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Clifton Road, Aberdeen
213 This view from around 1910 shows Clifton Road looking south at its crossroads with Leslie Road and Hilton Street. Clifton Road runs north from Kittybrewster to Woodside, which was a separate burgh form Aberdeen until 1891. It was originally call Tanfield Road but was renamed in 1894. These mainly granite terraced houses were being built during the 1890s. On the left of the photo are the premises of A.M. Black, grocer. This corner shop, at 104 Clifton Road, was run by Miss Agnes M. Black and Miss Margaret Black between 1902 and 1940. Their home was at 1 Leslie Road. The windows contain adverts for Rowntrees Chocolates and Fry's Pure Cocoa. Children's library, Woodside
421 The Children's section downstairs in Woodside Library, Clifton Road. The No2. Woodside Tram, 1900
430 The No2. Woodside Tram. Anderson Road, Aberdeen 1900.
A group of Aberdeen businessmen formed the Aberdeen District Tramways Company in 1871 and proposed a number of tram routes to run within Aberdeen. This was the beginning of the use of horse drawn trams within the city and a regular tram service started to run from St. Nicholas Street to Woodside.
The Aberdeen Corporation purchased the District Tramways in 1898 and started to electrify the tram routes and the first route to be electrified was the Woodside line in December 1899. The trams were a popular and convenient mode of travel and the tramways competed with the railways by providing a similar suburban service.
By the 1950's plans were afoot to replace all of the trams with buses as Aberdeen Transport Committee decided that a modern fleet of buses could provide quicker and more regular services at cheaper running costs. The last tram to Woodside ran in 1955.
Astoria Cinema, Aberdeen
1152 The exterior of the Astoria Cinema, Clifton Road, Kittybrewster, Aberdeen, c.1960. In 1934, a new cinema was built on part of the old Central Park, just north of Kittybrewster Auction Marts. It was designed by the architect, T. Scott Sutherland, and was opened on 8th December 1934, with space for more than 2000 people. Its proximity to the relatively new housing areas of Kittybrewster, Powis, Woodside and Hilton should have ensured its success. It was made of concrete over a steel framework, with the roof sloping in a series of steps to produce the best acoustics. It had a colour scheme of light pink, invory and brown with walnut panelling and 2 miles of Wilton carpet. It closed on Saturday 13th August 1966, re-opening later that month as a Bingo Hall but that only lasted a few months and it finally closed in January 1967. In April 1967, it was being demolished and the site redeveloped as a shopping complex. The cinema had had one of the latest Compton theatre organs, which had been removed piece by piece and restored to be placed in the hall of Powis Academy. In November 1982, an arson attack destroyed the organ. Cotton Croft
1782 This photograph looks north on Clifton Road in Woodside, Aberdeen. The buildings on the left of the image were known as Cotton Croft. They are visible on the first Ordnance Survey maps of 1869 (Aberdeen Sheet LXXV.6). They were roughly located across the road from where Hilton Avenue now joins Clifton Road.
On 8th January 1914 Robert Stewart, resident of Cotton Croft, was convicted at Aberdeen Court of taking an "unclean salmon" from the River Don below Grandholm Mills. He was admonished and dismissed on account of his youth (Aberdeen Daily Journal, 09/01/1914, p.3).
In February 1916 the Public Health Committee of Aberdeen closed the cottage at Cotton Croft as unfit for habitation (Aberdeen Daily Journal, 17/02/1916 p.2).
The buildings are still present on the OS maps of 1955 (NJ9208SE) and this is likely the broad period from which this images dates. The map also shows the two large trees and the slightly lower housing on the right. The latter is the start of the more recently constructed Greenmore Gardens.
The Cotton Croft buildings were eventually demolished and replaced with modern housing. The Astoria Cinema
2268 The Astoria Cinema on Clifton Road, Woodside.
In 1934, a new cinema was built on part of the old Central Park, just north of Kittybrewster Auction Marts. It was designed by the architect T. Scott Sutherland and was opened on 8th December 1934 with space for more than 2000 people. Its proximity to the relatively new housing areas of Kittybrewster, Powis, Woodside and Hilton should have ensured its success.
It was made of concrete over a steel framework, with the roof sloping in a series of steps to produce the best acoustics. It had a colour scheme of light pink, ivory and brown with walnut panelling and 2 miles of Wilton carpet. It closed on Saturday 13th August 1966, reopening later that month as a Bingo Hall but that only lasted a few months and it finally closed in January 1967. In April 1967, it was being demolished and the site redeveloped as a shopping complex.
The cinema had had one of the latest Compton theatre organs, which had been removed piece by piece and restored to be placed in the hall of Powis Academy. Tragedy befell it in November 1982, when, in an act of vandalism, a youth set fire to the hall and the organ was totally destroyed. Joseph T. Duncan
2388 This photo dates from around 1950, and shows bookbinder Joseph T. Duncan and his assistant Ruth Chalmers in the bindery which was located in the basement of the Central Library. He is applying gold lettering to the spine of a volume using the tools laid out on the rack beside him.
Mr Duncan was appointed in 1935 at the age of 37, after the retirement of the Library's first bookbinder, and remained in post until his sudden death in 1962.
Prior to his appointment, he was employed by printing firm George Cornwall and Sons for 22 years. During his time there, he spent a year on loan with William Jackson, a bookbinding company in Back Wynd, who also carried out work for the Public Library. He was tasked with stamping class numbers on the spines of books for the Sir John Anderson Library in Woodside whose management had been transferred to the Public Library Committee in 1930. March Stone 51
3234 This stone is located across the A96 using crossing then double back along pavement and up Deer Road. The stone is at the back of the pavement, Clifton Road, opposite Woodside Primary School. It is marked "51 ABD".
The marker was described in 1698 and 1780 as a saucer stone.
A slide of this image was kindly lent to Aberdeen City Libraries by Colin Johnston so that we could create a digital copy for public use.
The image was taken in the early 1980s when Colin worked as a teacher at Bridge of Don Academy. He led several current and former pupils, and staff members in an investigation into the location, physical condition and public knowledge of Aberdeen's historic boundary markers. Aberdeen Cinemas: Astoria
3430 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Astoria in around 1943. This super-cinema in Kittybrewster was opened in 1934 and was located at the end of Powis Terrace, at the start of Clifton Road and at its junction with Great Northern Road. This photograph looks towards Clifton Road from this location.
The film being shown at the time is Air Force with John Garfield. The premises of Birrell, confectioners, and George A. Davidson, provision merchant, can also be seen in the image.
Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) tells the story of the cinema. The Astoria was primarily the brainchild of Bert Darley who had quit Poole's, proprietors of the Palace and Regent, and started up a new company called the Aberdeen Astoria Cinema Ltd. with various local businessmen and financial backers.
The giant cinema, designed by Thomas Scott Sutherland, was intended to serve the growing population of Kittybrewster, Powis, Woodside and Hilton. Construction on the £45,000 building proceeded quickly and it was opened on 8th December 1934 with screenings of a film called I Give My Love.
Thomson states that the Astoria's emphasis was on "spaciousness, relying upon simplicity of form to create a pleasing impression of clean-lined functionality." The space of the site allowed Scott Sutherland to enlarge on ideas first used at the Regent. The concept was again a tall central section, incorporating three main windows, with smaller side portions on either side.
The Astoria, along with the Capitol, was one of only two Aberdeen cinemas with a theatre organ. Both were equipped with top-of-the-line Compton organs at the time of their opening.
In March 1936 James F. Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd. acquired a controlling share interest in the Aberdeen Astoria Cinema company. Richard Donald replaced Bert Darley as the manager at the Kittybrewster venue.
The programmes of the Astoria and the Kingsway on King Street were regularly linked, both being Donald cinemas. In the 1950s they showed Cinemascope films such as King of the Khyber Rifles and Beneath the Ten Mile Reef.
The cinema's last film was The Moving Target, with Paul Newman and Lauren Becall, shown on 13th August 1966. On the 29th of that month the venue reopened as a bingo hall. This was at the height of the game's popularity, however not even it could save the Astoria. At the end of the year the Donalds the site for redevelopment as a shopping complex. Demolition on the cinema was begun in April 1967.
Michael Thomson explains that all removable fittings and materials were salvaged. Additionally, the Compton organ was transferred to the school hall of Powis Academy. It served the school well for many years before unfortunately being destroyed in a fire during the night of 20th November 1982.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. John Duguid Milne
4372 A photographic portrait of John Duguid Milne (1822-1889), an Aberdeen advocate.
On 20th March 1883 Milne read a paper titled The success of free public libraries in industrial towns, and the necessity for a free public library in Aberdeen to the Philosophical Society of Aberdeen. The paper was also published by the society as a pamphlet shortly afterwards. A copy of this paper is held by Aberdeen Local Studies.
Milne draws together the experiences of free public libraries from England and around Scotland. He also points to the example and popularity of John Anderson's library in Woodside, which had opened in 1881.
In the section 'Who should move for a free library?' Milne writes:
"The Free Library is not especially for the wealthy, nor even for the well-to-do, but for the people, for the industrial classes; and it is for the industrial classes themselves to say if they want it. They have also the power in their hands, as they form a majority of the ratepayers." (page 17).
Milne was the director and legal advisor of Aberdeen's Mechanics' Institute. He ends his paper by stating that should the Public Libraries Act be adopted by Aberdeen, the Mechanics' Institute was prepared to hand over to the Free Public Library their whole stock of books and their substantial premises on Market Street.
Milne's paper, and the offer within, was likely a determining factor in the initiation, and ultimate success, of Professor Alexander Bain (1818-1903) and Baillie George Walker (1821-1910) putting forward a motion for the adoption of the Public Libraries Act at a meeting in the Music Hall on 25th March 1884. This meeting took place around a year after the first reading of Milne's paper.
Opening in March 1886, the Mechanics' Institute building did become the first location of Aberdeen's new Free Public Library and its collection of books formed the core of its stock. If you look at some of the older items in the collection of Aberdeen City Libraries today, stamp marks for the Mechanics' Institute can still be seen. The Anderson Library
61 Engraving of the Anderson Library, Clifton Road, Woodside. The library was built by Sir John Anderson. The Architect was Arthur Clyne. c.1883. Woodside Primary School from <i>Annals of Woodside and Newhills</i> by Patrick Morgan (1886)
306 Morgan tells us that the first schools in Woodside were provided as the population of the village increased by Gordon, Barron & Co. They were a company of cotton spinners and manufacturers with a works at Woodside dating from around 1779.
The first large school was funded by public subscription and was opened in 1837 in the building now known as the Burgh Hall.
The school shown in the illustration on the left was opened in February 1875 and was known as the Board School. Presumably as it was run by the Old Machar Parish and School Board before being taken over by the Aberdeen Burgh School Board in 1894.
At the time Morgan was writing it was the second largest school in Scotland and had nearly 1400 pupils.
This building was altered in subsequent years and plans for a major reconstruction were begun in 1901. The architect was J. A. O. Allan of the Aberdeen School Board. The building warrant application and associated plans are available at Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives, as are other historic records related to the school.
The proposed reconstruction is detailed in the Aberdeen Daily Journal of 6th August 1902. This enlarged building continues to function today as Woodside Primary School. The dates of 1890 and 1902 can be seen written in the building's stonework.
Boards containing the names of all the people to win the Sir John Anderson Dux Award can be found within the school's assembly hall. The nursery can be found in a separate building with its own garden.
When Sir John Anderson first gifted 9000 books to the people of Woodside they were kept at Woodside School until the purpose built library was opened on 15th October 1883. Woodside Library from Annals of Woodside and Newhills, by Patrick Morgan (1886)
307 Sir John Anderson gave the credit for his success to his upbringing in Woodside. To pay tribute, he decided to gift a library to people of the area. The library was initially retained in the Woodside School, before the present day building was opened in 1883.
On its initial opening the library was used to great success, however after ten years the library was in trouble. The small income the library made on the selling of cheque books and catalogues did not allow for many new books to be purchased, leaving the people of Woodside with the same stock.
The library was saved in January 1932, when it became the largest Branch Library in Aberdeen. This helped to boost the stock available to the people, and the next twenty years was the library's most successful, averaging at 70,000 books borrowed every year.
The beautiful building itself was designed by architect, Arthur Clyne, under the strict instructions of Sir John. Sir John was determined the building should stand sure for generations.
Sir John Anderson (1814-1886)
309 "John Anderson, as the phrase goes, was a self-made man; no one owed less than he to outside influence. Woodside may well be proud that one of its sons has achieved such distinction."
(The Aberdeen Journal, 29th July 1886).
Anderson is one of the most famous men to have been born and brought up in Woodside. His achievements in the field of engineering and public service have been recognised around the world, not just in Britain. Nevertheless, he never forgot about his beginnings growing up in Woodside, as evidenced by his gifting of the Anderson Free Library to Woodside in 1883.
Please see below to download more information about Sir John Anderson.
Treasure 105: Sir John Anderson Library Medal
326 The story of Sir John Anderson and his Woodside Library is told in "The Admirable Mechanic by Moira Anderson", published by Aberdeen City Libraries in 1983.
On the back cover is a photograph of the Anderson Library Medal given to every pupil at Woodside School to mark the inauguration of the Woodside Library and the Scholar's Library in 1881, both of which were housed temporarily in the Headmaster's Room at the school until a purpose-built library could be constructed.
The medal was presented to the Library in August 1983 and now forms part of the Anderson Library Archive held in Local Studies. We can take a look at the history of Woodside Library through some of the other items held in the collection.
Woodside Library opened on 15 October 1883 and was described By Patrick Morgan in The Annals of Woodside as "the most beautiful and valuable institution in the Burgh of Woodside, containing a wealth of literature, which is difficult to estimate". The library was a gift to the people of Woodside by the noted engineer, Sir John Anderson.
Over the years there was a noticeable decline in the use of the library with lack of funds to purchase new stock, no room for expansion and no separate Reading Room. Eventually, ownership of Woodside Library was transferred to the City Council and The Sir John Anderson Branch Library Woodside comprising a Lending Library, Reading Room with games tables, Juvenile Library and Reading Room was opened by Lord Provost Rust on 19 January 1932 and regarded as the largest and most complete Branch in the System.
To learn more about the interesting history of this unique library, have a browse in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition. |