JACK GOW AD / BIKE AD - 1970'S

Here's an ad for Jack Gow's shop in Glenagnes Road dated 1979.

Jack was not only a dealer in bikes - he was a racer too, and in fact, it was a crash during a practice session for the Manx Grand Prix in 1996 that ended his life.

On a similar subject, below is a Public Information film that was also on the go in the 70's instructing motorists to pay more attention to bikers at junctions.

Remember - HINK BIKE!!





MENZIESHILL WRESTLING AD - 1972

If karate wasn't your thing, then you could always give wrestling a go.

Not sure who would have been involved at this event up at Menzieshill Community Centre - seems an odd place to have an "all-star" billing especially when the Caird Hall presented wresting quite regularly.

Anyway, not just all-star but all ticket for this do in '72.

GOW'S FISHING BOOK - 1962

Not sure if yesterdays location was a place to go fishing but in 1962, Gow's in Union Street, brought out this catalogue showcasing the fishing equipment they had available at their shop.

The book had the full range of gear you'd expect - rods, reels, flies, waders, and so on, plus they also had a few gift items such as tankards, wallets, cigarette cases etc.

There was a brand of fishing equipment on the go at the time called the "Tayside" range, which included the Tayside Fly Rod, Spinning Rod, Artificial Bait, Sprat & Prawn Tackle, Cast Book, and the example shown here being the Tayside Bag.

While I was at it, I thought I'd stick on the Tayside Fly Rod section because it had an amusing error, detailing a "19ft" rod, when it should have been 10ft.

19ft?....what a whopper!

At the back of the book they list all the nearby rivers and lochs you could visit to indulge in the sport.

The book was also published locally - by David Winter.

BALDOVIE CURLING POND - 1960'S

There may be quite a few of you who didn't know about this little patch of Dundee - it's Baldovie Curling Pond.
It was situated near the junction of Baldovie Road and Drumgeith Road.
Not really cold enough for the sport when this picture was taken in the 60's however!
Photo from Gordon C.

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.

GOLF IN EVENING TELEGRAPH - 1972

Ten years on from the previous item, a golfing strip called "MacDivot" was running in the Tele, with this one dating from January 1972.

It was neither a tutorial or a funny cartoon but kinda sat somewhere in the middle as a golfing fantasy involving golfers going about their sporting day, competitively, but light-heartedly.
Then again, you get a hint at that from the title!

Click image to enlarge.

DUNDEE GOLF COURSE PRICES - 1971

The amber ad from 1971 shows Dundee as the centre of the Scottish golf universe with 3 local courses on offer while reminding everyone that there are plenty more to be found in the surrounding area.

The 3 Dundee courses referred to in the ad are Caird Park, Camperdown & Downfield, and under it are their prices for the same year.

RT WALKER - EARLY 60'S

This is a picture of RT Walker taken in the early 60's.

He was something of a local prodigy back then, because when Bobby was only 14 years old he became holder of the Downfield Course record by finishing a round in 63, taking a whopping 6 strokes off the previous record, and by the time he was 21 (around the period of the photo) he had held numerous Scottish titles and records.

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.

DAVID LOW AD - 1971

I haven't mentioned much about Dundee's golf scene on Retro, so because I have some bits & pieces, not much, I'm gonna post them up over the next few days.

Starting with this ad from 1971 for David Low who were presenting themselves as golf specialists at the time. Although they stocked other sports items in their shop in Commercial Street, they did devote an entire floor to golfing equipment, a photo of which you can see in the December 2008 Archive.

David Low also used to have a shop in the Seagate on the corner of Gellatly Street but that one closed down in the early 70's allowing them to concentrate their efforts on this branch here.

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.

THE WEE RED BOOK - 1973

They still do the Wee Red Book every year as far as I know, but here is one I kept from the 1973 season. It's stuffed with all things to do with Scottish football, but I reckon the reason most people buy one is because they have the forthcoming season's fixtures list.
Why I still have this one as a souvenir is because '73 was the year Dundee FC won the Scottish League Cup. It's fair to say though, I've had no need to keep any since!
The 2 Scottish football legends on the cover also have Dundee links.
Jimmy Johnstone, who was absolutely brilliant for Celtic, joined Dundee in the mid/late 70's. He was however past his peak by then and only played a couple of games for the Dee.
The other Johnstone is Derek, who was actually brought up in Dundee and went on to become a bit of a Rangers superstar. He supported Dundee United as a kid and even had a short stint at Tannadice in the mid 80's. Like wee Jinky though, his best years were behind him by then.

DUNDEE TROPHY CENTRE - HILLTOWN

I take it this is the same Frank Gilfeather who is the ex boxing champ, journalist, TV host, futba pundit, playwright and author.
If so, this ad for his Dundee Trophy Centre shop up the Hulltoon is dated 1981.

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!

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.

OLD ICE HOCKEY GAMES

The advert on top cropped up in the Tele in January 1972.

Two Sunday games taking place up at Kingsway Ice Rink, one featuring a cup match - Dundee Rockets v Paisley Mohawks - and the other a league game - Dundee Meteors v Murrayfield Raiders.

It wasn't only local ice hockey teams Kingsway Ice Rink hosted, from time to time International games took place too. The photo above is one such encounter, a match in the early/mid 80's involving Great Britain v Canada.

It'll be interesting to find out if anyone has the results for any of the matches mentioned.

Incidentally, former 80's Dundee Rockets player, Rob (Bob) Breskal, has dropped some comments recently on some of the older Rockets/Ice Rink posts on Retro and says if anyone wants to get in touch with him, you can contact him at - robno103@hotmail.co.uk

PELE AT DENS PARK - 1989

Probably the most famous footballer the world has ever known is Brazilian superstar, Pele, and he paid a visit to Dens Park one summer in June 1989.
He was there to present a "Man Of The Match" award when Dens was hosting a Group C section of the Under 16's World Cup tournament - Group C consisting of Argentina, Nigeria, Canada and China.
Before the football action, he had a "meet the locals" kind of PR stint at the ground, signing autographs, having his photo taken, that sort of thing, and the picture above is of him in the middle of a Q&A session with a group of kids from Hill Primary School.
The then Scotland manager, Andy Roxburgh, is alongside him.
Photo by DC Thomson.

JOHN GORDON - DUNDEE REF

As a young lad, John Gordon played football locally for Stobswell and the Violet before he made the decision to be a ref. It turned out to be quite a good move as he went on to referee at top level in around 30 countries. In fact, included in his travels were Argentina in 1978 and Spain in 1982, when he was referee at the 2 World Cup Tournaments hosted there. In Spain he was actually officially titled by the sports medical authority as being the "fittest" ref at the 82 World Cup, and he was aged 52 by then!

John did, however, choose to hang up his whistle after the 82 World Cup and retired.

It has not always been plain sailing for him on match day mind you. Once when he was refereeing a televised Hibs v Rangers game, the teams were all lined up in their kick-off positions and after a quick check of his watch, John then signalled for the match to start in the usual ref way with a big sweeping hand motion as he ran forward. He soon noticed the players were all still standing still, and it was then brought to his attention that he didn't blow his whistle! A bit of a minter that day!

One of the highlights of his career was when he was chosen to referee the 1973 Scottish Cup final when the SFA were in their Centenary year. It was the first time in a hundred years that a member of the royal family had attended a Scottish Cup match and the photo above is of him meeting Princess Alexandra just before kick-off.

I also have footage below from the 73 final. An old firm battle with around 130,000 packed into Hampden... and no shortage of Scottish football legends on view!

John Gordon died in 2000.

 

BROUGHTY FERRY U-14'S - 1982

Here's the Sunday Boys League team, Broughty Ferry Under 14's, pictured in 1982.
I suppose because I have none of the lads names, the main interest in the photo would have to be their coach, Ralph Milne (far left), who some of you may have heard of!
Their manager in the quilted jacket on the right is Charlie Mitchell.

STOBSWELL FOOTBALL TEAM - 1972

Here's a typical school team photo dating from 1972. It's Stobswell Under 15's football squad.
The image is taken from a newspaper so it's not too sharp, but the line-up is, L to R back - McGill - McKenzie - Burke - Stuart - Holden - Stewart - Aitken.
front - McDonald - Grieve - Dyer - McGregor - Strachan.
Despite some of them being Douglas guys, I only recognise Dave McGill (top left) who I've had a few knockabout games of futba with around my area in the early 70's.
Not exactly sure who the headmaster would have been in 72, but 2 who were on the go in the early 70's were Mr Crowe and Mr McLeary.
There were also 2 different jannies during the same period, Mr Rothwell and Mr Stratton. Take your pick!
Thanks to Ali Strachan.