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Union Terrace and Gardens
412 A postcard image showing Union Terrace Gardens in the centre of Aberdeen.
There are a couple of notable features that might be able to help date the image: there is no bandstand present and the lower, central area in this image is still in the older lay-out with wide dividing paths.
The removal of the bandstand and change of lay-out may have been carried at around the same time. A minute from an Aberdeen Town Council meeting of 21st September 1931, detailing a recommendation from the Links and Parks Committee to the full Council, reads as follows:
"The Committee had before them a report by the Superintendent of the City Parks, in which he points out that he has had the bandstand in Union Terrace Gardens examined, that it is in a bad state of repair, and that he has been informed that the cost of repairing the worn-out parts would be almost equal to the cost of a new stand. He further states that the bandstand has not been used for some years, owing to the noise from the adjoining railway interfering with the performances, and suggests that the stand should be removed, the site and surrounding pathways levelled, covered with soil and sown with grass seed. If this were done, the playing area would be increased by 1,407 square yards, as shown coloured yellow on the plan herewith submitted, thereby giving greater facilities to the large number of children who frequent the Gardens.
"The Committee approved of the report, and beg to recommend that the Council should grant authority to the Superintendent of Parks to have the bandstand removed and the other work carried out as proposed." (Minutes and Proceedings of Town Council, City of Aberdeen, 1930-1931, page 660.
The full Council approved this recommendation from the Links and Parks Committee. In light of this information, the image may date from relatively shortly after September 1931. After the bandstand has been removed but before the ground had been leveled and sown as a single larger grass lawn. Treasure 100: Pugin books and the Gothic Revival
319 The Gothic Revival is a term used to describe a movement in art, architecture and design from the mid-18th century to the late 19th century that was heavily influenced by medieval gothic style. In its beginnings it was an architectural style adopted largely by the rich and powerful for their grand houses and follies, and coincided with the rise in gothic literature such as Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto (1764), and M.G. Lewis's The Monk (1796). However, towards the middle of the 19th century, the gothic style was beginning to filter into all aspects of private and public life, and one of the leading figures in this trend was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, son of the French born architect Auguste Pugin. In our collection we have two books by A.W.N. Pugin, and they are on display until the end of February. The first is a volume published in Edinburgh in the late 19th century that includes a number of publications by Pugin from the 1830s:
· Details of Antient Timber Houses of the 15th & 16th Centuries Selected from those existing at Rouen, Caen, Beauvais, Gisors, Abbeville, Strasbourg, etc. drawn on the spot [London, 1836]
· Gothic Furniture in the Style of the 15th Century designed and etched by A.W.N. Pugin [London 1835]
· Designs for Gold and Silversmiths [London 1836]
· Designs for Iron and Brass Work in the style of XV and XVI Centuries [London 1836]
The second is a very rare and highly detailed 1875 edition of floral designs intended for stencilling that was originally published in 1849; Floriated Ornament: A Series of Thirty-One Designs. Both books are rich in design and detail, and perfectly demonstrate the Victorian fervour for the application of gothic design in all aspects of their decoration, from architecture to interiors, tableware to jewellery.
View our Treasure exhibition on the interactive screen to see some more beautiful engravings from these unique publications. Treasure 119: Aberdeen shops
342 The Local Studies collections in Aberdeen City Libraries include a number of interesting booklets about some of the city's shops such as Esslemont & Mackintosh; Falconer's; The Rubber Shop; and Collie's, which were once so well-known to local customers. The information and illustrations contained in them is enhanced by advertisements which appeared in guidebooks and other publications.
One such booklet was produced by John E. Esslemont Ltd. in 1964 to mark the centenary of their business in King Street. It contains a detailed description of the history and development of the company with photographs of the directors, the staff, and the machinery involved in tea blending and in the manufacture of sweets, which were their specialities. The remainder of the booklet gives their wholesale trade list of teas, sweets and other items. These shops are only a selection of those which once lined Aberdeen's streets. Many other names are now only an historical memory - Isaac Benzie (Arnotts), Reid and Pearson, Watt and Grant, Watt and Milne, Equitable, McMillan's, Strathdee, Mitchell and Muil, A. B. Hutchison, Kennaway, Pegler, Bruce Miller, Northern Co-operative Society (Co-opie), Woolworths, Wilburns, Shirras Laing. Everybody had their own favourites.
Did you work in any of these shops? Do you have memories or printed items you'd like to share? The Local Studies department at the Central Library would love to hear from you!
To learn more about the interesting history of our local shops, have a browse in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition. Carnousie New House
349 A plan and elevation of Carnousie New House. Designed by Archibald Simpson for a wealthy sea merchant called Captain Alexander Grant. Building began around the 1830s or early 1840s. It was located near Forglen.
Captain Grant lost his fortune and was forced to sell the property before its completion. The house was neglected and eventually largely demolished around 1930. Legend has it that the stones were used in the construction of Elphinstone Hall.
(Information taken from Archibald Simpson, Architect: His Life and Times 1790-1847 by David Miller. See this work for further description of the building.) |