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Victoria Park
241 In 1871 Aberdeen Town Council decided to convert nearly 14 acres of Glennie's Parks, which had been used for cattle grazing, into a public recreation ground - Aberdeen's first public park.
Aberdeen's lack of a public park up to this point had become a contentious issue. For example, newspaper reports indicate that those opposed to the Municipality Extension Act of 1871 (which extended the boundary of the city, brought the functions of the Police Commissioners under the Council and incorporated the gasworks) repeatedly suggested that the expense involved in the new bill would be better used in the creation of a much wanted public park.
It is not unreasonable to suppose that this debate, and criticism of the Council, hastened the creation of Victoria Park. While work likely begun in 1871, it was not until March 1873 that the Improvements Committee of the Council recommended that the new park should be called "Victoria Park". At the same time, they also outlined a series of 13 rules and regulations for agreement by the full Council. There does not appear to have been an official opening for the new amenity.
Glennie's Park was not the only site considered for Aberdeen's first public park. Interest in such an undertaking was increasing at the same time as work was underway to divert the River Dee and improve the harbour. The new ground created in this latter project, encompassing the old, more northerly course of the river and the Inches, was a much proposed location for a park. Following the creation of Victoria Park this newly leveled ground was instead given over for buildings related to the expanding fishing industry.
A nurseryman called Robert Walker (1848-1930), originally from Perth, was chosen out of 450 candidates to be the city's first public park keeper and appointed to Victoria Park. He was likely largely responsible for the park's initial layout and appearance. His Press & Journal obituary (21/04/1930, p.6) suggests that prior to his appointment the site was "little better than a waste space".
Walker subsequently laid out Westburn Park, Stewart Park, Union Terrace Gardens and the Promenade. He also advocated and pioneered the planting of street trees. He served the Corporation for 46 years, retiring in 1919, and must be considered one of the unsung heroes of Aberdeen history.
This photograph, taken around 1900, shows one of the main paths leading to a large granite fountain, which was designed by J.B. Pirie. It is built of 14 different types of granite and was presented by the granite polishers and master builders of the city.
Since the park is almost in the city centre, it is an oasis of peace with its mature trees and, in spring, there are masses of flowering bulbs scattered through the grass. Royal visit by Princess Beatrice
315 A photograph showing Princess Beatrice at Aberdeen Music Hall to open a bazaar in aid of the Sick Children's Hospital.
The bazaar took place in the Music Hall on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October 1898. Princess Beatrice, then known as Princess Henry of Battenberg, opened the bazaar the day before on Friday 28th October.
The opening ceremony was covered in the Aberdeen Journal of 29th October 1898, page 5. The article states that Beatrice arrived by train at the Joint Station before travelling to the Music Hall from Guild Street by the horse drawn carriage that we can see here.
The route travelled and much of the surrounding area were specially decorated for the occasion. The various businesses and buildings along the route decorated their own premises and many of these decorations are described in the newspaper report.
The city gardeners Peter Harper of Duthie Park and Robert Walker of Victoria Park were tasked with creating floral displays. Harper decorated the interior of the Joint Station and the Music Hall, while Walker decorated the route between the two.
The special royal train arrived at the joint station a couple of minutes before its scheduled time of 12:15pm. Beatrice was greeted at the station by a large civic and military reception and crowds of onlookers.
The newspaper report indicates that travelling in the horse drawn carriage with Beatrice was Miss Minnie Cochrane and Lord William Cecil, both were royal courtiers. The man sat in the carriage is therefore most likely the latter.
Following the opening ceremony, Beatrice was entertained at a luncheon at the Palace Hotel by the directors of the Royal Aberdeen Hospital for Sick Children.
Beatrice and her party returned to Balmoral on a train leaving the station at 2:45pm.
The newspaper also tells us that Messrs. Walker & Company, cinematographers, Bridge Street, filmed the procession as it passed along the railway bridge on Guild Street. Assistant photographers with still cameras captured the rest of proceedings. This photograph was likely taken by one of these assistants.
A sign for Walker & Company can be seen hanging above the Music Hall entrance. This dates the image as belonging to this later royal visit by Princess Beatrice. She previously visited the city on 27th September 1883 to open an earlier bazaar for the Children's Hospital and to open the newly created Duthie Park Gaelic Chapel, Belmont Street
322 The Gaelic Chapel was founded in the 18th century in response to the increasing numbers of Highlanders who came to the city in search of work.
At first, they held services in the East Church of St. Nicholas but, in the 1790s, they obtained ground in the area between Belmont Street and Back Wynd, now known as Gaelic Lane.
The opening services in the new church were conducted on 30th August 1795. In 1843, at the Disruption, the whole congregation followed their minister, Rev. Hugh Mackenzie, into the Free Church.
By 1882, the church had become old and dilapidated and needed so much renovation that the congregation decided to move. The property was disposed of and was used as a printing office by G. & W. Fraser for a number of years.
The congregation moved to a church on Dee Street which had become vacant on the disbanding of the United Free Methodists and it was named St. Columba United Free Church.
In 1907, they amalgamated with the High United Free Church and moved to their church at the junction of Belmont Street and Schoolhill.
Comparing the scene shown here and large scale historic maps suggests that this is likely a view of the rear of the Gaelic Chapel buildings, looking north, potentially taken from the back of a building on Union Street. Marischal Street
818 In 1766, the Town Council of Aberdeen acquired a property known as the Earl Marischal's Lodging which had laid unoccupied for a number of years. It was then demolished to allow a street to be built to create improved access between the harbour and the Castlegate. It was named Marischal Street in his honour.
This view of the west side shows the properties at No 46 and 48 and an adjacent church. William Kennedy (1759-1836), advocate, lived in No. 46, where he wrote his two volume history of the city - Annals of Aberdeen.
Next door at No. 48 was the home of Dr William Dyce, father of the eminent artist William Dyce (1806-1864). Both of these properties have now been converted into flats.
The church shown on the left was built in 1881 on the site of the Theatre Royal built in 1795. It closed as a theatre in 1872 prior to the opening of Her Majesty's Theatre and Opera House (Tivoli) in Guild Street. This building is now occupied by the Elim Pentecostal Church. Phosphate store, Sandilands Chemical Works
857 The new phosphate store (capacity 20,000 tons) at Sandilands Chemical Works, built next to the Garvock Wynd boundary wall. The phosphate rock came into Aberdeen from the Pacific Islands and Russia by ship to be unloaded at International Quay and then transferred to Sandilands by lorry. The lorries then tipped their loads into an underground hopper and conveyor system through a grid opening at ground level. The phosphate was then lifted by an elevator to an overhead conveyor from which it was tipped into the store. The material was then trimmed using a bulldozer. One operator was was responsible for the operation of unloading the phosphate including the trimming operation. The phosphate was removed from the store by means of a mechanical shovel and used in the production of phosphoric acid. George Street Electric Tram Service
1069 A photograph of the inaugural procession on 23rd December 1899 for the electrification of the Woodside tram route, the first in Aberdeen to be modernised.
This copy of the image has been labelled as the "Opening of George Street Electric Car Service - 1899." The trams would have travelled from Aberdeen city centre to Woodside along St. Nicholas Street and George Street.
Lord Provost John Fleming is at the helm, with Tramways Convener Alexander Wilkie standing next to him, and Councillor Alexander Glass has his foot on the platform.
Next to Fleming and Wilkie, and above Glass, appears to be Alexander Lyon, provost between 1905-1908. Baillie James Taggart, also later to be provost, is the right-most figure in the back row on the roof of the car. Two to the left of Taggart may be James Walker, provost between 1903-1905.
James Alexander Bell, City Electrical Engineer for Aberdeen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is the bowler hatted figure on the stairs above Lord Provost Fleming.
This inauguration is detailed in an article titled 'Electric tramways in Aberdeen: Opening of Woodside section' in the Aberdeen Journal of 25th December 1899, page 7. It details the celebratory tram trip shown here and a luncheon in the Town and County Hall that followed.
Another, clearer version of this image can be found on this website (image reference: A43_14). Trinity Lane
1208 Trinity Lane, Aberdeen, c.1975, from Exchange Street.
The Trinity place-name comes from the area once being the site of a Trinitarian Friary.
The building to the right in this photograph was once known as Trinity Chapel, or Trinity Parish Church. It was opened for public worship on Sunday 27th April, 1794.
For a number of years, the chapel was an important centre of religious life and activity. The Disruption of 1843 significantly diminished the congregation. The building was subsequently sold by the Presbytery and became the Alhambra Music Hall.
See Gammie's Churches of Aberdeen (1909) for more information on the history of this congregation and building.
A large part of the exterior still stands and the building currently houses Wagley's public house. In this photograph Alex. McKay, electrical appliance showroom, is in occupation. Newspaper notices indicate that the business moved here, from 41 The Green, in 1966.
The building in the centre of the image is best known, as shown here, as a banana warehouse for Knowles & Sons, fruiterers and later as a restaurant and art gallery. It was originally built as a church for Aberdeen's Catholic Apostolic congregation.
MUSA was a restaurant and art space, with a focus on music, throughout the first two decades of the 21st century. It closed down in October 2018.
8th March 2019 saw the opening of a new bar in the building called The Hop & Anchor, specialising in craft beer. It is owned by a company called the Draft House and this is their first pub outside London. The Draft House is owned by Brewdog, the North East beer company. Aberdeen Central Library 1892
1382 The new Central Library was officially opened by Andrew Carnegie on July 5th 1892 at a cost of £10,000 (about £5m today).
Mr. Carnegie had contributed £1,000 to the building fund and prior to the opening ceremony received the Freedom of the City. Aberdeen Library opening ceremony seating plan
1383 The opening ceremony was held in the new Reading Room on 5 July 1892 where a platform had been erected covered in crimson cloth and decorated with plants and flowers.
The original seating plan is held in Aberdeen City Archives. Aberdeen Library opening ceremony invitation card
1384 Entrance to the ceremony was by invitation only and the crowd "thoroughly representative of all classes of the community".
(Aberdeen Free Press 6 July 1892)
The original entry ticket is held in Aberdeen City Archives. Aberdeen Library opening ceremony luncheon
1385 After the opening ceremony 150 guests adjourned to the Town and County Hall for luncheon. The Library staff were entertained to tea in Mr. Millison's Restaurant in Market Street.
The original luncheon invitation is held in Aberdeen City Archives. Aberdeen Central Library, opening of Information Centre
1441 The refurbished Reference Library was opened as the "Information Centre" on 16 May 2006 by Sir James Milne, Chairman of the Balmoral Group. He is seen here with Neil Bruce (Service Manager, Culture and Sport, Aberdeen City Council) and Councillor John Stewart (extreme right). Westburn Park and House in 1910
2122 Westburn House was designed in 1839 by the architect, Archibald Simpson, for David Chalmers of the printing family who published the Aberdeen Journal newspaper.
It is a single storey building, with a 2-storey centre gable at the north and a portico of Doric pillars on the west side. It is constructed of brick with a stucco finish.
The 25-acre estate was bought by Aberdeen Town Council in 1900. The lands, which had in early times been used for sheep grazing, were now converted into a public park. The vegetable garden became a recreation ground; the stables and carriage sheds now stored tools; the walled flower garden and orchard were laid out as a bowling green. A pond was created from the burn which runs through the grounds.
The house was first used as refreshment rooms and the veranda, with its wrought iron columns, was added to allow people to enjoy their teas and coffees in the open air. Since then, it has had many uses including a clinic and meeting place for playgroups. Its future is currently under discussion by the City Council.
Westburn Park opened to the public in around May 1901. See Aberdeen Journal 11th May 1901, page 4, and articles thereabouts, for details. There does not appear to have been an official opening ceremony. The new Joint Station
2632 Possibly late October 1867, shortly before opening, the new Joint Station seems complete but with some minor work still to be completed.
The new Joint Station opened on 4th November
1867, followed by the closure of Waterloo and the
original Guild Street station to passenger services
although they remained open for goods traffic.
Exchange traffic between the two railways used
the new Denburn Valley Railway instead of the
harbour rails.
There was no formal opening but the new station
with its huge arched roof said to be modelled
on that of London Victoria attracted much local
acclaim. Over the next thirty years, increasing
traffic, including suburban trains to Dyce and
Culter and the North British Railway's services
from Edinburgh and Glasgow by way of the Tay
and Forth Bridges, meant that the station soon
became inadequate. During the summer months
and local holidays there were many extra excursion trains. From the 1890s it was widely criticised for its cramped and sometimes dangerous facilities. Elim Pentecostal Church
2756 This building at 50 Marischal Street was first used as a church as part of a scheme to reconstitute the then dissolved Trinity Parish. Its congregation had been based at the church on Exchange Street that became the Alhambra music hall.
The Marischal Street building was the Theatre Royal before being remodeled to serve as a church in the 1870s. The parish's first minister was Rev. James Park. See Alexander Gammie's Churches of Aberdeen (1909) for more information on this congregation.
The Trinity Parish Church was put on the market around 1934 and was purchased by a member of the Aberdeen branch of the Elim Four-Square Gospel Alliance, Mrs Isabella Gordon, and presented to this organisation.
The Aberdeen branch opened in 1932 and had previously held meetings in the Music Hall, the Aberdeen Business Women's Club on East Craibstone Street, and the Balmoral Hall on Gray Street.
The Elim Tabernacle on Marischal Street was officially opened on Saturday 25th August 1934. A report of the opening can be read in the Press & Journal of Monday 27 August 1934. 199 Union Street
2800 F.W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd. at 119 Union Street in 1937. This first 3d and 6d department store in Aberdeen opened at 50-52 St. Nicholas Street on Saturday 18th October 1919. The lowest price was 1d and nothing cost more than 6d (2 and a half pence). Although they were an American company, goods were of British manufacture and straight from the factory - hence the low prices. Crowds of spectators had peered through the windows before the opening preview on the Friday afternoon when over 35,000 people visited the premises. On the Saturday, the shop was open till 9pm and was so thronged that a policeman had to regulate the crowds. Around 1927, this second store was opened at 119 Union Street and this 1937 photograph still shows the 3d and 6d advertising and window displays of pyramids of pans, tins and other household goods. "Woolies" moved to the Bon Accord Centre when it opened in 1990 and these Union Street premises have later been occupied by McDonalds, while the St. Nicholas Street premises were demolished for the St. Nicholas Centre. Aberdeen Central Library
2960 A photograph of the exterior of Aberdeen Central Library taken on 18th March 2019.
The Central Library was officially opened by philanthropic industrialist Andrew Carnegie on 5th July 1892 at a cost of £10,000 (about £5m today).
Mr. Carnegie had contributed £1,000 to the building fund and prior to the opening ceremony received the Freedom of the City. The Development of Marischal Square and Broad Street (23/08/2015-20/04/2018): 43
3093 The corner of Upperkirkgate and Flourmill lane, posters advertising the forthcoming opening of a Toni Macaroni restaurant are applied to the windows. 04/05/2018. Aberdeen Theatres: His Majesty's Theatre
3356 Seating more than 1400, His Majesty's Theatre is the largest theatre in North-East Scotland and is now a category A listed building.
Situated on Rosemount Viaduct, it was designed by the architect Frank Matcham and costed £35,000. It was originally built as a replacement for the former Her Majesty's Theatre (now the Tivoli), meeting the need for a larger venue and better staging facilities.
Robert Arthur, the theatre impresario, submitted the plans for the new theatre in 1901. Construction started in 1904 and it opened on the 3rd December 1906 with a production of the pantomime Little Red Riding Hood, of which you will see the programme next in this exhibition. The pantomime played to a full house on its opening night and ran until the end of the year to great success.
Arthur's company presented plays, opera and pantomimes until 1912, when it ran out of funds. Robert Arthur Theatres Ltd. sold the theatre in 1923 to Walter Gilbert, managing director of the Tivoli Theatre. It changed hands again in 1932, after Gilbert's death, when it was bought by Councillor James F. Donald. The new owner refurbished the venue and introduced new features such as a revolving stage and a cinema projector.
In 1975, Aberdeen City council bought the venue, then allocated £3.5 million to give it a new life. After being closed for 23 months, His Majesty's Theatre was reopened on the 17th of September 1982 by Prince Charles.
In 2004, the theatre was once again closed for refurbishment. It reopened in 2005, renovated and modernised with a new green room, a coffee shop and re-upholstered seating. Aberdeen Theatres: Prince Charles at HMT's reopening
3363 Prince Charles on stage after the gala re-opening of His Majesty's Theatre on the 17th September 1982. The theatre had been closed for 23 months for renovation. Aberdeen Theatres: Blue Beard at the Theatre Royal
3383 A poster for the Theatre Royal in Aberdeen advertising productions of Blue Beard and The Momentous Question.
Prior to the opening of the Tivoli in 1872 the Theatre Royal in Marischal Street was the longstanding and historic home of theatrics in Aberdeen. Aberdeen Theatres: The old Theatre Royal building
3384 This building was originally the Theatre Royal before being converted into a church in the 1870s.
The Theatre Royal was the first permanent theatre built in Aberdeen. It was opened in 1795 and was funded by subscription. It cost £3,000 and could seat 600 people.
The Theatre Royal was very popular with Aberdeen's high society until the 1830s when it began to fall into decline. Shortly after the opening of Her Majesty's Theatre the building was sold to the Church of Scotland. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3396 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Shiprow entrance to the Regal cinema in February 1961. The cinema is advertising showings of Saturday Night, Sunday Morning with Albert Finney, Linda with Carol White and Alan Rothwell, and Pathé News.
The Regal was opened on Monday 26th June 1954 by Associated British Cinema (ABC). The opening of this substantial cinema was the conclusion of a long and much delayed enterprise.
This Shiprow site was previously the location of Aberdeen's first permanent cinema, Dove Paterson's Gaiety. It had later become the Palladium and had laid shuttered for close to seven years when the owner put the site up for sale in early 1937.
Bert Gates of Aberdeen Picture Palaces (APP) put in an offer and made plans to build a very large cinema at the location. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) suggests that had this plan gone ahead it would have made the local company a force with which to be reckoned.
Gate's plans were thwarted however when another offer for the property from ABC (Cinemas) was accepted. ABC were a major cinema operator throughout the UK, at the time second only to the Rank Organisation, which owned the Odeon and Gaumont chains. ABC's arrival in Aberdeen would offer stiff competition to local companies such as APP. Both in terms of having the best venues and having the best films to show in them.
ABC's arrival in Aberdeen did not go smoothly, however. It was not until 1939 that the cinema's plans received official approval. War was declared not long after construction had begun and in 1941 the project was stopped by government restrictions that halted the construction of non-essential buildings where roofing had not already been started. Only the outer shell had been built at Shiprow and the building would subsequently lie incomplete for over a decade.
After much campaigning, including by local MP Hector Hughes, the government finally gave its consent and on 28th October 1953 ABC announced that work on the Regal would recommence. The plans for the cinema were modernised and construction was quickly finished.
The completed Regal was an impressive, modern cinema with a seating capacity of 1,914. Its inaugural film was The Knights of the Round Table and the opening gala was attended by stars Richard Todd and Anne Crawford.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. 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] |