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Dee Village
26 Dee Village (also known as Potter's Creek), on site later covered by the Corporation Electricity Works, Millburn Street. Dee Village
31 Dee Village (also known as Potter's Creek) on the site covered by the Aberdeen Corporation's Electricity Works, Millburn Street. Dee Village, c.1898
312 Dee Village was a self contained hamlet located at the bottom of Crown Street. Originally Dee Village had grown up to cater for the workers of the nearby pottery and brick works in the Clayhills. The photograph was taken in 1898 just prior to the demolition of the complete village to make way for the new electricity station at Millburn Street. 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. Justice Mill Lane
863 Justice Mill Lane, off Holburn Street, prior to the building of the Regent/Odeon Cinema (1932) and the Bon Accord Baths (1940).
This image looks east on to Justice Mill Lane from Holburn Street. The building on the right is one of the old mills that were present in the area. To its left is the premises of James Scott, a tobacconist.
In the near right of the image is the side of 35-39 Holburn, a tenement that likely dates from 1899. The ground floor of this building has been occupied for much of its history, and in this photograph, by the Glentanar Bar.
The Aberdeen Pub Companion (1975) by Archibald Hopkin states that the Glentanar dates from 1909 when Charles Ewen acquired a licence for the premises at 39 Holburn Street.
The structure in the centre of the image is the ornate ventilation shaft of the Aberdeen Cable Subway. It was constructed as part of the Dee Village Electricity Works, at the foot of Crown Street, and dates from around 1903. Aberdeen Corporation's Electricity Works
1753 The exterior of Aberdeen Corporation's Electricity Works, corner of Crown Street and Millburn Street. Hydraulic power was obtained via a special water intake from the River Dee near Stell Road. Aberdeen Corporation's Electricity Works
1754 The turbine hall of Aberdeen Corporation's Electricity Works, corner of Crown Street and Millburn Street. Hydraulic power was obtained via a special water intake from the River Dee near Stell Road.
Correspondent Ed Fowler flagged up that the report for a 1907 visit to the works by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers is available to read online. It contains an interesting section with details of the switchboards visible in this image:
"Switchboards.- The electric light and traction switchboards, which run along the south wall for about two-thirds of its length, stand in line with one another on a raised gallery of cast-iron columns and girders supporting a glass fireproof floor about 12 feet above the engine-floor level. The glass floor in the gallery not only serves as an insulator, but also allows a certain amount of light to pass into the area immediately underneath. Both boards are of white marble, the lighting board having been supplied by Messrs. Siemens Bros. and Co., while the traction board of their ordinary standard type was supplied by the British Westinghouse Co." Dee Village
1755 Dee Village (also known as Potter's Creek), cleared away for the Corporation Electricity Works, Millburn Street. 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. 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. Dee Village Electricity Works
2875 A photograph showing the western elevation of the Dee Village Electricity Works under construction on 30th September 1901. This image was taken from the bottom of Crown Street and looks east.
Walker Road Primary School in Torry can be seen in the distance on the horizon, a bit right of centre. It was opened on 8th March 1897.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works. Dee Village Electricity Works
2881 A photograph showing the western elevation of the Dee Village Electricity Works under construction on 19th August 1902.
The building's impressive facade on Millburn Street, with its gable reading "Corporation Electricity Works" and the Aberdeen's coat of arms, can just be seen to the right of the image.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works. Dee Village Electricity Works
2882 A photograph showing the construction of the chimney at the Dee Village Electricity Works taken on 24th August 1901. The original plans for the works included a 200 foot chimney and, due to its location in a residential area, it was one of the relatively few points of contention in the scheme.
The function of the chimney was to release waste fumes created by the work's boilers. The chimney was fitted with a Green's Economiser near its base. This was then a common feature of industrial chimney and its function was to pre-heat boiler feed water using waste fumes. The Dee Village works had the biggest economiser in the city at the time.
The chimney was demolished after the works were closed in February 1969 and the turbine hall was replaced by an office block.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works. Dee Village Electricity Works
2883 A photograph showing the newly constructed interior of the Dee Village Electricity Works taken on 20th March 1901.
An electric conveyor belt with carts, and later a railway, brought vast quantities of cheap-quality coal from storage bunkers to heat the station's boilers. John S. Reid in Mechanical Aberdeen (1990) states that up to 20 tons of coal an hour was supplied to the furnaces.
Each boiler is marked "Aberdeen Electricity Works", is numbered, and has the date of installation - 1901. The figure to the left of the image looks like James Alexander Bell, the City Electrical Engineer.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works. Dee Village
2884 A photograph showing the residential area of Dee Village at the bottom of Crown Street before it was cleared for the construction of the municipal Electricity Works between 1901 and 1903.
This photograph looks west and Crown Street can be seen in the background. the gap between the visible buildings is where the street turns slightly towards the north west and begins to incline.
The woman in the foreground stands next to a metal outdoor water fountain, the faucet of which is in the design of a lion's head.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works. Dee Village Electricity Works
2885 A photograph showing the eastern side of the Dee Village Electricity Works under construction on 28th December 1901.
On 2nd November 1901, as the facility was being built, it was found necessary to start operating the works early to meet the increasing demand for electricity. This was achieved with the construction of a temporary wooden engine-room and boiler-room that was replaced as building progressed. The wooden structure shown here is most likely the temporary engine room.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works. Aberdeen Cable Subway
2886 This photograph shows the interior of the Aberdeen Cable Subway and was taken on the 1st March 1903. The subway was constructed as part of the Dee Village Electricity Works.
It was designed as a clever way to supply electricity to key areas without either unsightly overhead cables or repeatedly digging up of the streets. It was installed at a cost of £18,661 and was eight feet high by four feet eight inches wide. It runs up Crown Street, turns along Langstane Place and horse-shoes into Holburn Street.
It was designed with room to add cabling as demand increased. In order to minimise disruption, the subway was installed at the same time as a new sewer located below. The cable subway is still there today and remains one of many intriguing subterranean features of the city. The subway's ornate Art Nouveau ventilation shaft can be seen at the western end of Justine Mill Lane.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works between 1901 and 1903. Aberdeen Cable Subway
2887 This photograph shows the Aberdeen Cable Subway under-construction in around 1901. The subway was constructed as part of the Dee Village Electricity Works.
It was designed as a clever way to supply electricity to key areas without either unsightly overhead cables or repeatedly digging up of the streets. It was installed at a cost of £18,661 and was eight feet high by four feet eight inches wide. It runs up Crown Street, turns along Langstane Place and horse-shoes into Holburn Street.
It was designed with room to add cabling as demand increased. In order to minimise disruption, the subway was installed at the same time as a new sewer located below. The cable subway is still there today and remains one of many intriguing subterranean features of the city. The subway's ornate Art Nouveau ventilation shaft can be seen at the western end of Justine Mill Lane.
This image is taken towards the bottom of Crown Street. The buildings in the distance are those on the south side of Millburn Street at its junction with Crown Street. In the mid distance can be seen the lone standing premises of Charles R. Fraser, paperhanger and decorator. The view in this image would later to blocked with the construction of the electricity works and connected tram depot.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works between 1901 and 1903. Dee Village Electricity Works
2888 This photograph shows the Dee Village Electricity Works under construction on 6th January 1903. It shows the combined steam engines and dynamos being installed in the work's engine room.
John S. Reid in Mechanical Aberdeen (1990) explains that, once completed, the engine room, 126 feet long by 62 feet wide, housed eight combined steam engines and dynamos. These enabled the plant to supply 3,810 kilowatts for lighting, heating, power and tramway traction purposes.
Correspondent Ed Fowler suggests the two steam engines and dynamos shown in this image are likely those installed and active in a temporary wooden engine room as the final hall was constructed surrounding it. The generating sets look to be at a higher position than the final layout and would need to have been lowered in due course.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works between 1901 and 1903. Dee Village Electricity Works
2889 This photograph shows the engine room of the Dee Village Electricity Works on 4th March 1903 as it nears completion.
In addition to the electricity generating machinery the works included a suite of airy, brightly-lit offices, including an inquiry and waiting-room, a clerk's room, chief clerk's room, drawing office, manager's room, staff room, station engineers' room, a testing room, mains room, lavatory and bathroom. As can be seen in the photographs, the manager's and station engineers' rooms each had large windows overlooking the engine room and access via an iron platform and stairway.
The offices and the engine hall occupied the southern section of the works facing south on to Millburn Street.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works between 1901 and 1903. Dee Village Electricity Works
2890 This photograph shows the engine room of Dee Village Electricity Works on 13th March 1903 as it nears completion.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works between 1901 and 1903. Dee Village Electricity Works
2891 This photograph shows the finished engine room of the Dee Village Electricity Works on 29th January 1904.
In addition to the engine room and the suite of offices, the windows of which can be seen towards the rear of this image, the works also included a boiler-house, battery-room, economiser house, pump-room and a large chimney.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works between 1901 and 1903. Dee Village
2892 This photograph shows the Dee Village residential area at the bottom of Crown Street in 1898, shortly before it was demolished to make way for a new municipal electricity works constructed between 1901 and 1903.
The photograph looks towards the north west and Crown Street can be seen in the background. The later to be demolished Dee Village Road is in the upper right of the picture.
This image is from an album of photographs held by Aberdeen City Libraries detailing the construction of the Dee Village Electricity Works. |