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.

BIDE BY THE LAW

Decided to put this photo up because it's not very often you see an image of the Law from the other side, so to speak, it's usually snapped from the river Tay area.
The picture was taken in the early 80's and quite a few changes have taken place since then of course - so click onto the image to view it larger or download it to your pc and zoom in to see what changes you can spot.
At least it was a nice day anyway, plenty of washing hingin' up roond the backies!

DUNDEE GANG KARAOKE - 1973

The 2 karaoke renditions below are to the tune of "This Old Man".

These chants were heard regularly in certain areas of Dundee back in the early 70's when teenagers were "mental" - and yet ruled!

The first, by the Fleet, I can remember being sung in and around Dens Park on match days.

The Toddy version was sung upstairs on the 26 bus and in Craigie High School playground.

Incidentally, MP George Galloway used to be in the Fleet.

He said in a radio interview that he recalled spraying "Lochee Fleet" on walls.

Nowadays he makes headlines in Fleet Street and puts the boot into politicians..!!

DUNDEE GANGS IN THE 1960'S

This rare piece of footage below shows some of the gang names that were kicking around the city in the 60's.

It was filmed between 1967 and 1969.

The graffiti includes the Shimmy - Huns - Cosmo and the Fleet.

There is also an interlocking "TS" ( The Shimmy - The Shams?).

I noticed 2 sets of letters as well - RNB and YRB, but not sure if they pertain to gangs or a persons initials.

Anyway, the main thing is, the originals are documented for posterity.

PANDA CARS AND BLACK MARIA'S

When panda cars first hit the scene on trial in England in the 60's, they started off with black & white markings, hence the nickname. However, when the rest of the UK adopted the panda's, they changed the colouring to light blue & white, although the nickname stuck.
Dundee had a fleet of Morris Minors (as in above photo) and then in the 70's I'm sure they changed to or added Ford Escorts.
Craigie, where I lived, had a small local Police Station beside the shops so we always saw them passing by on a regular basis. Still, despite being familiar with them, when we were primary school age, every time we saw one approaching from a distance, we always ended up hiding behind hedges or running up closies, even when we were just only playing in the garden.
It was a good bit of practise I suppose for our teenage years when they would come looking for us and it was time to scarper over walls & fences!
Black Maria's were black Police vans. A bit more sinister and always on the scene when there was serious trouble to deal with. Most often used at football matches. They would open up the back doors and just chuck you inside!
By the 1980's, panda's became extinct as the cars and vans were replaced with the white "jam sandwich" look.
Photo by the Scotsman. Tints by GG

60'S WINTER COATS

Before the more popular quilted Anorak's and Parka's arrived in the mid 60's, the winter coats most often worn by kids in Dundee were - the black Trench coat and the navy blue Duffle coat. I never had both but I definitely had a navy Duffle with the inside of the hood tartan lined. I remember one winter when we were having a sna'ba' fight, I had my Duffle coat hood up when somebody threw a snowball at me and it shot between the gap at the side of my face and inside edge of the hood, got trapped in the back of the hood then ended up rolling down the back of my shirt! Brrrrr!
I wouldn't be surprised if Health & Safety have banned snowball fights now for being too dangerous!
Photo by the Scotsman.Tints by GG.

THE CRAIGIEBANK SHOPS - 1962

This is a section of the Craigiebank shops located on Arbroath Road near the Kingsway circle. The picture was taken in December 62 and the shops in the image, starting at the far end corner, are :
DPM - Dairy
Patterson - Butcher
Yeaman - Newsagent
Post Office
MacFarlane - Chemist, Optician & Photography.
These are the local shops I went to throughout the 60s & 70s. I remember the Post Office sold wee kids knick-knacks such as plasticine, crayons, magic slates and stuff like that. One of my favourites when aged about 4 was Magic Painting Books. They were just plain white pages with simple illustrations drawn on but when you filled in the illustrations using a brush dipped only in water, the colours would appear on the page, like magic!
The other aspect of the picture is the wee boy with the ball. I used to take a ball along to the shops too. The idea being to skillfully keep the ball on the pavement away from the road. When a pedestrian was coming towards me, I would imagine it was an opposition player and play a 1-2 off the wall as I ran past them, pretending to be Pele!
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

CHARLESTON BOYS ON TOUR - 1970

Not the clearest of pictures, but what I like about it is the gear the school boys have which is of typical of the time. The omnipresent quilted blue anorak and the ubiquitous football team sports bag.
The photo was taken in Lochee on April 1970 when 4 teams from Charleston Celtic left Dundee to play games down South. 2 teams went to the Newcastle area and the other 2 travelled to Newmarket.
Feel free to click on the image to enlarge/download if you think you can identify anyone.

DUNDEE GANG JERSEYS IN THE 70's

Dundee gangs in the 70's came up with a unique way of displaying which housing scheme they came from - by wearing jerseys of different colours.
Most of these high V-neck jersey's were made at the Knitting & Sewing Centre in Victoria Road.
The design consisted of 1 main broad band across the chest and arms, with a pocket on the top left of the chest in inverted colours, and 2 thin bands around the waist, cuffs & collar. As time went by, customised variants would be seen, such as, pockets on the upper arms, initials on the pockets, and anything up to 5 bands around the waist & cuffs. There were also cardigan versions of the concept.
Although this gang knitwear was exclusively Dundee based, the designs were an adaptation of American "Ivy League" sweaters Mods in the UK wore in the 60's.

The jersey's above are Douglas Toddy, Mid (Mid Craigie), Kirkton Huns, Lochee Fleet, Beechie Mob (Beechwood) and Fintry Shams.
These examples are just a small selection of who was wearing what back then.
Click on the image to enlarge or download.