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The entrance to a Cable Subway, Aberdeen Electricity Works, Millburn Street. c.1905
313 In 1889, Aberdeen Town Council received the first applications by companies wishing to supply electricity . They decided to operate their own system, which was inaugurated in 1894 at Cotton Street. The rapid increase in demand led to the purchase of a new site in 1901 and Aberdeen Electricity Works at Millburn Street were built. In 1895 nearly 160,000 units were generated, rising to 5 and a half million by 1907. This photograph shows the entrance to the Cable Subway running from the works in the line of Crown Street and Justice Mill Lane for 1500 yards. It was capable of accommodating all the feeder cables required for the northern and western districts of the city, and was believed to be the largest of its kind in the UK. When the Electricity Act of 1947 came into force on 1st April 1948, generation of electricity transferred to the North of Scotland Hydro Board. 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. Stoneywood Works Home Guard
943 Stoneywood Works Home Guard.
Back Row: Unknown, Unknown, Charlie Thomson, Hector Emslie, Unknown, Bill Irvine, Ed Coutts, John Reid, Jim Smith, Alick Duncan (engineer), Dick Grant, A. Kilgour.
3rd Row: Ralph Davidson, Bob Lawrence, Arthur Smart, Ed McDonald, John Menzies, Bill Kane, Alfred McPherson, Harry Duncan, A. Baigrie, Tom Mitchell, Bill Davidson, Alex Robb, Jim McLean, Bill Denholm, George Sangster (sawmiller).
2nd Row: Gordon Wilson, Jim Davidson, Jim Ross, Unknown, Andy Lawson, Charles Esson, Frank Rundle, Bill Bartlett, Alick Duncan (cutting & rolling), Neil Littlejohn, Bert Campbell, Willie Robbie, Bill Forbes, David Findlater.
Front Row: Bill Thomson, Val Michie, Bill Ross, Jack Beveridge, Bill Kitson, Harry Jordan, Jim Murray, Cozens Hardy, Jack Stewart, Jim Duncan, Bert Spence, Bill Pirie, John Sutherland, Alick Davidson, Bill Wright. Brae Farm
1790 This photograph was taken in 1951 by James Kellas and looks east showing, on the left, the rear of Brae Farm, located on Morningside Road, and part of 142 Morningside Avenue on the right.
There was originally a Brae Farm to the north west of this location that can be seen the Ordnance Survey map published in 1869 (Aberdeen Sheet LXXV.14). Just to the north of the old farm on the map is a single Aberdeen Water Works reservoir.
An article from The Leopard magazine by Diane Morgan (October/November 1985) explains that in 1885 an Aberdeen Corporation Water Act was passed to empower the Town Council to take eight million gallons daily from the River Dee and to build a second reservoir at Mannofield. This was to keep up with the city's rapid population increase.
To carry out the expansion, the council acquired the land adjoining the initial reservoir including the first Brae Farmhouse and its steadings. They then became known as Reservoir Cottage and Reservoir House and served as the home of the inspector of the water works. A relatively early inspector was called William Clark. On 28th February 1898 he died at the cottage aged 64. He was buried in the John Knox Churchyard (Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 02/03/1898, p.4).
Clark was likely succeeded as waterworks inspector by James Forsyth. The Forsyth family lived at the cottage well into the 20th century. James was married to Margaret (née Jaffray), who died after him on 28th July 1945, aged 85. Their second son, Sapper John Forsyth, died aged 26 at Oldmill Military Hospital on 20th April 1917. He was buried at Springback Cemetery.
The reservoirs continue to play a vital role in supplying water to Aberdeen. The cottage and house however were demolished in the late 20th century and replaced by modern water treatment buildings.
As shown on the 1901 OS map, sometime shortly after the passing of the 1885 act the Brae Farm we can see in this picture was built to the south east, where Morningside Road met Auchinyell Bridge. To the east, Aberdeenshire County Cricket Ground was also built around the same time.
This later Brae Farm was the home to the Kinnaird family for the first half of the 20th century. The heads of the family were Frank Kinnaird and Margaret Amelia Smith.
Their son Lance-Corporal A. G. Kinnaird, of the Royal Scots, was reported as a prisoner of war in Germany in June 1918. Prior to the war he had worked with the Clydesdale Bank (Evening Express, 03/06/1918 p.3).
Frank's eldest daughter, Jessie Sinclair, married James Smith Mathieson at Ruthrieston U.F. Church on 7th September 1927 (Evening Express, 08/09/1927, p.6).
A younger daughter, Edith Kinnaird, married a man from Portsmouth called Andrew Livingstone in July 1936. The marriage took place in Ruthrieston West Church and the reception was at the Caledonian Hotel (Press & Journal, 06/06/1936 p.8).
Daughters Amelia Elizabeth and Margaret Kinnaird both left Brae Farm in the 1920s (1924 and 1920, respectively) to reunite with fiancés who had travelled ahead to Canada.
Frank Kinnaird died on 12th August 1950, aged 84.
At some point during the 1930s-1950s the residential streets we know today, Morningside Avenue, Terrace and Place were constructed between the reservoir and the new farmstead. These streets take their name from Morningside Farm to the east. As can be seen in this photograph, the farm stood into the 1950s. It was eventually demolished when Morningside Avenue was extended to meet Morningside Road. The newer bungalows can be distinguished by their tiled, rather than slated roofs. Stoneywood Paper Mills
1986 A group portrait of William Ford and the women who worked in the counting house at Stoneywood Paper Mills. Ford was the manager of this part of the works. Group Portrait at Stoneywood Paper Mills
1989 A group portrait of William Ford and the workers from Stoneywood Paper Mills' counting house. Ford managed this part of the works.
The building in the background is the mill's canteen. The company who owned the mill, Alex. Pirie & Sons, also provided a school and library for their employees. Denburn South Junction Signal Box
2149 This photograph, looking south, shows an array of gantries overhead and the Denburn South Junction Signal Box on the right, in the middle distance.
Denburn South Junction opened on 31st May 1914. It replaced the initial Denburn Junction Signal Box, located where the Denburn Valley Railway met the Aberdeen Railway. This photo was likely taken at some point during the 1930s.
Denburn South was a large box, containing a 240 lever frame of which 217 were used. 181 controlled movement to and from the Joint Station and 36 the adjoining goods lines. Three quarters of the operational costs were met by the Joint Station and one quarter by the Caledonian Railway. Aberdeen South replaced this box on 20th April 1947.
(Information taken from 'The Joint Station: Aberdeen Station 1867 - 1992' by Keith G. Jones. This excellent title is available to consult at Aberdeen Local Studies and is recommended for further details on Aberdeen railways.) Denburn South Junction Signal Box
2150 This photograph looks south and shows the Denburn South Junction Signal Box, which was opened on 31st May 1914, in the middle distance, on the right. An array of gantries can also be seen in the centre of the image.
Denburn South replaced the initial Denburn Junction Signal Box, located where the Denburn Valley Railway met the Aberdeen Railway. This photo was likely taken at some point during the 1930s.
Denburn South was a large box, containing a 240 lever frame of which 217 were used. 181 controlled movement to and from the Joint Station and 36 the adjoining goods lines. Three quarters of the operational costs were met by the Joint Station and one quarter by the Caledonian Railway. Aberdeen South replaced this box on 20th April 1947.
(Information taken from 'The Joint Station: Aberdeen Station 1867 - 1992' by Keith G. Jones. This excellent title is available to consult at Aberdeen Local Studies and is recommended for further details on Aberdeen railways.) Denburn South Junction Signal Box
2151 This photograph shows the interior of the Denburn South Junction Signal Box, which was opened on 31st May 1914. It replaced the initial Denburn Junction Signal Box, located where the Denburn Valley Railway met the Aberdeen Railway. The photo was likely taken at some point during the 1930s.
Denburn South was a large box, containing a 240 lever frame of which 217 were used. 181 controlled movement to and from the Joint Station and 36 the adjoining goods lines. Three quarters of the operational costs were met by the Joint Station and one quarter by the Caledonian Railway. Aberdeen South replaced this box on 20th April 1947.
(Information taken from 'The Joint Station: Aberdeen Station 1867 - 1992' by Keith G. Jones. This excellent title is available to consult at Aberdeen Local Studies and is recommended for further details on Aberdeen railways.) Dee Village Electricity Works
2872 A photograph taken in April 1901 showing the land cleared in preparation for the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works.
This image was taken from the bottom of Crown Street looking east. Milburn Street is on the right and the now demolished Dee Village Road is on the left. A steam train can be seen on the Wellington Road, later to be South College Street, viaduct in the middle distance.
The premises of Charles R. Fraser, paperhanger and decorator, can be seen in the foreground. Signs on the shop's windows indicate that it is moving the following month to 127A Crown Street.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3404 Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson explains that by 1950 the Picture House was owned by the Rank Organisation. The British entertainment conglomerate had acquired various cinema exhibition companies: British-Gaumont, Odeon, and the Provincial Cinematograph Theatres (successor company to Associated Provincial Picture Houses). As part of business rationalisation, on 22nd March 1950 the Picture House was rebranded as The Gaumont.
Thomson's Silver Screen indicates that the Gaumont's vertical neon sign dates from the time of the rebranding. In 1956 the design of the cinema was further updated. This saw the introduction of the illuminated canopy and use of the beech design shown here in the redeveloped interior and exterior, replacing the pillars of the Picture House era. A new marble backed fireplace replaced the old one that had been a well-known feature of the cinema since its opening in 1914. The projection equipment and seating were also modernised. This night-time image from the Aberdeen Journals Archive accompanied an article about the Gaumont's new look in the Evening Express of 19th April 1956.
The image shows promotion for a number of films on the cinema's updated exterior: The Rose Tattoo with Burt Lancaster and Anna Magnani, Flight from Vienna and Aberdeen Photographic Service's presentation of A Photographic Review of the Royal Tour of Nigeria.
The manager at the time of the Gaumont's redesign was Mr. R. E. Miller. He had managed the cinema since January 1948. In early 1951 Miller converted the upstairs restaurant area, which had laid empty since 1928, into a gallery space. Known as the Gaumont Gallery, it was ideal for photographic exhibitions and was in frequent use well into the 1960s.
Thomson states that during this period Mary Garden, the retired opera singer who returned to Aberdeen in 1939, was something of a regular at the Gaumont. This well-known and much-loved figure would be escorted to her seat by the cinema's commissionaire George Repper, who was also a popular and familiar figure. Repper worked at the Gaumont from 1940 to 1964 and his job was to shepherd queues, attend to patrons and ensure all progressed smoothly.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: La Scala / Majestic
3423 La Scala Cinema was opened on Union Street on 30th April 1914. It was the first purpose-built cinema in Aberdeen, as opposed to an existing building converted for the purpose.
It was designed by John Ednie, Glasgow, and George Sutherland, Aberdeen, and was a branch of the Glasgow La Scala Company.
Luxurious interiors were provided including a tearoom which was run separately from the cinema. There was a musical trio and orchestra for entertainment. This postcard image shows the cinema's tearoom in around 1920.
By 1935, the cinema was out of date and in poor condition. The La Scala closed on Saturday 18th May 1935. The cinema and nearby buildings were demolished and the Majestic Cinema was constructed on the site.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Matthews' Quay
3534 Photograph taken looking north-east from Albert Quay into the Tidal Harbour, with Matthew's Quay visible on the left.
Photo depicts the Aberdeen Floating Dock which was located near and around Pocra Quay. This floating dock is mentioned in an April 24th, 1911 article from the Aberdeen Press & Journal where it states that it was built by Messrs Vickers, Ltd. in Barrow from their Naval Construction Works. The article was written while the floating dock was en route to Aberdeen which dates the photograph to some time after April 24th 1911.
Another article from the Aberdeen P&J from the 13th of July 1909 details how the construction of this floating dock cost the Harbour Commissioners of Aberdeen £49,250.
This floating dock was used for the maintenance, repair and painting of vessels within Aberdeen Harbour. It was commissioned and then later constructed for the purposes of servicing vessels which were too large for the existing stationary Graving Dock. Treasure 50: Heroines of Shakspeare
221 Celebrating 400 years since the death of the literary great, one of our April treasures looks at an unusual publication concerning the works of William Shakespeare.
Published in the mid-19th Century, this wonderful volume was donated to Aberdeen Public Library by Miss Emily Jane Duthie, a retired teacher living on Skene Terrace.
Born in India in 1868 Miss Duthie was the daughter of Robert Duthie, Superintendent of the Scottish Orphanage in Bombay during the days of the British Empire. The school was founded in 1847 by Scottish Christian Missionaries to educate the daughters of Scottish Presbyterian Soldiers based in India. Since then, the school has continued to thrive and is now one of the most prestigious in Mumbai.
It is highly likely that Miss Duthie's early years based at the institution, followed by her own studies and subsequent career would have introduced her to the world of Shakespeare and perhaps piqued an interest in the many female characters depicted therein. The kind donation clearly demonstrates her continuing desire and passion to educate others in later life, once her career as a teacher had come to an end.
"The heroines of Shakspeare" is chiefly an art book; a means to showcase the forty-eight imagined portraits of the Bard's fictional characters. The attempt to capture a visual representation of the prominent female characters provides a neat bridge between Shakespeare's contemporary audiences (who would have seen female roles assigned to young boys), and our modern age of television and film which is frequently dominated by physical appearance.
Although educated Victorian audiences would have been familiar with the written words, the illustrations attempt to capture a definitive image of each character, including approximate age, costume, physical features and demeanour as revealed by the playwright.
The images are portraits of Hamlet's Ophelia, Othello's Desdemona, Romeo and Juliet's Juliet and of course - Lady Macbeth (from the Scottish play!)
The illustrations are printed on thick paper from original engravings by portrait artists including Augustus Egg, John Hayter and John William Wright. The book is bound with gilt edges and also contains sturdy decorated endboards.
The curious spelling of Shakespeare in the title reflects the fact that during the Bard's own lifetime there was no single accepted form - the man himself spelling his own name differently in various editions of his work. Although this may seem strange to modern readers the tradition harks back to an era when language was much more fluid, and established forms of spelling simply did not exist in the way that we know today.
Treasure 57: James Scott Skinner Collection
233 James Scott Skinner (5 August 1843 - 17 March 1927) was a Scottish dancing master, violinist, fiddler, and composer.
Born in Arbeadie village in Banchory-Ternan on 5 August 1843, Skinner was taught to play cello and violin by his father and brother at a young age and went on to become a successful musician, composer and dancer. He published more than 600 musical compositions, toured the United States and Canada and taught dancing at Balmoral Castle, Queen Victoria's Scottish retreat.
Aberdeen City Libraries hold many copies of Skinner's published work - including his Elgin and Logie Collections - and in 2001 we produced facsimile publications of some of Skinner's works to share with a new generation of readers.
One of our treasures this month is the Skinner collection editions which have been signed by J. Scott Skinner himself. A favourite of our signed collection is the frontispiece to the second edition of the Elgin Collection in which Skinner writes a passage to the father of the first City Librarian, George Milne Fraser.
The dedication reads:
To Joseph Fraser,
"Talent does what it can,
Genius does what it must!"
Patriotically yours,
J. Scott Skinner
Bon Accord,
9th Feb 1914
Find out more about James Scott Skinner and George Milne Fraser in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on our touchscreens.
Treasure 58: Princess Mary's Gift Book, 1914
234 One of our treasures this month was a wartime endeavour of Princess Mary (25 April 1897 - 28 March 1965), the third child and only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary.
Princess Mary's Gift Book was a fundraising volume published on 27 November 1914 by Hodder & Stoughton. All profits from its sale went to the Queen's 'Work For Women' Fund, which was created to secure paid employment for women whose livelihood was threatened by the war.
The volume features stories and poems by some of the most popular authors of the day such as J. M. Barrie, Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling. The stories are accompanied by black and white illustrations and colour paintings by famous artists like Arthur Rackham and all the artwork was created specifically for the book.
Princess Mary's Gift Book was designed to appeal to all members of the family. It opens with a piece by J. M. Barrie on how best to enjoy a holiday in bed and includes many other stories and poems including Magepa the Buck and Out of the Jaws of Death: A Pimpernel by H. Rider Haggard and Baroness Orczy.
The gift book was sold for 2s. 6d. and half a million copies were sold within a month of its publication.
View the Treasures from our Collection interactive exhibition on the touchscreen to find out more about Princess Mary and her gift book - and discover the coincidence linking the book to one of the biggest supernatural scandals of the 20th Century.
Union Works
536 An illustration of the Union Works factory on College Street, Aberdeen. This drawing, which looks south across railway tracks outside the Joint Station, is sourced from a book called A Descriptive Account of Aberdeen Illustrated (published by W. T. Pike & Co. in around 1894). This book provides an account of the history and then current operation of Messrs. Alexander Pirie & Sons, owners of the Union Works at the time.
The factory likely dates from around 1862. A notice from the Aberdeen Herald newspaper of 17th May 1862, page 4, records Alexander Pirie & Sons moving from the Adelphi to their new premises of Union Works, Poyernook.
From the 1860s onwards, the works were owned and operated by Alexander Pirie & Sons, then Pirie, Appleton & Co. and finally Wiggins Teape (Stationery), Ltd.
In the late 19th century, the time of the above mentioned book, Messrs. Alex. Pirie & Sons also operated Stoneywood Works at Auchmill, their first and largest site, the Woodside Works and various offices and warehouses around the world. Both Stoneywood and Woodside Works were located on the River Don.
As indicated above the illustration, Union Works primarily produced envelopes and enamelled papers. This would be done with paper created in the firm's Donside factories. A Descriptive Account states that Messrs. Pirie were employing nearly 1000 people at the College Street site and between one third and one half of all envelopes in Britain were being made there. The book additionally asserts that the firm were the first to introduce envelope making machines into Scotland.
The avenue shown in this illustration to the left of the factory runs from Guild Street in the north all the way down and around the south side of the works to the junction of Wellington Road, South College Street and Marywell Street.
The production of envelopes, plus other paper products such as note paper, was continued well into the 20th century by Pirie, Appleton & Co.
The Union Works site closed down not long after 1969 when Wiggins Teape began construction of a replacement factory at Dyce (see Evening Express, 4th September 1969, page 7).
The site was sold and the works were demolished to make way for the multi-storey office block, St. Machar House. Built by Sir Robert Alpine & Sons for Neale House Properties (Aberdeen) Limited, to a design by architects Mackie, Ramsay & Taylor, construction was well under way by Autumn 1975 (Evening Express, 2nd August 1975, 'Business Bureau' page 6).
Below the southern end of St. Machar House, the rest of the old Union Works site is occupied by the College Street Car Park, built by Arup and Partners (Scotland), with consulting architects Baxter, Clark & Paul, and opened on 4th July 1991. |