside his jannie's room, he had the radio on, and a newsflash came on about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. He told me to go tell all the teachers. So when I went around all the classes with the milk, I also had to deliver this gloomy news!
I can't recall where I was when the famous JFK assassination took place, but I always remember his brother's!
The school was demolished in the 90's and now has housing built on the site.
If you want to zoom into a bit of detail, click on the image to enlarge.
Photo by DC Thomson.

MID CRAIGIE SCHOOL - 1960

This image of Mid Craigie School comes from an advert for Bett Brothers, the builders, dated 1960.
In the 60's, the school's head teacher was Norman Reid, and the jannie was Mr Taylor.
The last time I looked, the school's windows were all boarded up, although I don't know if it was about to be done up or demolished!