Quick Search
|
Search Results
You searched for: More Like: 'The Approach to the Beach and Dance Hall'
19 items
items as
SS James Hall
1937 The wreck of the steamship "James Hall".
On Tuesday 23rd February 1904, the steamer James Hall, belonging to the Aberdeen, Leith and Moray Firth Steam Shipping Company Ltd, and the Luddick, belonging to the Aberdeen, Newcastle and Hull Steam Company Ltd, collided in Aberdeen Bay.
The crew of the James Hall were rescued by the Luddick and the former was left to drift ashore on the beach. The damaged Luddick successfully steamed into harbour.
There was a large hole about 17 feet long in the James Hall, but it was thought possible to temporarily repair the damage and refloat the ship. For the next few days, the local press reported that crowds of people had been to see the wreck, and that two trams with posters saying 'To and from the stranded steamer' were put on the Beach route.
Unfortunately, owing to strong winds and heavy seas, salvage attempts were not possible, and the vessel began to break up and its cargo was washed ashore. By the 8th March, very little remained of the wreck. SS James Hall
1938 The wreck of the steam ship the 'James Hall'. It drifted ashore after colliding with another called the 'Luddick' on 23rd February 1904. Aberdeen Theatres: The Palace Theatre building
3387 The former Palace Theatre as seen on 14th July 2018 from outside the Royal Hotel on Bath Street. The building was designed by John Rust and opened in 1898. It was on the site of an earlier music hall, the People's Palace, which had burned down two years before. The building has seen much development and varied use over the years.
It showed variety and "legitimate" theatre at different points during the earlier 20th century. It was rebuilt and opened as a cinema in 1929 and was substantially extended in 1931.
The cinema closed down in 1959 and it was converted into a dance hall and later a nightclub. Aberdeen Theatres: Dufton Scott
3393 Robert Dufton Scott (1880-1944), born in Forgue, was another prominent North-East entertainer.
Much can be learnt of his life from the Press & Journal obituary that followed his death at his home at 3 Kirkland Terrace, Inverurie on 19th September 1944. He was sixty four years of age.
He is described as a well known elocutionist and exponent of Aberdeenshire doric. He spent his youth in Huntly and later moved to Aberdeen. The P&J suggest his "vivid delineation of Aberdeen life and character" quickly placed him at the forefront of Scottish entertainers.
He toured with Walker & Company, the local cinema pioneers, and appeared on the same bill as artists such as James Scott Skinner, Durward Lely, Mackenzie Murdoch and Jessie McLachlan.
He was associated with David Thomson at the Beach Pavilion and also appeared in concerts at the Music Hall.
Additionally, Scott found success publishing books of Scottish stories and broadcasting on the radio. In the 1910s he had moved to Inverurie and had set up business as a bookseller.
He was survived by his wife and three sons.
Aberdeen Theatres: Harry Gordon
3395 A photographic portrait of the entertainer Harry Gordon (1893-1957) by Frank Arthur Swaine. Gordon was born in Aberdeen as Alexander Gordon and rose to prominence on the stages of the North-East.
He was known as "The Laird of Inversnecky" and was particularly associated with Aberdeen's Beach Pavilion. Aberdeen Local Studies have a large collection of programmes for his shows. He also played in other venues around Aberdeen like the His Majesty's Theatre and the Music Hall.
Gordon was a pioneer of resident shows in variety theatres in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. He performed extensively in pantomimes, particuarly in Glasgow. He also worked with the BBC in the 1920s and 1930s and produced many records.
His first performance in London was in 1929 at the Palladium and he toured in American in 1948 and 1949.
For more information on his life and career see Harry Gordon: The Laird of Inversnecky by Iain Watson (1993), available at Aberdeen City Libraries. Aberdeen Cinemas: Star Picture Palace
3409 A photograph of the Star Picture Palace at the junction of Park Street and South Constitution Street in the 1920s. The cinema was an undertaking of Bert Hedgley Gates in partnership with his wife Nellie and with financial backing from local businessmen. Bert Gates was among Aberdeen's most influential cinema proprietors. He would go on to be the founding managing director of Aberdeen Picture Palaces, a highly successful company that would play a key role in cinema exhibition in the city.
The ever useful Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson details much of the history of the Star Picture Palace, known as The Star or Starrie, and the activities of Bert Gates. The cinema was converted from the former premises of the Aberdeen East End Mission. Its name was thought to come from a red-stained glass window in the shape of a star that was a legacy of its previous use. The Star's auditorium stood on the south side of South Constitution Street and its entrance, as shown here, was at 23 Park Street, underneath a block of tenements.
The cinema opened in March 1911 and showed a mixture of films and music. Bert and Nellie would stand behind the screen and add dialogue, sound effects and commentary to the silent films being shown. They also added topical references and allusions to well-known local figures. Both had backgrounds as stage artistes and their performances became a popular feature of the Star.
In 1913 the successful cinema was expanded, doubling its capacity, as Aberdeen Picture Palaces acquired the building and some houses to its rear. Thomson states that the remodelled Star was advertised as "Absolutely the Finest and Most Handsome Interior Out of Glasgow".
The Star had direct competition when the Casino cinema opened just around the corner on the north side of Wales Street on 7th February 1916. Thomson suggests that Gates responded to the Casino's popular and innovative cine-variety performances by programming his own varieties and mini revues. These included Miss Madge Belmont, "America's Handcuff Queen" and Birteno's Golden Grotto, "the most gorgeous electrical dance spectacle ever seen in Aberdeen - a display of serpentine and fire dancing by Belle Lumière, with marvellous kaleidoscopic colour effects".
The Star Picture Palace showed its first talkie, King of the Khyber Rifles, on 13th October 1930. In November 1932 the cinema suffered a fire caused by a dropped cigarette. The damage was relatively minor however and only put the Star out of action for a fortnight.
By the beginning of the second world war, the area around the Star was becoming depopulated as housing on Hanover Street and Albion Street was demolished to make way for the new Beach Boulevard. Bert Gates acquired control of the Casino in November 1939 with the idea of combining it with the Star to create one super-cinema that fronted onto the new thoroughfare.
Thomson explains that business was concentrated on the Casino and later that month the Star closed as a cinema for good. In 1939/40 it served as an indoor fun-fair and as the Boulevard Ballroom for the remainder of the war. The Star building was demolished, at the same time as the Casino, in 1971 to make way for a housing development.
Michael Thomson addresses the use of jam-jars for cinema admission in the first appendix to Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988). This includes an account of the Star Picture Palace from Ethel Kilgour who remembered going there as a child. Her description concludes as follows: "It was a great little cinema, jam-jar entry fee and all, and it was a form of escapism for so many children in a world so depressed between the wars".
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: Casino
3410 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Casino cinema in around 1963.
The Casino cinema was opened on Wales Street on 7th February 1916 by John Peter Kilgour, a dealer in various waste materials. It had close competition with Bert Gate's Star Picture Palace just around the corner on Park Street. Michael Thomson in The Silver Screen in the Silver City describes the Casino as the second of Aberdeen's purpose-built picture halls. It and the "Starrie" served the population of the city's east end for many years.
The Casino was built on the site of Kilgour's factory yards. The architects for the project were George Sutherland and Clement George. The building's "Spanish villa" design is described by Thomson as unique for Aberdeen and highly unusual throughout Scotland. One distinctive feature was the low square tower at the Park Street side of the building that was topped by a red-tiled concave pyramidal roof. Thomson writes that features of the building combined to "bring a welcome splash of colour and gaiety to an otherwise drab corner of the city."
Following the death of John Peter Kilgour in 1920, the running of the Casino and his waste business was taken over by his son, Ormande L. Kilgour.
In the silent era the venue was a stronghold of cine-variety, showing all manner of performances in-between film screenings. In February 1936 the cinema celebrated its 20th birthday and a cake was cut by Kilgour and one the Casino's oldest patrons, a Mrs Stewart.
In November 1939 Bert Gates and Aberdeen Picture Palaces bought a controlling interest share in the Casino. The Beach Boulevard, which opened on 25th May 1959, ran directly outside the cinema and gave the Casino a prominent location. In March of that year the cinema was given a thorough renovation.
Despite its new prominent location and recent renovation, the Casino closed down as a cinema on Saturday 3rd October 1959. A spokesperson for the Donald Cinemas Group stated in the Evening Express at the time that the closure was due to the housing in the area being pulled down and people moving to new estates. Michael Thomson suggests that the proximity of the relatively new first-run Regal in Shiprow might also have drawn away the hoped-for holiday crowds from the Casino.
In 1961 the empty Casino was sold to local bookmakers James Rennie and Arthur Forbes to be used as a bingo hall. This was at the height of bingo's popularity and the Casino proved too small. The bingo operation was moved to the Kingsway Cinema which had showed its final film, Warlord of Crete on 3rd February 1962.
The area around the Casino was earmarked for redevelopment by Aberdeen Town Council. The cinema building was compulsorily purchased and, after spending some time as a store, was demolished at the same time as the Star in 1971. The site is now occupied by a residential development.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Palace
3429 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph showing the Palace cinema in 1959. This was just before the venue on Bridge Place was converted into a dance hall.
The original building was designed by John Rust and opened in 1898. It was on the site of an earlier music hall, the People's Palace, which had burned down two years before.
The theatre had shown films as part of variety performances from 1911. It was purchased by the Poole Company, a nationwide wide circuit of cinemas, and reopened as a picture house on 8th April 1929. In 1936 Poole's cinemas, including the Palace, were acquired by County Cinemas, who were later taken over by the Odeon arm of the Rank Organisation.
The Palace closed as a cinema on 14th November 1959. Its final screening was My Uncle Frank with Jacques Tati. The new Palace Ballroom launched on 24th March 1960 as Aberdeen's largest dance hall.
In 1976 the building was converted into a nightclub originally called Fusion. It has since been known as Ritzy's, The Palace, The Institute (2003), Liquid (2012) and ATIK (2018).
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Treasure 62: City of Aberdeen Links and Sea Beach Layout Plan showing Proposed Development (August 1923)
238 In its heyday Aberdeen attracted visitors from all over the UK and established itself as one of Britain's leading holiday resorts. This is the Links and Sea Beach Development Plan of 1923 which ultimately led to the transformation of Aberdeen into a first class holiday resort.
In September 1919, Aberdeen Town Council took the decision to develop and improve Aberdeen Beach with the construction of a large entertainments building comprising a concert hall, restaurant, dining room, dance hall and lounge, beach pavilion and two shopping arcades.
Messrs. Roberts and Hume of Bathgate were chosen to design the proposed scheme in 1926, at an estimated cost of £42,717. The final design incorporated all requested features excluding the shopping arcades, but the dance hall - known now as Aberdeen Beach Ballroom - became one of the finest dance halls in Scotland. Treasure 79: Cosmo Mitchell Collection
290 Adam "Cosmo" Mitchell was born at Kennethmont in 1860. Raised on a croft, little is known of his early childhood but by the age of 21, he had become a dancing master teaching in several areas near his home.
By the end of 1881, Mitchell had brought his dance classes to Aberdeen. Using rooms in the Music Hall for instruction, he taught children and adults in increasingly popular classes.
His professional associations with local schools, as well as local, regional and international societies, also helped strengthen his professional reputation and furthered his integrity as an authority on dancing and, by 1895-6, he was creating his own dances.
Mitchell joined the newly-formed Imperial Society of Dance Teachers in 1904. By the following year, he had been elected as vice-president and continued to be re-elected in that post for many years.
In 1915, Mitchell published A Guide to Ballroom Dancing. In 1919, Mitchell's wife died. A key part of his business life, the loss of his wife led to the immediate cessation of his teaching in schools. By 1924, he had retired from teaching altogether. Mitchell died in 1932 and bequeathed his entire professional library of dance textbooks, notebooks and ephemera to Aberdeen City Libraries.
Our Treasure showcases some of the items from this collection. Patricia Ballantyne produced a thesis on the development of Scottish dance, utilising much of the Cosmo Mitchell collection. Her thesis Regulation and Reaction is available to view in the Information Centre. It is largely due to her research that we are able to explore the life of this little-known local celebrity.
Find out about the marketing ploys adopted by Mitchell, and the origins of his middle name, in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreens in Central, Airyhall, Tillydrone and Mastrick libraries. Guest Treasure: Design Team (Public Buildings) Architectural Drawings
338 Our guest treasure this month is the collection of architectural drawings held by Aberdeen City Council's Design Team (Public Buildings).
Design Team (Public Buildings) is a Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) chartered practice with a team of qualified Architects, Architectural Staff and Quantity Surveyors. Their aim is to support and provide a sustainable built environment in Aberdeen based on principles of design excellence, social wellbeing, environmental responsibility and value for public money.
Over the years Aberdeen City Council has collected thousands of architectural drawings. They are used by the Design Teams to inform alterations to existing buildings and demolitions. The Design Team's (Public Buildings) collection contains drawings of many of Aberdeen's best known structures. These include: The Beach Ballroom, The Music Hall, The Bon-Accord Baths, the Maritime Museum and the Central Library.
The collected drawings are an important resource used in the Design Team's work and therefore are not publicly accessible. Although the public do not have access to this collection, many historic architectural drawings are available to consult at the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives and Local Studies at Aberdeen City Libraries. If you would like assistance locating this type of material, please contact us at localstudies@aberdeencity.gov.uk. Treasure 116: Aberdeen Dance Festival Week 16-20 August 1948 Souvenir Brochure
339 This treasure is a souvenir brochure and programme for the first Aberdeen Dance Festival Week, held from 16 - 20 August 1948, which aimed "to make Aberdeen Scotland's mecca for good dancing". It was staged by the directors of the Palais de Danse dance hall and organised by the managing director, Mr. Ernest A. Bromberg. This delightful brochure describes competitions such as the Novice 3-Dance, Pre-amateur 4-Dance and Team Dancing Championship, gives details of the panel of adjudicators, and features adverts for local dancing schools.
It also includes a personal message from Mr Bromberg who stated "Since the inception of the Palais de Dance it has been my consistent desire to do everything possible to encourage a greater incentive to improve Ballroom Dancing and to provide facilities to make dancing a popular and healthy form of recreation, exercise, and entertainment". The Palais de Dance in Diamond Street was believed to be the oldest principal ballroom in Aberdeen, dating back to the mid-1920s.
In 1965 it underwent an extensive interior reconstruction at a cost of £75,000 with a new lounge bar, rounding of the dance floor from its previous square shape, and a circular balcony to watch the dancers. It became Raffles night club in 1976.
If you have memories of dancing in Aberdeen or any booklets/brochures on the subject, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact our Local Studies department at the Central Library.
Find out more about dancing in Aberdeen and see some fantastic images in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreen. Secondary Schools Dance Club, 1956-57
350 The front and reverse of a member's card for Isabel Murray's Secondary Schools Dance Club for the 1956-57 season. The club's dances were held in the Cowdray Hall on Saturdays from 8-11pm. The reverse gives to the following statement of intent: 'Honest to goodness fun'. This card is one of two kindly donated to Local Studies by a member of the public. Secondary Schools Dance Club, 1957-58
351 The front and reverse of a member's card for Isabel Murray's Secondary Schools Dance Club for the 1957-58 season.
The club's dances were held in the Cowdray Hall on Saturdays from 8-11pm. This item was kindly donated to Local Studies by a member of the public.
The reverse of the card states "- There are no snares or nets in the hearts of nice people - Let us Dance!" Jubilee of the Aberdeen Tramways, 1874 - 1924
378 An invitation card for a dinner held to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of tramways in Aberdeen. The event held at the Music Hall took place on 2nd September 1924 and marked the jubilee on 31st August of the same year.
In 1898 Aberdeen Corporation bought the horse tramways of the Aberdeen District Company and undertook significant expansion and modernisation of local public transport.
The organisation was municipally run so the invitation is from the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council and came from the Town-House.
In addition to the dinner, the card notes there will be a dance afterwards. The beautifully produced card features an embossed Aberdeen coat of arms and two images of the tramways - one a horse drawn tram and the other a then contemporary electrified double-decker.
The invitation was for "Mr Geo Niven & Lady". George Niven was a worker with the company and this card, along with a menu from the dinner, was kindly donated to Aberdeen Local Studies by his daughter in May 2018. Festival of Britain - Poster
462 A large decorative poster for Festival of Britain celebrations that took place in Aberdeen in 1951.
The poster has a theatre influenced design and lists the planned events between 29th July and 11th August.
The celebrations were organised by the Aberdeen Festival Society and the Corporation of Aberdeen in association with the Arts Council Scottish Committee.
Events included a church service, exhibitions of art and of crafts, theatre performances, concerts, and sporting competitions. Among the groups involved were the Arion Choir Ensemble, the Children's Theatre and the Band of Royal Corps Signals.
Events took place at venues around Aberdeen including Cowdray Hall, the Music Hall, King's College Library, Gaumont Gallery, the News Cinema and many more.
The bottom right of the poster indicates that it was designed by noted British illustrator and graphic artist Eric George Fraser (1902-1983) and was printed for H.M. Stationary Office by Fosh & Cross Ltd., London.
The poster is approximately 77 x 51 cm. Exhibition of the City Plan (Incoporating Housing, Health & Welfare) - Explanatory brochure
464 This is the front cover of an explanatory brochure that was made to accompany the public exhibition of the City Survey and Plan prepared for the Corporation of Aberdeen by W. Dobson Chapman & Partners, town planning consultants.
The exhibition, which also included exhibits by the Housing and Health & Welfare Departments, was held in the Music Hall from 6th to 27th July 1951. As indicated at the top of the cover, the exhibition was tied into the city's celebrations of the Festival of Britain that took place shortly afterwards, from 29th July to 11th August.
This brochure was produced by W. Dobson Chapman with text by Charles F. Riley. It was printed by the Aberdeen University Press. It measures 28 x 19 cm and has 36 pages.
The front cover features an aerial photograph looking up Union Street from Holburn Junction to the Castlegate. The back cover shows a section of a city model showing proposed plans for the same area. The model was created by J. B. Thorp, London.
The brochure has the following contents: Title page, Foreword by Lord Provost William D. Reid, Description of Exhibition of City Plan, Description of Exhibition of Housing, Description of Health & Welfare Exhibits and Description of Film Display.
It also features the following illustrations: Summerfield Residential Neighbourhood Unit Model Photograph, Tullos Industrial Estate Model Photograph, Colour Plate South Market Street, Colour Plate Sea Beach.
W. Dobson Chapman and Charles F. Riley published their proposals the following year as a large hardback volume entitled Granite City: A Plan for Aberdeen (1952). Copies of this volume are available to consult at Aberdeen City Libraries.
The city plan included a number of ambitious proposals that intended to be accomplished over the course of generations. |