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New Quay
350 New Quay, Aberdeen Harbour. This photograph shows the navigation channel leading from Aberdeen Harbour into the North Sea, with the North Pier in the far distance on the left. The New Quay later became part of Pocra Quay.
The Pier was built by John Smeaton in 1781 and extended on several occasions to provide better access to the harbour. At the corner of the photograph is the customs Watch House, part of which has now been converted into a seafood restaurant.
The brick obilisk in the centre is a ventilation shaft for a sewer which emptied into the channel. A newer sewer outfall has rendered it redundant.
It is popularly known as Scarty's Monument. 'Scarty' was the nickname of William Smith, one of two harbour pilots in the mid-19th century. His duty was to keep watch from the North Pier during rough weather.
Nicknames were often used in the fishing community to distinguish between people of the same surname. Rubislaw Supply Stores
372 This building was erected in 1837 as a tollhouse on the Aberdeen-Skene turnpike road. Turnpike roads were built during the late 18th and early 19th centuries with the intention of improving the rough tracks which were the only roads at that time. Income for the maintenance of the roads was administered by local trustrees through a levy of tolls on travellers at bars or gates, usually set at 6 mile intervals. At each bar there was a tollhouse where the keeper lived. The rounded shape with windows facing in different directions allowed the tollkeeper to see who was approaching so that he could collect the tolls. The toll system was abolished by the Aberdeenshire Roads Act, 1865. The Rubislaw Toll House was then converted into a grocery shop and became known as Rubislaw Supply Stores, run for many years by Gavin Coutts. It remained as a grocery store until recently when it has been converted into a restaurant. It stands at the junction of Queens Road and Spademill Road - named from an old mill which turned wooden handles for spades in the late 1700's. Victoria Dock
504 A photograph looking west along Victoria Dock in Aberdeen Harbour. Taken from the Wellington Street end of Waterloo Quay. The pontoon in the foreground may be serving as a floating lifeboat station.
The presence of St. Nicholas House on the right gives a rough indication of period - latter half of the 20th century. Friday Rag Fair
1291 A view, taken by Aberdeen's celebrated Victorian photographer George Washington Wilson, of the Friday Rag Fair in the Castlegate. Dates from before 1893 when the buildings at the far end of the Castlegate were demolished to make way for the present Salvation Army Citadel (opened 1896). Provost James Morrison Snr
2025 A portrait painted by James Alexander of Provost James Morrison Snr (1665 - February 1748). He served as Provost of Aberdeen from 1730-1731. On his death, aged 84, The Aberdeen Journal records that he died "with an unblemished character. He behaved himself in every situation of life in such a fair, straight way, as procured him the universal love and affections of his fellow citizens, and his relations by his death lost a most affectionate parent and sincere friend." Brux Bridge
2231 A correspondent has got in touch to plausibly suggest that this photograph looks north-east along the River Don south of Kildrummy and Knowehead Farm (OS grid reference: NJ 4794 1521).
The bridge in the foreground of the image is just to the south of the site of Boat of Drumallachie. The latter was a cottage that no longer stands but can be seen on old Ordnance Survey maps
References online suggest the bridge may be known as Brux Bridge, or Bridge of Brux.
The Ordnance Survey 25-inch Aberdeenshire LXI.8 (Towie) map sheet, surveyed in 1867, shows a fording point on the river at the rough location of the bridge. The later 25-inch Aberdeenshire LXI.8, revised to 1900, shows a bridge in place.
If this identification is correct, the farm visible in the distance, towards the right, would be Dukeston. The further away farm, in line with the river here, would be Newton. The hill rising behind Dukeston Farm would be Craigiebeg Hill.
This photograph likely dates from around the early 20th century. The bridge shown here differs somewhat from the one that can be seen today in 2022. The bridge has likely been replaced or altered in the intervening years. Freedom Lands and Marches of Aberdeen: March Stone 38
2566 On the south side of road from Ashtown near bridge where Gouff Burn comes from moss. Inside the fence on rough ground just west of Goufff Burn. Powis House
2692 Powis Estate evolved from an area of rough land which was bought in the late 17th century by Alexander Fraser, Sub-Principal of King's College. Powis House itself was designed in 1802 by George Jaffrey, architect, in the classical style. It has a porch with 4 Roman Doric columns under a triple window with a centre arch.
The house was the home of John Leslie, Professor of Greek at King's College. It was subsequently owned by the Burnett Family. In 1936, J.G. Burnett sold most of the estate to Aberdeen Town Council who built a housing estate in the area comprising over 300 residences.
Powis House itself reopened in 1942 as the area's Community Centre and for a while housed a branch of Aberdeen Public Library. ABC Cinema
2817 The shiprow entrance to the ABC Cinema. It is advertising showings of It Happened at the World's Fair, The Scarlet Blade and The Son of Captain Blood. March Stone 12
3194 This stone is located adjacent to the footpath at the amenity area, south of Friarsfield Road and Kirkbrae junction, Cults. It is marked '12 ABD'.
In 1698 the then marker was described as "ane merch stone, with an sauser and four witter holes...".
The 1929 Blue Book includes an image of the stone against a rough stone wall.
The sluice gate and stream visible in the background of this image is the Cults Burn. Above the slope shown here was once Cults Dam. The junction of Friarsfield Road and Kirk Brae has been significantly altered since this photograph was taken.
Frairsfield Road has since been extended to meet Kirk Brae in a straight line. The previous, smaller junction, that curved to the south west, has been replaced by the footpath through the newly created amenity area.
In 2020 the March Stone remains at broadly the same location shown here, just off the footpath, on the other side of the burn from a public bench.
A slide of this image was kindly lent to Aberdeen City Libraries by Colin Johnston so that we could create a digital copy for public use.
The image was taken in the early 1980s when Colin worked as a teacher at Bridge of Don Academy. He led several current and former pupils, and staff members in an investigation into the location, physical condition and public knowledge of Aberdeen's historic boundary markers. March Stone 28 (plus Propertie Stone)
3210 This stone is located adjacent to Littlemill/Brodiach Burn, on rough ground, north west of Borrowstone Farm, off the Clinterty/Blackburn Road. It is marked "28 ABD".
The line of the marches has followed the Brodiach 2 miles north from number 27. Present next to marker number 28 is an older stone marked "P" for "Propertie".
The Blue Book states:
"Stone No. 28 looks like it was placed on the wrong side of the burn, but it appears that, at one time, the burn was diverted, and the stone lettered 'P' signifies that the Town claimed the nook when the course of the burn was altered."
The book also explains that Borrowstone was owned by the Weavers' Incorporation and it was at this stone that their "Doupin'" ceremonies took place and also includes a photograph of the two stones.
A slide of this image was kindly lent to Aberdeen City Libraries by Colin Johnston so that we could create a digital copy for public use.
The image was taken in the early 1980s when Colin worked as a teacher at Bridge of Don Academy. He led several current and former pupils, and staff members in an investigation into the location, physical condition and public knowledge of Aberdeen's historic boundary markers. Albert Quay
3337 A scene of industry at the end of Albert Quay.
Fishermen can be seen unloading crans of herring from their steam drifters into barrels on horse drawn carts.
Given the location, some way from the more hygienic fish market, and the rough and ready barrels, these may be condemned, waste fish, heading to nearby chemical works to be converted into fishmeal.
Looking east, the photograph shows the ferry office in the background on the right. Between the carts part of a pontoon dock marked Aberdeen can be seen in the distance.
The photograph was likely taken around the 1920s. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3397 A photograph of the Union Street entrance to the ABC Cinema in around 1963. The canopy above the entrance advertises It Happened at the World's Fair with Elvis Presley and Joan O'Brien. This was an MGM film and the ABC had first rights to films from this company, a big draw for the public.
Prior to ABC's arrival in Aberdeen in 1954, MGM films were previously first shown in Aberdeen Picture Palace's Capitol on Union Street.
This cinema on Shiprow and Union Street had been known as the Regal since opening in 1954. In March 1962 ABC rationalised the names of its cinemas and this venue, along with many Regals around the UK, became known simply as the ABC. An earlier Regal vertical sign was replaced by the new one we can see in this photograph.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3398 This photograph shows the Shiprow entrance to the ABC Cinema (formerly the Regal) in 1963. In addition to current screenings of It Happened at the World's Fair, the cinema is also advertising an upcoming double bill of The Scarlet Blade and The Son of Captain Blood.
Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) explains that the large, canopied entrance on the Shiprow gave access to the stalls foyer, and this could also be reached from the Union Street entrance via various lobbies and doors. A signalling system coordinated between the front and side box offices and neither entrance was allowed priority over the other. 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] Steam Rally
4219 This photograph shows a steam engine rally with onlookers admiring the traction engines Wizard and Olive. This is most likely a Bon-Accord Steam Engine Club Rally and Steam Fair in Hazlehead Park.
In the centre of the photo is the traction engine Wizard. This tractor, as indicated by its signage, was owned by William McConachie of Tarland (c.1893-1981).
Programmes for Bon-Accord Steam Engine Club events, such as that for their 1986 fair, states that Wizard was Aveling no. 1139, registration number SO2182. Built by Aveling and Porter in 1926 it was an 8 horse power compound piston valve traction engine. It was built for Moray County Highways for road maintenance, before being acquired by McConachie. Following William McConachie's death in 1981, the engine, plus two others, was owned by his son William "Bill" McConachie (1929-2013), a former policeman and chairperson of the Bon-Accord Club.
The man standing in front of the engines, wearing a suit and glasses, may be William "Bill" McConachie.
Olive was Foster no. 14289, reg. no. SA5264. Manufactured in 1919 by Foster Wellington it was a 5 horse power compound tractor. It is described as "an ex-W.D. engine acquired by Godsman & Sons, New Pitsligo, for hauage of peat from the mosses in the district, then sold to a threshing contactor at Mintlaw Station and later used for sawmill work, until bought by the late William McConachie, Tarland. Now owned by his daughter Jean of Breda, Alford" (1986 programme, page 26).
An obituary for William "Willie" McConachie can be found in the Press & Journal of 28th October 1981 on page 4. It states that this well-known traction engine enthusiast was a publican before taking over the Mill of Wester Coull Farm. He had four engines which he took to rallies all over Scotland. He and his wife Olive, no doubt the naming inspiration for the above engine, were honorary members of the Bon-Accord Steam Engine Club. William was also a local Justice of the Peace.
This photo is likely dates from the 1970s or 1980s and is from a collection of slides donated to Aberdeen City Libraries by Aberdeen City Council's publicity department. |