Grandholm Bridge and Jacob's Ladder

A Valentine's Caledonia Series postcard image, looking south east, showing Grandholm Bridge, over the Don, and Jacob's Ladder in the Woodside area of Aberdeen.

This postcard has a 1924 date stamp on its other side and this image likely dates from this period. Jacob's Ladder is the name of the stairway visible in the background. This replaced an earlier stair, with the same name, and was completed in 1921. A report on its completion can be read in the Aberdeen Daily Journal of 23rd June 1921. The old stair way is described as "long, steep, straight, and narrow".

The new stair, built of reinforced concrete, was twice the width of the old one and was needed to accommodate increasing traffic. The newspaper report indicates that at the time between 1200 and 1500 workers were using the stair daily to travel to and from their homes, mostly in Woodside, to Grandholm Mills across the bridge.

Woodside