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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. An Aberdeen Corporation Electricity Works electricity tunnel
308 An Aberdeen Corporation Electricity Works electricity tunnel 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. Diversion of the River Dee
323 A photograph in Aberdeen Harbour looking east from the Inches (near the later site of Commercial Road).
The image looks across the old course of the River Dee including its spillwater channel towards Old Torry and Balnagask in the distance.
The civil engineering works shown in this photograph are thought to be part of the river diversion, creation of Albert Basin and the associated reclamation of land.
The diversion of the River Dee took place roughly between 1868 and 1873. Switchback railway
371 Ripley's Patent Switchback Railway drew a large crowd when it opened in July 1889. Built almost entirely of wood, it was situated on The Inches, on reclaimed ground, alongside the Dee, now North Esplanade West. Primitive in construction by present day standards with its straight course of 115 feet, standing 27 feet high, its three drops were 20 feet, 15 feet and 3 feet.
Local historian Ed Fowler has been in touch to suggest the background of this image has been edited to remove the industrial skyline of chimneys and works in the Poyernook area that would have formed the backdrop for this entertainment. Union Bridge c. 1863
373 Union Bridge c. 1863 before the construction of Bridge Street in 1865/7, looking north.
Correspondent Ed Fowler has provided the following further information on the image:
The pantiled cottages in the left foreground were occupied by handloom weavers who in the early 19th century worked for the cotton factory of Gordon Barron and Company. This was sited until 1830 on the corner of Belmont Street and Schoolhill.
The site of the factory was subsequently used for the construction of Archibald Simpson's three Free Churches, which nestled under the prominent red brick spire. Bricks for the spire were salvaged from the Dee Village demolition.
To the right of the image is the Denburn entrance to the Trinity Hall. This memorial doorway to Dr William Guild was salvaged from the gateway to the first 'Tarnty Ha'. Sadly it was later lost during demolition work for the Trinity Shopping Centre. St. John's Well
642 St. John's Well, situated at the foot of Skene Row, on property once owned by the Knights of St. John. The spring was cleaned, and the stone well built by the Police Commissioners in 1852. On the construction of Rosemount Viaduct in 1885, the well was moved a few yards and Dee water was introduced. The Latin inscription is by Dr. Melvin, of the Grammar School, and reads "St. John's Well. Restored by the Curators of Public Works. 1852" Triple Kirks, Denburn
668 The Triple Kirks were built to the design of Archibald Simpson to house three separate Free Church congregations in 1843/44.
Due to lack of funds, second-hand building materials were used (reputedly the down takings from the old Dee Village), and the spire, which was modelled on that of the Katherinenkirche, Magdeburg, is of 18th century Ferryhill brick.
The church in the foreground was designed by James Souttar and opened in 1865 as Belmont Congregational Church, becoming known as St. Nicholas Congregational in 1910. Its final service was held in 1995. 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. Sea Beach Tram
871 Photograph of a tram going to the Sea Beach. Correspondent Dr Mike Mitchell comments that tram 67 was built in Dee Village workshops - then the main tramcar works - in 1919 as an unemployment relief measure. The construction used parts from an ex-horse car conversion of the same number. It was delivered in December 1919 and ran until 1953/54. Triple Kirks, Denburn
1248 The Triple Kirks, built to the design of Archibald Simpson, in 1843, to house three separate congregations after the Disruption - East, West and South. Due to lack of funds, second-hand building materials were used (reputedly the downtakings from the old Dee Village), and the spire which was modelled on that of the Katherinenkirche, Magdeburg, is of 18th century Ferryhill brick. 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. Diversion of the River Dee
2250 The Dee originally flowed northward from the Wellington Suspension Bridge close by the railway arches then eastward to the North Sea.
After years of discussion about the development of the harbour, the Aberdeen Harbour Act of 1868 allowed the Harbour Commissioners to divert the river to the south.
The first turf was cut by Lord Provost Leslie on 22nd December 1869 and when he had filled a wheelbarrow full of earth it was wheeled along and dumped on the site of the new development.
This 1870 image from the south, Torry side of the river, shows the dam built to allow the excavation of the new channel. Most of the work was done by hand with men digging with picks and shovels and filling horse drawn wagons with the excavated soil.
This laborious work continued for a few years. There does not seem to have been a formal inauguration of the new channel but the river was running in its new channel at the beginning of 1873.
After the slopes of the new channel had been built up with granite, the uneven ground left by the old course of the river was leveled and the area filled with fish curing works and other industrial premises. Mansefield Dairy
2257 These premises in this 1905 photograph were situated at 203 Victoria Road in Torry just a few doors away from Mansefield Road from which it took its name. Torry was originally a fishing village on the south side of the River Dee and only became part of the city in 1891. The windows are full of advertising for Fry's Chocolate and there are boxes of biscuits from Gray, Dunn and Co. and from Sangsters. In the centre there is a row of jars of other varieties of sweets, which must have been a great temptation to any passing children. James Alexander Bell
2871 A portrait of James Alexander Bell, the City Electrical Engineer for Aberdeen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Bell directed the electrification of the trams and was key in the creation of the Dee Village power station. He reported on the necessity of constructing the new generating station and tram depot to the Gas and Electric Lighting Committee convened by Councillor George Kemp in December 1899. 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. |