Quick Search
|
Search Results
You searched for: More Like: 'A helping hand'
92 items
items as
Broad Street looking South
19 Busy scene in Broad Street in 1833, showing buildings on the left hand side which were demolished for the extension and frontage of Marischal College. The archway at the left led through to the original buildings of Marischal College and the original Greyfriars Church. The Water House, surmounted with a pediment and clock, was erected in 1766 as a reservoir for the town's water supply. The clock and its bell were transferred to the City Hospital in 1899. Byron lived with his mother in the tenement block next to the turreted building. On the west side of the street, the tall building in the distance was the first office of the North of Scotland Bank. Tillyfourie Quarry
53 Granite quarrying at Tillyfourie Quarry. In action is one of the first steam boring machines in the country. Near the top of the picture are hand drillers and borers at work. Diversion of the River Dee
157 The Dee originally flowed northward from Wellington Bridge close by the railway arches eastwards to the 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.
This photograph shows the dam built to allow the excavation of the new channel. Most of the work was carried out by hand with men using picks and shovels. There was no official inauguration of the new channel but the river was following its new course by the beginning of 1873. Shuttle Lane prior to slum clearance
193 This 1930s photograph shows the Shuttle Lane slum clearance area situated between East North Street and Frederick Street, before the families were rehoused on new estates.
These houses were typical of the cramped, overcrowded tenements to be found in most Scottish cities. Large families would be crammed into 1 or 2 rooms. There might have been a shared toilet on the landings or more commonly outside in the back yard.
Infectious diseases such as diptheria and scarlet fever could be spread rapidly with such close contact of families, and infant mortality was high. There was often no drying green so many tenements had iron washing poles which could be slid out of windows when needed. Each family would have their allocated day to use the wash house.
Washing clothes was a laborious affair as the mother, maybe with the assistance of an older daughter, would stoke and light the boiler, and trek back and forth with water from an outside tap. Washing would be done by hand and if the weather was bad, then it would have to be hung inside in the kitchen to dry in the heat of the coal fire.
However, it seemed that community spirit was warm and close neighbours helped each other in times of crisis. This was a bond that would be broken when families were rehoused in the modern housing estates. Tomb of Bishop Gavin Dunbar
195 The tomb of Bishop Gavin Dunbar at St. Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen.
Gavin Dunbar was appointed Bishop of Aberdeen on 5th November 1518 and died on 9th March 1532. He became a great benefactor not only of King's College, but of the town.
It was he who took over the plans left after the death of Bishop Elphinstone and created the Bridge of Dee which opened road access to the City, from the south.
Dunbar also built the twin towers at St. Machar's Cathedral and gave its magnificent ceiling at his own expense. It comprises 48 heraldic shields including the arms of Scottish monarchs, nobles, Kings of Europe, and Scottish Bishops.
When he died in 1532, he was buried in the south transept of the cathedral. This was virtually destroyed after the collapse of the great central tower in 1688, and a recumbent statue of white marble of Dunbar was broken into pieces during the Reformation.
The splendor of the six foot richly carved arch of Morayshire freestone is still obvious despite its exposure to the weather. A bishop's mitre surmounts the Dunbar coat of arms and his initials, at the right hand side. Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, c.1870
280 An early surgical operation at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. The fourth figure from the left is Dr Alexander Ogston, the eminent surgeon. An assistant attends to the carbolic spray worked by hand, as used by Lister for the first time in Edinburgh in 1869. The era of sterilised gowns, caps, masks and gloves with antiseptic of dressings, instruments or even the fingers on which Lister later insisted, had not yet arrived. Trinity Hall Gateway, Aberdeen.
299 Trinity Hall Gateway, Aberdeen. This ornamental gateway was erected at the original Trinity Hall in the Shiprow - the meeting place of the Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen - and dates from 1632. The left of the three panels contained the Guild family coat of arms and the initials D.W.G - Dr William Guild who gifted the building to the Trades. The central inscription reads: 'To ye glorie of God and comfort of the Poore, this Hows was given to the crafts by Mr William Guild, Doctor of Divinitie, Minister of Abdn:1633'. The inscription on the right hand panel reads: 'He that pitieth the poore lendeth to the Lord and that which he hath given will he repay' Prov. 19.17. The gateway was removed in the 1850's when the new hall was erected in Union Street in 1846, and was rebuilt into a side wall. However, later reconstruction work in the 1890's led to the demolition of the gateway although fragments were preserved in the hall. Aberdeen Fire Brigade
352 Aberdeen Fire Brigade 1875. By the end of the 19th century the brigade was run on a part time basis. Firemen were paid a retaining fee but continued in their normal jobs being called out to fires either by the ringing of the Town House bell in daytime, or being woken by the Town Nightwatchman / Policeman. Assistance with major fires was often sought from soldiers stationed in the Castlehill Barracks and from men from the Royal Naval Training Ship Clyde. Prior to 1885, when the city acquired its first steam fire engine (horsedrawn) fires were fought with a manual fire engine. It required water to be pumped by hand by about 24 men - 12 on each side. The men in the photograph appear to be posed in front of such a machine. It can also be noted that they did not have a full uniform, being only provided with a helmet and belt until 1887. It was not until 1896 that the Fire Brigade was put on a more professional footing when William Inkster was appointed as the City's Firemaster and firemen became fulltime. Flourmill Brae
354 This image shows at the left hand side, a massive stone coffin which stood for many years at the back of tenements at Flourmill Brae. It was brought to the public's attention in 1926 when the area was subject to the Town Council's slum clearance scheme. The coffin consisted of granite slabs blackened and cracked through time. It was 5 and a half feet long, two feet wide and two feet deep. The sides and ends were held together by iron clamps and the lid was cemented on. The belief was that the coffin contained the remains of Mary Bannerman, one of the Bannermans of Elsick and married to George Leslie, Laird of Findrassie, near Elgin who died in 1692. However when the coffin was eventually opened it was empty apart from black earth. It was suggested that the slabs may have protected her coffin at some time and that the actual coffin and her remains had been removed to one of the city's graveyards.
Correspondent Ed Fowler has researched its location using historic maps and suggests that the stone sarcophagus was likely at the end of Quaker's Court near the Friends Meeting House, to the rear of the tenements looking onto Flourmill Brae. Broad Street, Aberdeen
383 Broad Street showing buildings on the left hand side which were demolished for the extension and frontage of Marischal College.
The image shows Greyfriars Pend at the end the building occupied by the College Gate Clothing House, the old Waterhouse with its triangular pediment and clock, and Byron's house just beyond the turret. Guild Street
399 Guild Street looking towards the harbour.
On the left hand side of the road is the facade of Her Majesty's Theatre built in 1872. It was renamed the Tivoli in 1910. It was a popular theatre and many well-known performers appeared on its stage including W. C. Fields, Tony Hancock and Andy Stewart.
The Tivoli became a bingo hall in 1966 and finally closed its doors in 1997. However, following refurbishment, the Tivoli reopened in 2013.
The Criterion Bar is on the left of the photograph and the old Goods Station is on the right. European Cup Parade
652 Aberdeen Football Club's open top bus parade of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983. The photograph looks north west across Union Street towards its junction with Union Terrace.
Aberdeen defeated Real Madrid 2-1 in the final held in Gothenburg, Sweden on 11th May 1983.
The conquering heroes landed, cup in hand, at Aberdeen Airport at 14.40 the next day. The team received a rousing reception and were given a celebratory cake on arrival from an offshore catering company.
It was then on to the open top bus for the journey from Dyce to Pittodrie. Grampian Fire Brigade lined-up their engines outside their Anderson Drive headquarters as a unique guard of honour for the team as they headed for the city centre.
As shown here, the city streets were packed with fans of all ages, including some who had travelled back from Gothenburg.
Lord Provost Alex Collie, the Queen Mother and Margaret Thatcher all provided messages of congratulations. Celebrations ended at a teeming Pittodrie.
Aberdeen FC had another triumphant tour through the city centre only 10 days later after they beat Rangers 1-0 in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park. The match was on the Saturday 21st May and the parade in Aberdeen was the next day. Broad Street
666 Busy scene in Broad Street showing buildings on the left hand side which were demolished for the extension and frontage of Marischal College. Albion Street
667 Albion Street, also known as the Bool Road because it led to the bowling green. It led to the Links from the foot of Justice Street. On the right hand side is the mission chapel which in 1848 replaced the "penny rattler", a street theatre which gave the area a bad reputation. It later became Albion Street Congregational Church. The area was cleared in the 1950s for the development of the Beach Boulevard. 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. Shiprow
682 This is a view of the Shiprow in the early 1900's with the imposing tower of the Town House in the background.
Prior to the building of Union Street in 1880, the Shiprow was one of the most important streets in the city, since it led from the harbour into the Castlegate area - the heart of Aberdeen. It is first mentioned in documents in 1281.
Over the years it became more rundown and, although it had many historic connections, nearly all of it was demolished in the 1950s and 60s. The right hand side is now occupied by a multi-storey car park. Shiprow
693 This view from about 1890, shows one of Aberdeen's historic streets - the Shiprow.
For centuries this was the main street leading from the harbour into the centre of Aberdeen at the Castlegate, until the building of Marischal and Market Street.
At the left is William Arthur's City Bar. This block was demolished around 1900, and most of the other buildings in the photo were also removed in the 1920's as the area had became very rundown.
Further demolition of the area at the left hand side took place in the 1960s to make way for a multi-storey carpark and supermarket.
The buildings on the right hand side were replaced by the Regal/ABC Cinema which was demolished for further redevelopment in 1999.
The only building which remains would have been just round the corner. It is known as Provost Ross' House and now houses Aberdeen Maritime Museum.
It appears that granite cobbles are being laid down in the photograph. Market Street
717 Market Street, built 1840, looking north from the harbour area (right hand side) and its junction with Guild Street.
The small building on the left hand corner of Guild Street has been replaced by the large block that contained the Schooner (originally Empire) Bar. It is now the Craftsman, bar and coffee shop.
Next to this building, on the left, and just out of sight here, was the Alhambra Theatre. The building on the right of the shown junction was a Post Office and later a Labour Exchange. Old Greyfriars Parish Church
758 Old Greyfriars Parish Church. The old 'College Kirk' was demolished in 1903 to make way for extensions to Marischal College. The new Greyfriars was opened in September 1903. The McGrigor Obelisk is seen at the left hand edge of the picture and it too was removed and is now in the Duthie Park. Lower Justice Mill, Union Glen
810 Justice Mills of one kind or another are first mentioned in the 1300s, and were the site of a famous battle. In their final form, an Upper Justice Mill occupied a site later partially covered by the Odeon Cinema building, while the Lower Mill stood in Union Glen, at the bottom of the steep slope with its mill dam above and behind it (see water wheel centre left). The left hand part of the building and the wheel were removed when the cinema was built, the dam was drained and a thoroughfare created into Union Glen, but the central and right hand parts survived, albeit derelict, into the 1960s.
The wagon in front of the buildings is painted with the business name James Alexander & Son, Grain Merchants. The 1866-67 Ordnance Survey large scale town plan of Aberdeen indicates that Lower Justice Mill was a corn mill.
A black cat can also be seen in the centre right of the image and a woman carrying some type of load is in front of the waterwheel.
Correspondent Geoffrey Mann has been in touch to inform us that in 1793 there was a miller at the Justice Mills called George Reid. This information was found from an Old Machar baptismal record for his and Margaret Smith's (his wife) daughter Elizabeth.
Coincidentally, there was another George Reid (1826-1881) who was a partner in the prominent seedsmen and agricultural implement makers, Messrs Benjamin Reid & Co., who had their Bon-Accord Works just to the east of the Justice Mills. The obituary of this later George Reid from The Aberdeen Journal 16/07/1881 states that at the time his death he lived with his two sisters in Justice Mill Lane. Dyce Chemical Works
852 Dyce Chemical Works (Milnes of Dyce) consisted of a sulphuric acid production plant and a granular fertiliser plant (superphosphate based fertiliser). The site was between Pitmedden Road and the railway line. The photograph shows the fertiliser stored in polythene bags, which replaced hessian sacks, with the acid production plant in the background. The stows were hand-produced by using conveyors and men. They were then covered by large sheets of polythene to prevent the bags from becoming dirty in appearance. Dyce Chemical Works
853 Dyce Chemical Works (Milnes of Dyce) consisted of a sulphuric acid production plant and a granular fertiliser plant (superphosphate based fertiliser). The site was between Pitmedden Road and the railway line. The photograph shows the fertiliser stored in polythene bags, which replaced hessian sacks. The stows were hand-produced by using conveyors and men. They were then covered by large sheets of polythene to prevent the bags from becoming dirty in appearance. Sandilands Chemical Works
856 The main entrance to Sandilands Chemical Works from Links Road, with the weighbridge. The two chimneys to the left belong to Sandilands. The left hand one was 150 feet high, the other was 200 feet high. The large building to the right was the new bagging plant. Market Street, Aberdeen, Looking Up
870 A George Washington Wilson photograph titled Market Street, Aberdeen, Looking Up and numbered 3863.
Market Street, built around 1840, is shown here at its junction with Guild Street and Trinity Quay.
The small building on the left hand corner of Guild Street was replaced by a large block that contained the Schooner (originally Empire) Bar.
Next to it, out of shot on the left, was the Alhambra Theatre. The building on the right of the junction was a Post Office and later a Labour Exchange.
The premises of Alexander Wyness, butcher, can be seen at 62 Market Street. A coal depot is partially visible further along the street. |