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3 Mackie Place
42 This photograph shows No. 3 Mackie Place, Aberdeen, in around 1870.
The street was named after Robert Mackie, a skinner who was Convener of the Incorporated Trades.
At No. 6 Mackie Place there was a haunted house known as the 'The Castle' or 'The White House'. It was located to the south west of Nos. 4 and 5 next to the Denburn. It was the home of the Forbes family who printed the Castle Spectre magazine.
No. 6 Mackie Place was in time demolished to make way for Esslemont Avenue. Due to the demolition, the Forbes family moved across the Denburn to the property off Skene Street known as 'the Galleries' in around 1882. It stood in the ground to the rear of No. 1 Mackie Place and has also subsequently been demolished.
No. 3 Mackie Place is located to the east of Nos. 4 and 5, on the north side of the Denburn, and still stands today. The Wellington Suspension Bridge
67 The Wellington Suspension Bridge over the River Dee was built in 1829 by Samuel Brown and John Smith. It connects Ferryhill with the high bank of Craiglug to the south. Print dated 1850. The bridge, locally known as the 'Chain Bridge', was closed to traffic and pedestrians because of its poor condition before reopening after restoration in 2008. Statue of Queen Victoria
73 A photograph showing the statue of Queen Victoria at the junction of Union Street and St. Nicholas Street. The building in the background is the Clydesdale Bank that stands next to M&S today. This fine Italian renaissance style building was originally constructed for the Town and County Bank and opened for business in May 1863.
The statue of Queen Victoria was made from marble and was sculpted by Banff born Alexander Brodie (c.1829 - 1867). The origin of this statue is closely related to another Aberdeen monument, the 1863 memorial statue of Prince Albert by Baron Marochetti, now standing, or rather sitting, in the area in front of the Central Library.
Marochetti's statue was augurated by Queen Victoria herself on 13th October 1863 and this was said to the first time the Queen had appeared at a public demonstration following the death of Albert in 1861. The Marochetti statue was the subject of great local controversy and there were various plans for an alternative, superior, memorial to the late Prince Consort. It was at a related meeting that a chap called Alexander Donald, from the Royal Tradesman of Aberdeen, moved "That a colossal statue in marble, of Her Majesty, be erected at the corner of St. Nicholas Street."
The endeavour was taken on by a variety of prominent citizens and funding was raised by public subscription. Brodie, the selected sculptor, worked on an 11-ton block of Sicilian marble for two years to complete the statue. The finished piece is 8 foot 6 inches in height and, at the request of Queen herself, depicts Victoria in Scottish regal attire. The statue stands on a substantial plinth of pink Peterhead granite.
The statue was unveiled and inaugurated on 20th September 1866 by Albert-Edward Prince of Wales, later to be King Edward VII and the subject of another of Aberdeen's notable statues. During his speech at the ceremony, the Prince said "Gentlemen, it has afforded me the greatest satisfaction to attend here today, by the wish of Her Majesty, and at your invitation, for the purpose of inaugurating a statue of the Queen, my dear mother. Her Majesty has desired me to express to you how much she appreciates the motives which have led the people of Aberdeenshire to give this lasting evidence of their attachment and loyalty to her person, of which she has so many proofs, and whose sympathy in her great sorrow has touched her so deeply."
During his visit, the Prince of Wales also received the Freedom of the City and attended the Royal Horticultural Society's Autumn Show, which was then going on in the Music Hall. An extensive account of the unveiling, the Royal visit and the town's celebrations is given in the Aberdeen Journal of 26th September 1866.
After some time at this location, the statue's marble began to show weathering due to the frost and so it was moved to the vestibule of the Town House in 1888, where it remains to this day. It stands at the foot of the building's splendid main stairway. The plaster model of Brodie's statue has also been on display in the Music Hall for many years.
A new bronze statue of an older Victoria, by sculptor Charles Bell Birch, was erected at the St. Nicholas Street location on 9th November 1893 and "the Queen" became a regular meeting place for generations of Aberdonians. To make way for the extension of Marks & Spencer, the 1893 statue moved to its current site at Queen's Cross on 22nd January 1964. Victoria now stands looking east towards Balmoral. Honeybrae House
96 Honeybrae House. This house stood in the middle of a market garden near Morningfield Hospital about one-and-a-half miles west of Aberdeen City Centre. The lands were part of the old royal hunting forest of Stocket, given to the town of Aberdeen by Robert the Bruce. In the 17th century, it came into the ownership of the Skenes of Rubislaw and, in 1875, it was owned by Aberdeen Land Association. This two-storeyed house is most famous for its connection with the poet Lord Byron. In 1798, as a boy of about 10, he was taken there to spend a summer holiday while he was a pupil at Aberdeen Grammar School. At that time, it was probably a fairly new house, standing in its own grounds in a rural situation. He stayed there with his mother and their maid, Isabella Mitchell, before going to visit his old nurse, Agnes Gray. His room was on the first floor. By the 1830s, it was the home of a Captain John Boyd and later of market gardeners. Above the main door, there was a window whose thirteen small designed panes led it to be called 'the thirteen' window. By the 1920s, it had fallen into disrepair and the house was demolished in November 1928. The site was redeveloped for modern housing. Site of Mar's Castle
108 Site of Mar's Castle, Gallowgate after its demolition in 1897. The building in the background was for many years the meeting place of the Society of Friends (Quakers). They also had a burial ground in this area in the 1670s. The building was acquired by John Watt and Sons, leather merchants. The upper part had louvre windows which made it suitable for drying leather.
The two doorways that remain standing in the centre of the image were part of the tenement located just north of Mar's Castle. Above the one on the left can be seen a sign indicating that this was once the pend leading to Logan's Court. In the late 19th century the address of this tenement would have been 150 Gallowgate.
The demolition of Mar's Castle, and likely this tenement too, began in January 1897. The Town Council bought the property and ordered its demolition so that the street could be widened. Torry Brickworks chimney
309 A photograph showing the largest of the three substantial chimneys stalks that were located at the brick and tile works in Torry, located between Sinclair Road and Victoria Road.
This is one of three photographs on the Silver City Vault taken during the demolition of this Torry landmark on Saturday 12th September 1903. A full account of the demolition can be read in the Aberdeen Daily Journal from 14/09/1903, page 6.
The report tells us that the hexagonal stalk was 175 feet in height, consisted of 155,00 bricks and weighed 500 tons. The demolition was overseen by Mr Peter Tawse, a well known contractor.
Two years previously in 1901, the Seaton Brick and Tile Company had relocated their works from the site in Torry to Balgownie.
Seaton Brick and Tile Company was formed in 1884 after taking over the Northern Patent Brick and Tile Co., which operated a works at Seaton Links. They moved to the Torry works shortly afterwards.
The company continued operation at Balgownie until going into voluntary liquidation on Friday 1st August 1924. This was reported, with a short history of the company, in the next day's Press & Journal (page 6). Market Street and Albert Quay
339 A photograph of Aberdeen Harbour. The image likely dates from some time in the late 19th century.
The photograph was taken at the junction of Lower Market Street and Albert Quay, before the extension of the covered fishmarket along this stretch to the pontoon docks on the quay.
See this photograph taken slightly north showing the upper part of Albert Basin and the covered fish market then on Commercial Road. Union Bridge c. 1863
373 Union Bridge c. 1863 before the construction of Bridge Street in 1865/7, looking north.
Correspondent Ed Fowler has provided the following further information on the image:
The pantiled cottages in the left foreground were occupied by handloom weavers who in the early 19th century worked for the cotton factory of Gordon Barron and Company. This was sited until 1830 on the corner of Belmont Street and Schoolhill.
The site of the factory was subsequently used for the construction of Archibald Simpson's three Free Churches, which nestled under the prominent red brick spire. Bricks for the spire were salvaged from the Dee Village demolition.
To the right of the image is the Denburn entrance to the Trinity Hall. This memorial doorway to Dr William Guild was salvaged from the gateway to the first 'Tarnty Ha'. Sadly it was later lost during demolition work for the Trinity Shopping Centre. The Castlegate looking down Union Street
385 The Castlegate looking down Union Street. The Market Cross is in the foreground. The spire of the Tolbooth is seen on the right, while the new Town House has yet to be built. This dates the image to before 1867, the year demolition of the shown building began. 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. Old channel of the River Dee
505 The old channel of the River Dee. After years of discussion about the development of the harbour, the Aberdeen Harbour Act of 1868 allowed the Harbour Commissioners to divert the river to the south. The first turf was cut by Lord Provost Leslie on 22nd December 1869. Footdee From Balnagask
571 A George Washington Wilson image titled Footdee From Balnagask and numbered 139.
It shows Aberdeen Harbour Mouth photographed from the Torry side of the River Dee estuary, with Fittee in the background.
Across the water, the light, single storey building with the battlement style roof is the harbour's old custom house. In 1986 chef Didier Dejean converted this building into the Silver Darling restaurant.
Correspondent Ed Fowler suggests that the temporary structure behind the custom house was used to cast concrete blocks for an extension to the North Pier between 1869-77.
The image is also interesting for showing the industrial buildings around Footdee and Aberdeen Beach before much of its later development.
Futhermore, the tall structure on the far right looks like a taller version of the sewer ventilation shaft known as Scarty's Monument. The structure must have been shortened some time after construction. Castle Street
673 A view of the buildings at Castle Street prior to their demolition for the construction of the new Town House (1867-1874) designed by Peddie and Kinnear.
The entrance to Broad Street is visible in the left foreground. The entrance further on is to Huxter's Row, which turned west and ran behind these building to exit on Broad Street. The Lemon Tree Hotel and the Bon-Accord Hotel were located on this lane. The former soon moved to 7-9 St. Nicholas Street.
Past the fortified facade of the Tolbooth, and its prominent spire, can be seen the entrance to Lodge Walk and Archibald Simpson's North of Scotland Bank premises, opened in 1842.
The signs in the shop windows likely give notice of imminent closure. A sign for Alexander Badenoch, an outfitter, can be seen at 12 Union Street. Further down, at what is likely Chapman and Co., tailors and clothiers, "Great bargains" are advertised.
In addition to the gas lamps and pollards, there is array of traffic on the cobbled street. Two night watchmen stand talking on the left. A Gordon Highlander, presumably coming from the nearby Castlehill Barracks, is outside Badenoch's shop. Two fishwives carry leaden creels to market. A large dog sleeps outside Chapman and Co. and various horse drawn vehicles are shown. Shiprow
693 This view from about 1890, shows one of Aberdeen's historic streets - the Shiprow.
For centuries this was the main street leading from the harbour into the centre of Aberdeen at the Castlegate, until the building of Marischal and Market Street.
At the left is William Arthur's City Bar. This block was demolished around 1900, and most of the other buildings in the photo were also removed in the 1920's as the area had became very rundown.
Further demolition of the area at the left hand side took place in the 1960s to make way for a multi-storey carpark and supermarket.
The buildings on the right hand side were replaced by the Regal/ABC Cinema which was demolished for further redevelopment in 1999.
The only building which remains would have been just round the corner. It is known as Provost Ross' House and now houses Aberdeen Maritime Museum.
It appears that granite cobbles are being laid down in the photograph. Jack's Brae
710 A photograph looking north west up Jack's Brae, from its junction with Upper Denburn, in the Rosemount area. Jack's Brae was named after the owner of property there. This photograph likely dates from the mid-to-late 19th century.
The Ordnance Survey town plan of Aberdeen, 1:500 scale, surveyed in 1866-67 depicts a "Coffee Roasting and Grinding Works" at the top of Jack's Brae at its junction with Leadside Road. A large chimney of these works can be seen on the right side of this image in the distance.
These works were the premises of John Strachan. In the Aberdeen Post Office Directory for 1867-68, Strachan is described as follows:
"Strachan, John, coffee roaster, coffee, sugar, and sugar grinder, Jack's brae" (page 213).
Aberdeen City Council's Historic Environment Record describes the site thusly:
"Site of meal mills, built in the 18th - 19th Centuries and demolished in the 1980s. The works was two-storey with a basement, comprising a 9-bay range with a single kiln and a three-storey with attic 5 by 6-bay block of later date. There were also two 2-storey store blocks. The mill was originally water powered, later electrically driven. The OS 1st edition map depicts a coffee roasting and grinding works here; they are annotated as corn mills on the OS 25in map published 1924." (link here).
The business was known as John Strachan & Sons and the works as Gilcomston Mill. The business was started in around 1852 and John Strachan was succeeded as its proprietor by his son James Strachan (1838-1914). His obituary can be found in the Evening Express of 28th December 1914, page 5. His son, John Strachan, was later to become the business's managing director. The obituary of this later John Strachan can be found in the Press & Journal of 1st July 1935, page 8.
At the time of writing in 2022, the site is occupied by a residential complex called Strachan Mill Court - no doubt named after the coffee roasting and milling enterprise. The Market Cross
742 The Market Cross, or Mercat Cross, in Castlegate was erected in 1686 by John Montgomery of Old Rayne at the behest of the town council.
Its original location was opposite the Tolbooth of 1615 (spire still visible today). In 1842 it was moved to its current location to the east after being considered an obstruction to traffic by police commissioners. Quaker Meeting House, Gallowgate
765 Site of Mar's Castle, Gallowgate after its demolition in 1897. The building in the background was for many years the meeting place of the Society of Friends (Quakers). They also had a burial ground in this area in the 1670s. The building was acquired by John Watt and Sons, leather merchants. The upper part had louvre windows which made it suitable for drying leather.
The two doorways that remain standing in the centre of the image were part of the tenement located just north of Mar's Castle. Above the one on the left can be seen a sign indicating that this was once the pend leading to Logan's Court. In the late 19th century the address of this tenement would have been 150 Gallowgate.
The demolition of Mar's Castle, and likely this tenement too, began in January 1897. The Town Council bought the property and ordered its demolition so that the street could be widened.
This photograph was taken at the junction with Innes Street and looks east across Gallowgate. Honeybrae House
816 Honeybrae House. This house stood in the middle of a market garden near Morningfield Hospital about one and a half miles west of Aberdeen City Centre. The lands were part of the old royal hunting forest of Stocket, given to the town of Aberdeen by Robert the Bruce. In the 17th century, it came into the ownership of the Skenes of Rubislaw, and in 1875, it was owned by Aberdeen Land Association. This two storeyed house is most famous for its connection with the poet Lord Byron. In 1798, as a boy of about 10, he was taken there to spend a summer holiday while he was a pupil at Aberdeen Grammar School. At that time, it was probably a fairly new house, standing in its own grounds in a rural situation. He stayed there with his mother and their maid Isabella Mitchell, before going to visit his old nurse, Agnes Gray. His room was on the first floor. By the 1830's, it was the home of a Captain John Boyd and later of market gardeners. Above the main door, there was a window whose thirteen small designed panes, led it to be called 'the thirteen' window. By the 1920's, it had fallen into disrepair and the house demolished in November 1928, and the site redeveloped for modern housing. A Dead Whale
868 Crowds gathered round a dead whale, with fishing boats (A329) in the background.
Correspondent Ed Fowler suggests that this photograph shows the "Nairn whale".
Initially wrongly identified at the time as a blue whale, it was actually a sei whale (Balaenoptera Borealis), one of the 4th-largest balaenopterid.
The whale stranded at Nairn on 18th December 1884 and was subsequently purchased by Mr Davidson, fish-dealer, Aberdeen. The whale was then towed by the tug Granite City on 2nd February 1885.
The Evening Express from Wednesday 4th February 1885 provides more details about the operation:
"This was accordingly done about five o'clock yesterday afternoon by the tug Granite City, and the leviathan was successfully placed on the waggons which had been provided for the purpose. Suspended in mid-air, the whale presented a remarkable spectacle, its huge proportions being displayed to full advantage. The task of placing it on the huge waggons by which it was conveyed to its destination proved a very laborious and onerous one, and occupied a large staff of men from four o'clock in the afternoon till midnight. Ultimately, the leviathan stretched upon the waggons, and the horses - numbering about two dozen - being attached, the unusual procession proceeded on its way to the Recreation Grounds [Queens Links]. The quay was literally besieged by a crowd which swelled in proportions as time wore on, and whose enthusiasm the disagreeable odour which proceeded from the whale was wholly unable to quench. [About] four o'clock this afternoon, after many difficulties had been encountered and overcome, the whale reached its destination - the Recreations Grounds - where it now lies. As before stated, a very strong smell is felt in the vicinity of the carcase, and the sanitary inspector has brought the matter under the notice of the Public Health Committee".
Ed Fowler adds that "The Landing was a difficult operation as it can reach 19.5M (64-ft) long and weighing as much as 28-Tons. An attempt to haul it from the water at Fittie (Perhaps Alexander Hall's Slipway) with Horses failed and so it was Towed into the harbour to the North Lock Sheer-legs (a lifting system) at the North Lock, Waterloo Quay and hoisted in mid-air with a tackle around the Tail, then placed on a series of Wagons and then dragged by 24 Horses and a crowd of Men to the Recreation Grounds (Queens Links), for Public Exhibition."
Culter
876 This image was taken around 1909 from a hill at the west end of Culter - 7 miles west from Aberdeen looking down on the North Deeside Road towards Banchory. The image shows the cottages known as Clayhills with the houses of Malcolm Road beyond. Hidden in the trees at the right hand side is the statue of Rob Roy overlooking the Leuchar Burn which runs through the wooded valley. Correction Wynd
894 A late 1970s or early 80s photograph looking south along Correction Wynd towards the Green and the indoor market. The arch above is that which takes Union Street over this lane.
The Union Bar can be seen in the distance on the corner of Hadden Street and Carmelite Street. The pub closed down in 1968 and its block was demolished likely not long after this photo for the widening of the Hadden Street access to the Green and a new residential development. Rob Roy statue number 2, Culter
960 The statue of Rob Roy at Culter - number 2, 1850-1926. A Rob Roy figure has stood on this rocky ledge high above the Leuchar Burn just before it reached Culter Paper Mills for around 150 years. It has become a tourist attraction for those travelling on the North Deeside Road at Peterculter, about 8 miles from Aberdeen. However, there is no historical evidence to support the legend that Rob Roy MacGregor left the gorge to escape his pursuers. The original figure is supposed to have been a figurehead from a Peterhead whaling ship and it was replaced in about 1865 with the carved wooden stature seen here. It apparently suffered damage before the First World War when local Territorial soldiers practised their firing skills on it. However, by 1925, the figure was in a poor state due to the effects of time and weather. A committee was appointed to secure a new stature and an Aberdeen woodcutter, David Graham, created a figure from a nine foot high block of Quebec yellow pine. It was unveiled on 3 July 1926. This figure lasted until 1991, when it had to be replaced again after being damaged by vandals. Cults Railway Station
1031 Cults Railway Station, 1920 - Cults was the first main station on the Deeside Line between Aberdeen and Ballater, at 3 and five-eighths miles from Aberdeen.
The line between Aberdeen and Banchory was opened in 1853 and extended to Aboyne and later to Ballater by 1866.
The double line, as seen here, was opened in 1884 and returned to single line in 1951.
This view, from about 1920, shows the stationmaster, Peter Walker, his staff and a number of passengers awaiting the imminent arrival of a train.
In 1894, suburban trains, "subbies", were introduced between Aberdeen and Culter, calling at 8 intermediate stations and covering the 7 miles in just over 20 minutes. This meant that up to 30 trains would be calling at Cults every day.
The "subbies" ceased on 5 April 1937 because of competition from buses. The Deeside Line closed to passenger traffic on 28 February 1966, after the Beeching Report of 1963. Goods traffic continued for a few more months but the final train ran on the line on 30 December 1966.
Cults Station was later occupied by a joinery company. George Street
1193 This 1987 photo of the west side of George Street shows nos. 29 and 31 in their last days of trading before closing prior to their demolition for the shopping development to be known as the Bon Accord Centre.
John Martin, butcher, had been in business here for nearly 100 years. The original John Martin opened this shop after having been manager in the butchery department of the Northern Co-operative Society. He retired in 1932 and the business was carried on in the same name by his two sons. On the door was the sign: "Redevelopment closure - this shop will cease trading Saturday 11 April 1987".
Sometime prior to the demolition of the building, the flats above these shops had been renovated as accommodation for students at Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology (now The Robert Gordon University). |