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Wellington Lodge
811 A photograph showing Wellington Lodge on the corner of Justice Mill Lane and Holburn Street.
The top of Holburn Street, towards Holburn Junction, was previously known as South Street and later as Wellington Place. In the background of this image, on the far left, can be seen the John Smith designed Water House on Union Street.
Wellington Lodge stood across the road from Holburn Church, roughly where the Glentanar Bar stands today. It can be seen on the large scale Ordnance Survey town plan and map sheets from the 1860s.
The property appears to have belonged to the Whytes of Dalhebity, Cults. For some time Wellington Lodge was the residence of Helen Whyte and she was likely the house's final resident.
Helen Whyte died aged 85 on 31st January 1898 (death notice: Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 09/02/1898, p. 4). Newspaper references suggest she was involved in various charitable activities. She was the daughter of Baillie John Whyte, a merchant, and had a brother also called John Whyte (1845-1904), a prominent citizen and advocate.
Another death notice indicates that Mary Ann Hardie, of 48 Victoria Road, Torry, was employed for 38 years as the servant for Miss Helen Whyte. Hardie died in 1895 (death notice: Aberdeen Journal, 17/08/1895, p. 4).
Newspapers also suggest the villa was the home of Miss Mary Murray Gordon. She would likely have been a relation of James Murray Gordon who was a partner in the same law firm as John Whyte, Helen's aforementioned brother.
Wellington Lodge was probably demolished shortly after the death of Helen Whyte. It made way for the extension of the larger tenement buildings on Holburn Street that can be seen in the background of this photograph.
The Aberdeen Weekly Journal's 'Granite Chips' column of 17th May 1899 (p. 9) states "A very large and handsome block of buildings for Mr Peter Farquharson has been erected in Holburn Street, stretching from the office of the Union Bank of Scotland to Justice Mill Lane." This most likely refers to this development.
David Miller in Archibald Simpson, Architect, His Life and Times 1790-1847 (2006) states that this villa was designed by Simpson for Mrs Yeats of Auquharney (page 174). Lower Justice Mill
1258 Lower Justice Mill, Union Glen. Justice Mills of one kind or another are first mentioned in the 1300s, and were the site of a famous battle. In their final form, an Upper Justice Mill occupied a site subsequently partially covered by the Odeon Cinema, while the Lower Mill stood in Union Glen, at the bottom of the steep slope with its mill dam above and behind it (see water wheel centre left). The left hand part of the building and the wheel were removed when the cinema was built, the dam was drained and a thoroughfare created into Union Glen, but the central and right hand parts survived, albeit derelict, into the 1960s. Union Glen
1490 This image of Union Glen, taken from near the junction with Cuparstone Row, was likely taken by James Kellas in the early 1950s.
The building that can be seen above the bridge, on Holburn Street, was number 81 at the time. It was a shop belonging to Alexanders, a radio and television dealer. This business closed down in the 1980s. At the time of writing, the building is occupied by the Aberdeen Drilling School.
The larger building on the right is 82 Holburn Street. It has a long history as a bar and was known for generations as Aitken's. It was previously known as the Great Western Bar and later as the Malt Mill, which was originally the name of a lounge opened in 1963. The name references the building at one time having been a distillery.
See the brilliant Aberdeen Pub Companion (1975) by Archibald Hopkin for more information on this and other drinking establishments.
(Many thanks to local historian A. G. Duthie for getting in touch with information for this record.) A. McRobb, plumber & electrician
2904 A collated group portrait from 1928 of the staff of Andrew McRobb, a then prominent plumbing and electrician business in Aberdeen. McRobb himself is pictured in the middle at the top.
The print features a inscription reading "by the employees, as a mark of esteem on the occasion of his acquiring Central Premises 27, 28, 29 Adelphi."
The Aberdeen Post Office directory from 1928-29 indicates that McRobb also had a branch at 103 Market Street and his home address was 24 Murray Terrace. In the directory he is described as a plumber, gasfitter, electrical and sanitation engineer.
The print includes a small photograph of the new premises in the Adelphi. In 2018 the shown shopfront is occupied by Asylum, a retailer of comics, graphic novels and roleplaying games.
McRobb took an active part in Aberdeen civic life and his profession. In May 1935 he was elected as the president of the Scottish Federation of Plumbers' and Domestic Engineers Association (Press & Journal, 11/05/1935, p. 8). He was also later a councillor for the Ferryhill Ward, a Town Council baillie, and elder and Sunday school superintendent at Trinity Church (Evening Express, 13/03/1952, p. 12).
The portraits in this print were taken and compiled by prominent Aberdeen photographer Fred W. Hardie. At the time he had premises at 416 Union Street and 8 Justice Mill Lane.
This print was kindly donated to Aberdeen Local Studies by David Parkinson. His grandfather, David Charles Kelly Parkinson, can be seen by counting four portraits to the right from the bottom right and then three up. His portrait is just down and left from a symbol showing two tools of the trade. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3400 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the interior of the ABC Cinema on Shiprow and Union Street in 1976. This was shortly after the "tripling" of the cinema which was completed on 8th July 1974. This was the process of dividing the cinema's original, single large auditorium into three distinct screening rooms. This allowed cinemas to show a greater variety of films and to cater to smaller audience numbers. The Odeon on Justice Mill Lane had been the first cinema in Aberdeen to be tripled, reopening as such on 8th April 1974.
This photograph shows ABC 1, the largest screen, that sat 566 people. Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) explains that the largest screen (cinema one) would mainly show first runs. The smaller screens (cinemas two and three) would be used for less commercial attractions or the retention of popular features already shown in the main screen. This is the format of cinema exhibition that is most common today but marked a significant change from the tradition of single large auditoriums.
The tripling of major circuit cinemas like the ABC and Odeon had a knock-on effect on the viability of cinemas such as The Cosmo on Diamond Street. These smaller cinemas had previously been a home for the less commercial features that the larger venues were now taking on.
In 1986 the ABC Cinemas chain became part of the American-based Cannon company, which already had extensive cinema interests in the UK. The vertical ABC sign above the Union Street entrance gave way to the Cannon logo in June 1987.
Some highlights of the cinema's time as the Cannon included hugely popular runs of E.T., the Tim Burton Batman, and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. The cinema's name reverted to the ABC for a period before closing for the final time in early 1998.
Aberdeen and cinema-going was shortly to experience a period of expansion. In August 1999 Aberdeen company Craiglair Properties got the go-ahead to demolish the abandoned ABC and build a new seven screen cinema on the site. The cinema was called The Lighthouse and opened in April 2001. Since 2004 it has operated as The Vue Aberdeen.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regent / Odeon
3417 The Regent was opened as the second, companion cinema of Jack Poole, after his transformation of the Palace on Bridge Place that had opened in 1931. The Justice Mills location was selected and the cinema was constructed on the eastern end of the historic Upper Mill. A cinema was able to utilise the sloping nature of the site in the way few other projects could.
Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) states that work progressed on the new cinema at an excellent rate with virtually all material and labour coming from local sources. The sparkling Rubislaw granite frontage was the work of masons Edgar Gauld of Gilcomston Terrace. Wood for the joinery work came from Sweden and Finland.
The Regent was Aberdeen's first all-new cinema since the Torry Picture House a decade before. It was also the first cinema designed by Thomas Scott Sutherland, who had previously been a designer of, and dealer in, houses, notably the granite bungalows of the Broomhill estate.
The impressive new cinema opened on Saturday 27th February 1932, to an audience mostly of guests, with the main feature being a melodrama called Over the Hill. Reporting on the opening, the Evening Express wrote the following:
"Even though Aberdeen has many magnificent edifices, there is nothing quite so distinctive as the modern design of the front of the new Regent. Fine use has been made of straight lines and curves placed in sharp contrast, and the face that looks through the entrance to Justice Mill Lane on Holburn Street has an imposing dignity about it and yet an elusive gaiety in its composition. It is built of grey granite decorated with bands of red terracotta, and a polished black granite base."
The frontage was floodlit by night and outlined by Aberdeen's neon display. Above the gantry was the large, neon "Regent" sign which made the cinema a beacon at night. The Regent and the Palace were then advertised as "Aberdeen's Super Two".
The Regent's manager John K. Stafford Poole, son of Jack Poole, was aged only 21 when the Regent opened and his innovative promotion and displays became a signature of the cinema. The younger Poole regularly invited the Gordon Highlanders to screenings and in return they would afterwards march, pipes a-skirl, through the cinema and along Union Street back to their barracks.
The Regent proved hugely popular and was soon out-performing the Palace. The success of Poole's Regent prompted Aberdeen Picture Palaces to undertake the creation of their own super-cinema, the Capitol, which would open in 1933. The same year also saw the release of King Kong and the publicity stunt of a human dressed as an ape rampaging on the frontage of the Regent.
On 16th July 1936 it was announced that another southern company called County Cinemas had acquired all the Poole picture houses, those in Devonport, Derby and Plymouth, as well as the Palace and Regent in Aberdeen. In 1939 County Cinemas merged with the larger Odeon chain. In July 1940 the "Regent" sign came down to be replaced with one that read "Odeon". As part of this powerful national circuit, the cinema could rival any in Aberdeen for showing major features.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: Regent / Odeon
3418 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph showing the Odeon on Justice Mill Lane in 1973. The cinema is advertising screenings of Ohh... You Are Awful a comedy vehicle for Dick Emery.
Odeon had acquired control of the venue in 1939 when they purchased previous owners County Cinemas. The cinema's name had changed from the Regent to the Odeon in 1940. This photograph shows the cinema shortly before it was "tripled" to become the first multi-screen film centre in the north of Scotland. This was the process of converting a traditional single large auditorium into three screens of varying sizes.
This was the modern method of cinema development that had been introduced throughout Britain by the Rank and ABC-EMI chains. The Rank Organisation had acquired the Odeon company in 1938. The tripling of Aberdeen's Odeon cost £65,000 and was fully completed on 8th April 1974.
The Odeon had a long and successful time as a cinema. The 1960s saw it showing long runs of hit films like Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and The Sound of Music. The cinema was also known for its Saturday morning children's show known as "The Mickey".
Being part of a nationwide chain, and its central location, enabled the Odeon to survive through the 1970s whereas many of Aberdeen's independent cinemas, unable to adapt, closed down and were either demolished or converted to a different use.
Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) states that the cinema had a close reprieve from Rank Organisation rationalisations in 1981. This enabled the cinema to celebrate its 50th birthday with a special gala evening on 13th March 1982. The film shown was a provincial premiere of On Golden Pond, starring Peter Fonda and Audrey Hepburn. The cinema's original manager, J. K. S. Poole, was a guest of honour.
Two new 215-seater screens were opened at the cinema in March 1991 at a cost of £350,000. Their opening was marked with a screening of Dances With Wolves. There were just two cinemas in Aberdeen at the time, the other being the Cannon at the other end of Union Street.
The Odeon continued up until the modern multiplex era. It finally closed down 13th June 2001. It was subsequently converted into a health centre and is currently occupied by Nuffield Health Centre.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. |