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Sandilands: Links Road entrance
843 An aerial view of Sandilands Chemical Works showing the new main entrance to the plant on Links Road.
The maintenance building is to the right of the picture, with the canteen and amenities building to the immediate right of the main entrance.
The sulphuric acid storage tanks are at the front right. There is a carnival in the background across Queen's Links. Astoria Cinema, Aberdeen
1152 The exterior of the Astoria Cinema, Clifton Road, Kittybrewster, Aberdeen, c.1960. In 1934, a new cinema was built on part of the old Central Park, just north of Kittybrewster Auction Marts. It was designed by the architect, T. Scott Sutherland, and was opened on 8th December 1934, with space for more than 2000 people. Its proximity to the relatively new housing areas of Kittybrewster, Powis, Woodside and Hilton should have ensured its success. It was made of concrete over a steel framework, with the roof sloping in a series of steps to produce the best acoustics. It had a colour scheme of light pink, invory and brown with walnut panelling and 2 miles of Wilton carpet. It closed on Saturday 13th August 1966, re-opening later that month as a Bingo Hall but that only lasted a few months and it finally closed in January 1967. In April 1967, it was being demolished and the site redeveloped as a shopping complex. The cinema had had one of the latest Compton theatre organs, which had been removed piece by piece and restored to be placed in the hall of Powis Academy. In November 1982, an arson attack destroyed the organ. Aberdeen Central Library, Adult Lending Department 2011
1432 Compared to the shelving of earlier times, the units here are much lighter in both weight and colour. The ability to easily move the shelving also allows for a greater use of the space, helping to cater for special events. The staircase to the mezzanine floor, added during the modernisation of 1978-82 can be seen in the background. Aberdeen Central Library, window replacement 2003
1446 All of the windows of Central Library were replaced during the period March 2003 to May 2004 as part of a refurbishment programme to develop the Central Library as a Centre for Library Excellence. They were re-painted in their original brown colour. Westburn Park
2124 A colour postcard depicting children playing in the man-made pond in Westburn Park. The water is a channeled, open section of the Gilcomston Burn. The Doric portico of Westburn House can be partially seen through the trees to the left of the image. A School of Dolphins: Donnie at Bridge of Don Library
2156 Pupils in the Bridge of Don Academy follow Bs which are Be Caring, Be Respectful, Be Honest and Be Your Best. Be Caring was chosen as the theme with a Scottish thistle colour palette. Celtic knots wrap around like the fishing nets which dolphins can be caught in whilst swimming in the water off the north east. A School of Dolphins: Aberfin at Central Library
2164 The inspiration came from the children's designs which included a wide selection of colour and line patterns inspired by the movement of water. Many of their designs included conservation themes and the children felt it was important to communicate the impact they are having on dolphins in the wild with others. A School of Dolphins: Endangered Don the Dolphin at Airyhall Library
2175 Endangered Don the Dolphin was the winning design by two pupils at Mile End School. He was divided up into 6 sections representing different endangered animals - the leopard, tiger, snow leopard, turtle, red admiral butterfly and the blue throated macaw. We chose these as they have distinctive patterns or give colour to the design. The Astoria Cinema
2268 The Astoria Cinema on Clifton Road, Woodside.
In 1934, a new cinema was built on part of the old Central Park, just north of Kittybrewster Auction Marts. It was designed by the architect T. Scott Sutherland and was opened on 8th December 1934 with space for more than 2000 people. Its proximity to the relatively new housing areas of Kittybrewster, Powis, Woodside and Hilton should have ensured its success.
It was made of concrete over a steel framework, with the roof sloping in a series of steps to produce the best acoustics. It had a colour scheme of light pink, ivory and brown with walnut panelling and 2 miles of Wilton carpet. It closed on Saturday 13th August 1966, reopening later that month as a Bingo Hall but that only lasted a few months and it finally closed in January 1967. In April 1967, it was being demolished and the site redeveloped as a shopping complex.
The cinema had had one of the latest Compton theatre organs, which had been removed piece by piece and restored to be placed in the hall of Powis Academy. Tragedy befell it in November 1982, when, in an act of vandalism, a youth set fire to the hall and the organ was totally destroyed. Stop 6: Annie Inglis MBE (1922-2010), Aberdeen Arts Centre, Catherine Hollingsworth (1904-1999) and Isabella Fyvie Mayo (1843-1914), 31 King Street
2305 Aberdeen's first lady of the theatre Annie Inglis MBE dedicated her life to drama in Aberdeen, founding Aberdeen Arts Centre and inspiring generations to take to the stage. Born Annie Nicol in 1922, Annie studied English at Glasgow University before taking up a career in teaching. She joined the Monklands Rep in the 1940s, perfecting her directing skills which she would use to great effect in Aberdeen where she founded the Attic Theatre Group, an amateur group, which enjoyed an enviable reputation for performance. Over the years Annie founded Aberdeen's Arts Carnival, Texaco Theatre School, and Giz Giz Theatre Project for Youth. When the Arts Centre was threatened by closure in 1998 Annie ran a hugely successful campaign to save it involving many famous theatre actors who had trod the boards there.
Born in 1904 in Brechin and known by local folk as the 'speakin'wifie' Catherine Hollingworth started her teaching career in 1927 and might have remained a drama teacher but for the road traffic accident in 1933 which led her to use her learning to address the injury to her own speech. This ignited a lifelong interest in speech therapy at a time when there were very few speech therapists. While another pioneer of the profession Lional Logue (as dramatised in The King's Speech) was supporting King George VI in London, Catherine was appointed as the first superintendent of Speech & Drama and Speech Therapy in Aberdeen. In 1942 she founded the Children's Theatre, which went on to develop an international reputation. She had the theory that if you allowed children to play only to children, with no adults in the audience, their creativity and imagination would be much greater.
Another woman of culture associated with 31 King Street was Isabella Fyvie Mayo a prolific poet and novelist who wrote under the pen name Edward Garret. Although she was to spend most of her life living in Aberdeen, Isabella was born in London in 1843. She was also a pioneering translator for Tolstoy and became not only his friend but was also friends with Mahatma Gandhi. She became an ethical anarchist, pacifist, anti-imperialist, anti-racist and suffragette campaigner. In 1894 she was elected a member of the Aberdeen School Board, the first woman elected to any public board in Aberdeen and it is in this building that the Aberdeen School Board convened. Treasure 32: George Washington Wilson South Africa Photography Collection
2320 George Washington Wilson is one of the great names in 19th century photography, famous for capturing images of people, buildings and landscapes across Scotland. His photography drew attention to the beauty of his country, but his travels further afield are not as well known.
As an innovative pioneer in photography, George Washington Wilson's work reflected the reality and attitudes of society during his lifetime (1823-1893). In our collections we hold a vast selection of photographs and portraits taken by the G. W. Wilson Company in South Africa. These images were taken by his son, Charles Wilson, and Fred Hardie, a company photographer of George Washington Wilson & Co.
The company's photographs of South Africa captured scenes of the country which would have been perceived as unusual and exotic to British people at the time.
South Africa and its Treasures
The majority of British colonization was concentrated in South Africa during the 19th century. In the past, the country was colonized in order to control one of the main trade routes to India. Due to the abundance of resources such as spices and tea, European interest in Africa increased dramatically in the late 19th century, especially with the discovery of gold and diamonds in the 1860s-1880s.
On their return to Britain, George Washington Wilson & Co presented many photographs showing these natural resources, from the Robinson Gold mine in Johannesburg to De Beers Diamond Mines in Kimberley.
Tea was also a very valuable resource, and people in Britain were keen to learn more about its production and its use in South Africa.
Photography and Tourism
The collection held by Aberdeen City Libraries shows local places of interest in South Africa. These photographs capture Cape Town and Johannesburg, two of the biggest cities in the country. Many Europeans emigrated to these cities in the 19th century, due to the discovery of valuable resources in the surrounding area.
With the rapid rise of tourism in this period, George Washington Wilson & Co. looked for new ways to promote and sell their work. Around 1880-1890, they started to commercialize their photography via picture postcards, a relatively new concept in Britain. This new form of media met with huge success as it was easy to write and cheap to send. It soon became the standard way to communicate with friends and family when abroad, a holiday tradition which remains today.
The postcards, in colour and having a standard size, featured many different scenes from South Africa and were viewed as an innovative way to publicize the country - and the works of photographic firms such as George Washington Wilson & Co. Gordon Rennie
2390 James Booth Webster replaced Joseph Duncan as bookbinder until June 1966 when Gordon Rennie was appointed. Here he is using one of the lettering tools to stamp the class number on the spine of "The Giant All-Colour Dictionary", which is being held securely in a wooden vice. In the background, is his wife Helen who joined the staff as his assistant in 1968. Alpha Stone (colour)
3284 A colour image of the Alpha Stone located at the north end of the parapet over the mouth of Ferryhill Burn at River Dee, opposite Old Ford Road. It is marked "A ABD CR".
This stone is a comparatively recent addition to the series, dating to the early nineteenth century.
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 1 (colour)
3287 A colour image of March Stone 1. It is set in carriageway, near the kerb at 79 Hardgate. It is marked "1 ABD".
It was described in 1525 as "ane gret grey stane, with ane sawssir..." It was still marked with a saucer in 1698 but a new stone marked ABD was in place by the late 18th century.
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 14 (plus cup stone) (colour)
3289 Colour image of stone 14 opposite the entrance to Cults Primary School, off Earlswells Road. It is marked "14 ABD".
It was described in 1525 as a stone with "three hollis hewing in the same..." In 1698 a saucer stone was recorded, which may be the one sitting adjacent to the lettered nineteenth-century stone.
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 27 ("the Ringing Stone") (colour)
3292 The Ringing Stone is located adjacent to Brodiach Burn. Access from Brotherfield Farm. It is marked "27 ABD".
Origins of this intriguing name are unknown. There are 2 miles to the next stone, being the longest distance between stones; the Brodiach burn was taken to provide a sufficient marker.
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 64 CR (colour)
3294 This stone is located on the traffic island at the east end of School Road at the junction with Golf Road. It is marked "64 ABD CR".
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. 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] Aberdeen Cinemas: Casino
3410 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Casino cinema in around 1963.
The Casino cinema was opened on Wales Street on 7th February 1916 by John Peter Kilgour, a dealer in various waste materials. It had close competition with Bert Gate's Star Picture Palace just around the corner on Park Street. Michael Thomson in The Silver Screen in the Silver City describes the Casino as the second of Aberdeen's purpose-built picture halls. It and the "Starrie" served the population of the city's east end for many years.
The Casino was built on the site of Kilgour's factory yards. The architects for the project were George Sutherland and Clement George. The building's "Spanish villa" design is described by Thomson as unique for Aberdeen and highly unusual throughout Scotland. One distinctive feature was the low square tower at the Park Street side of the building that was topped by a red-tiled concave pyramidal roof. Thomson writes that features of the building combined to "bring a welcome splash of colour and gaiety to an otherwise drab corner of the city."
Following the death of John Peter Kilgour in 1920, the running of the Casino and his waste business was taken over by his son, Ormande L. Kilgour.
In the silent era the venue was a stronghold of cine-variety, showing all manner of performances in-between film screenings. In February 1936 the cinema celebrated its 20th birthday and a cake was cut by Kilgour and one the Casino's oldest patrons, a Mrs Stewart.
In November 1939 Bert Gates and Aberdeen Picture Palaces bought a controlling interest share in the Casino. The Beach Boulevard, which opened on 25th May 1959, ran directly outside the cinema and gave the Casino a prominent location. In March of that year the cinema was given a thorough renovation.
Despite its new prominent location and recent renovation, the Casino closed down as a cinema on Saturday 3rd October 1959. A spokesperson for the Donald Cinemas Group stated in the Evening Express at the time that the closure was due to the housing in the area being pulled down and people moving to new estates. Michael Thomson suggests that the proximity of the relatively new first-run Regal in Shiprow might also have drawn away the hoped-for holiday crowds from the Casino.
In 1961 the empty Casino was sold to local bookmakers James Rennie and Arthur Forbes to be used as a bingo hall. This was at the height of bingo's popularity and the Casino proved too small. The bingo operation was moved to the Kingsway Cinema which had showed its final film, Warlord of Crete on 3rd February 1962.
The area around the Casino was earmarked for redevelopment by Aberdeen Town Council. The cinema building was compulsorily purchased and, after spending some time as a store, was demolished at the same time as the Star in 1971. The site is now occupied by a residential development.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picturedrome / Cinema House
3411 The Cinema House was located at the corner of Union Terrace, Skene Terrace and North Silver Street. The building was designed by Arthur H. L. Mackinnon and originally built in 1897-1898 as a clubhouse for the Aberdeen Union Club. Mackinnon (1870-1937) was a local architect who also designed the Aberdeen Fire Station on King Street and Mile End School.
The building's first recorded use for cinematographic purposes was a New Year Holiday Carnival organised by the pioneering Aberdeen cinematographer and exhibitor William Walker in December 1901. Alongside an early picture show the extravaganza featured the popular fiddler James Scott Skinner and a conjurer called Harry Marvello.
It was a Londoner by the name of Henry N. Philips who came to Aberdeen and in June 1910 converted this building into Aberdeen's second permanent cinema: the Picturedrome. The enterprise was a great success and Philip's formed a company called British Animated Pictures to run the cinema.
The 'Drome's first manager was Harry Fenton. He also appeared on the cinema's stage as a singer. This was a time when cinemas would often show a mixture of films and variety performances. The venue had a pianist called Hal Scott who would accompany performances and provided musical ambience.
The Picturedrome was noted for showing the film productions of Thomas Edison's Edison Studios and for consistently good stage turns.
In 1923 the Picturedrome/Union Club block was sold to the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds. They were one of the 19th century friendly societies in which people would band together prior to the development of more comprehensive welfare provision. The Shepherds continued to run the cinema for a period. A sign for the society can be seen in the top left of this image.
In May 1924 the cinema was taken over by James F. Donald. He was the patriarch of the Donald family that played a prominent role in the history of cinemas and theatres in Aberdeen. Restored and improved, the venue reopened on the 11th August of that year as the Cinema House. Donald initially held the premises on a 20-year lease, but would go on to buy the property outright.
This photograph, taken from in front of the Central Library, dates from around 1934 and shows the cinema advertising Father Brown Detective and The Lemon Drop Kid. Also visible next door at 2 Skene Terrace is a branch of the successful grocer and provision merchants, Wilburn Ltd.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] The Culter Mills Paper Company, 1981
4277 The dominant brick chimney stack of the paper mills viewed from the North Deeside Road, just opposite the Gordon Arms Hotel now flats.
This image is one of fifteen from a photographic survey of the exterior of Culter Paper Mills and nearby Kennerty Mill undertaken by John A. Souter in the summer of 1981. John kindly donated colour slides of these photographs to Aberdeen City Libraries.
The early history of the Culter Mills Paper Company can be read in the article 'Paper-making on Deeside (1750-1932)' by Alexander A. Cormack in The Deeside Field (sixth number, 1933) pages 36-45. This can be accessed at Aberdeen City Libraries. The Culter Mills Paper Company, 1981
4278 Approaching the main entrance gates from Kennerty Road (part of the old Deeside road), view from 327 North Deeside Road.
This image is one of fifteen from a photographic survey of the exterior of Culter Paper Mills and nearby Kennerty Mill undertaken by John A. Souter in the summer of 1981. John kindly donated colour slides of these photographs to Aberdeen City Libraries.
The early history of the Culter Mills Paper Company can be read in the article 'Paper-making on Deeside (1750-1932)' by Alexander A. Cormack in The Deeside Field (sixth number, 1933) pages 36-45. This can be accessed at Aberdeen City Libraries. The Culter Mills Paper Company, 1981
4279 The main entrance gates and modern reception office, sign and coat of arms. Viewed from Kennerty Road.
This image is one of fifteen from a photographic survey of the exterior of Culter Paper Mills and nearby Kennerty Mill undertaken by John A. Souter in the summer of 1981. John kindly donated colour slides of these photographs to Aberdeen City Libraries.
The early history of the Culter Mills Paper Company can be read in the article 'Paper-making on Deeside (1750-1932)' by Alexander A. Cormack in The Deeside Field (sixth number, 1933) pages 36-45. This can be accessed at Aberdeen City Libraries. |