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The 1867 Aberdeen Joint Station
537 This photograph shows the eastern side of the original 1867 Aberdeen Joint Station. The railway buildings can be seen at the front with the roof rising behind.
The history of the station can be discovered in the Great North of Scotland Railway Association's publication The Joint Station: Aberdeen Station, 1867-1992 (c1992).
In reference to the 1867 station, on page 18 it states:
"Designed by the City Architect, Mr Smith, various offices and rooms occupied the east side of the station, extending in a symmetrical manner along the entire frontage, in front of which ran a macadamised roadway eighty feet broad. The building's facade was of dressed ashlar granite quarried from Kenmay, surrounded by a balustrade of dressed freestone. The arched doors were also faced with finely dressed ashlar granite, again surrounded by freestone. The remainder of the buildings was of rustic granite interlined with courses and belts of ashlar freestone from Bannockburn. The main walls, which were thirty feet high, were finished off at the ends by square turrets about twenty feet high 'built of granite rustic work which gave the whole structure a most imposing appearance'. At its highest point the roof, designed by Mr Willet the Civil Engineer for the project, was about seventy feet above ground level and was stated as being modelled on Victoria Station, London."
The cranes and construction work that can be seen on the left side of this image suggest that it might date from the beginning of the 1913-1916 construction of the new Joint Station, overseen by GNSR Chief Engineer J. A. Parker. Foundations for the new station were laid in the cab yard to the east of the old structure on 28th May, 1913. Rubislaw Terrace, Aberdeen
709 Rubislaw Terrace, Aberdeen in around 1880. This photograph by George Washington Wilson shows the granite splendour of this terrace, which was planned by the architects Thomas Mackenzie and James Matthews, jointly with James Giles, artist.
The houses were to be erected on the property of James Skene of Rubislaw, on the north side of Albyn Place. The Aberdeen Journal of 31st March 1852 describes the plans as thus: "The style of architecture possesses in a high degree the rare merit of combining what is new, at least in Aberdeen, with what is, in point of taste exceedingly beautiful".
The houses have crowstepped gables and plain windows alternating with bow windows which have a balustrade, and had 11-15 rooms.
In 1854, James Matthews actually lived there, and later occupants included a paper manufacturer, a ship owner, and a number of advocates.
Today, many of the houses have been converted into offices for legal firms. Granite balustrades and a garden area separate the terrace from Albyn Terrace. Point Law
3574 Image two of two, see GN15_08 for more details.
This photo is a high shot overlooking Point Law towards the warehouses on Commercial Quay.
The shot comes from the South East of the pier. A dock-scape lines the background. In the forefront are two vans from the North Eastern Welding Co., Ltd.
The dates of the vans (See GN15_08) implicates this photo was likely taken between the late 1920s and 1930s.
Behind the crane in the middle backdrop, the spire of St. Clements Church is visible. The church underwent an extensive refurbishment in 1924, making headlines in the 27th July Aberdeen Daily Journal. Point Law
3576 This high shot affords north-west views featuring the edge of Point Law and Provost Mathews' Quay.
The left of the image contains the ferry terminal structure. To the right of this building, three trawlers sit moored in the foreground.
These vessels are quite possibly Fife-Ness (A377), the Blossom (A9), and Star of the North (A633). All three of these vessels were registered in the area between 1903 and 1915.
A large merchant ship can also be seen along Provost Mathews' Quay. This looks like the steamship St. Sunniva, built in 1887 by Hall Russell for the North of Scotland & Orkney & Shetland Steam Navigation Company Ltd. As their name suggests, the company operated services to the Northern Isles. Beyond Matthews' Quay, Victoria Dock is visible.
The commercial traffic taking up the river and bustling townscape in the distance highlights the merchant trade Aberdeen is famed for. Union Works
4399 A mid-20th century photograph of the Union Works in central Aberdeen. This images looks south east across College Street from a high vantage point and has railway tracks, Poyernook and the hills of Torry in the background.
The factory likely dates from around 1862. A notice from the Aberdeen Herald newspaper of 17th May 1862, page 4, records Alexander Pirie & Sons moving from the Adelphi to their new premises of Union Works, Poyernook.
From the 1860s onwards, the works were owned and operated by Alexander Pirie & Sons, then Pirie, Appleton & Co. and finally Wiggins Teape (Stationery), Ltd.
At the time of this photograph, the works were likely operated by Pirie, Appleton & Co. This image may been sourced from a promotional brochure for the company. In addition to the Union Works, they also had factories at Chadwell Heath in East London and in Dublin, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
As with many significant local enterprises, the operation of Pirie, Appleton & Co. is described in mid-20th century Official Handbooks created for the Corporation of the City of Aberdeen. The volume from 1954 states that the company specialised in manufacturing commercial envelopes, including their successful "River Series."
The company had also recently introduced a quality note-paper to their range called "Mitre Club," which is described as a brand of social stationery. They additionally manufactured different types of account and manuscript books, including a system of loose leaf binding known as "Swing-o-Ring." Other products include "printers' cards, paper collars, commerial heading, filing folders, and record cards." (pages 166-167).
In this image, a large sign can be seen on the north side of the factory building that reads "The mark of good stationery" with an Aberdeen terrier. This black Scottie dog, closely associated with the city, was adopted as a trade-mark of the company in the mid-20th century.
Wiggins Teape and Co. had amalgamated with Alexander Pirie & Sons in 1922 (see Aberdeen Daily Journal, 30th March 1922, page 4). Alex. Pirie & Sons and Pirie, Appleton & Co. were subsidiary companies of Wiggins Teape.
The Union Works site closed down not long after 1969 when Wiggins Teape began construction of a replacement factory at Dyce (see Evening Express, 4th September 1969, page 7).
The site was sold and the works were demolished to make way for the multi-storey office block, St. Machar House. Built by Sir Robert Alpine & Sons for Neale House Properties (Aberdeen) Limited, to a design by architects Mackie, Ramsay & Taylor, construction was well under way by Autumn 1975 (Evening Express, 2nd August 1975, 'Business Bureau' page 6).
Below the southern end of St. Machar House, the rest of the old Union Works site is occupied by the College Street Car Park, built by Arup and Partners (Scotland), with consulting architects Baxter, Clark & Paul, and opened on 4th July 1991. |