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Looking towards Rosemount from Skene Street
176 Looking towards Rosemount from Skene Street. Wallfield House can be seen towards the top left of the picture. St. Nicholas Street
436 St. Nicholas Street looking up Flourmill Brae. The Equitable Building is on the right. These buildings were demolished in 1985 to make for for the St. Nicholas Centre. Provost Skene House and St. Nicholas House are visible at the top of the road. Frederick Street Primary School roof playground
453 A photograph showing school children on the roof top playground of Frederick Street Primary School in around 1907.
This was one of very few such playgrounds in the city, perhaps one of only two. The Central School on Schoolhill also had a comparable, roof-top playground for at least some of its history.
Frederick Street School opened in 1905 and had a role of 332 infants and 764 senior/junior pupils. The unusual, elevated playground measured 750 square feet. St. Paul's Episcopal Church
508 A lithograph of St. Paul's Episcopal Church from around 1870. It faced out onto Loch Street, near the junction with St. Paul's Street.
It was later neighboured by the Co-op Headquarters and Arcade and the Aberdeen Education Authority's Music Centre. The Gothic style church was built in 1865 by John Russell Mackenzie. It was eventually demolished as part of extensive redevelopment of the area.
As can be seen at the top of the image, we originally mistook this image as depicting Holburn West Church. Many thanks to correspondent Martin Greig for pointing out this error. The Puffing Briggie
532 A scene of change and renovation in the Denburn Valley. The image looks south from Union Bridge over the suburban platforms of the old Aberdeen Joint Railway Station. The old station's large, curved roof can be seen in the background.
The area we are looking at has seen much change since this time. It is now largely covered by the 1960s retail development on the south side of the bridge, the later Trinity Centre, the development of Wapping Street and Denburn Road, and the building of Atholl House. Though many of the buildings of note we can see in this image are still visible today.
The tall buildings on the far right are the rear of those on Bridge Street. The small street in front of them, going up to Guild Street, is the start of College Street. It is now a partially pedestrianised lane that goes under Wapping Street. The building at the top of this street is the classical style suburban ticket office, built 1909 and now home to Tiffany Hair & Beauty.
Going west along Guild Street's two span road bridge we come to the Great North of Scotland Railway Company's headquarters. This was designed by architects Ellis & Wilson and built in 1894. It is now part of the Station Hotel, along with number 78 next door. The building retains many of its original features. The Guild Street entrance to the Trinity Centre now runs along the western side of this building.
The image also shows features that are no longer present. The covered walkway that can be seen on the near right of the image enabled direct access from the station's central platform to the Palace Hotel on Union Street. The hotel was owned by the Great North of Scotland Railway Co. (GNSR). The walkway was vaulted to pass over the tracks at sufficient height.
Consulting The Joint Station: Aberdeen Station, 1867-1992 (c1992), this image probably dates from 1912 when, in additional to commencing the reconstruction of the Joint Station, the GNSR also laid new loading docks and carriage storage siding in the Hadden Mills site (left of image). This was to ensure that the main station buildings were used purely for passenger traffic.
The walkway that linked Windmill Brae and the Green, known affectionately as the Puffing Briggie, can be seen in the centre of the image. It looks like a section on the left has been temporarily demolished as part of the ongoing work.
The sidings on the extreme left were used for cleaning carriages in the later 20th century. One of our correspondents recounts using the often-unattended carriages, accessible when entering the station from the Green, as an unusually exciting and plush playground during their youth in the late-1940s. 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. Castlegate looking west
674 Drawing of Castlegate looking west along Union Street.
Correspondent Ed Fowler got in touch to point out the salient features of "the Plainstones, Mercat Cross in is original position with the Athenaeum Reading Room, Tolbooth, the New Inn (Freemasons Lodge) and the Aberdeen Bank at the top of Marischal Street.
It is one of set of 3 drawings by the same artist employed by Gibb's the Lithographer. The others being the Brig o' Dee, and the Nether Kirk Gate, Benholm Lodging." Jack's Brae
710 A photograph looking north west up Jack's Brae, from its junction with Upper Denburn, in the Rosemount area. Jack's Brae was named after the owner of property there. This photograph likely dates from the mid-to-late 19th century.
The Ordnance Survey town plan of Aberdeen, 1:500 scale, surveyed in 1866-67 depicts a "Coffee Roasting and Grinding Works" at the top of Jack's Brae at its junction with Leadside Road. A large chimney of these works can be seen on the right side of this image in the distance.
These works were the premises of John Strachan. In the Aberdeen Post Office Directory for 1867-68, Strachan is described as follows:
"Strachan, John, coffee roaster, coffee, sugar, and sugar grinder, Jack's brae" (page 213).
Aberdeen City Council's Historic Environment Record describes the site thusly:
"Site of meal mills, built in the 18th - 19th Centuries and demolished in the 1980s. The works was two-storey with a basement, comprising a 9-bay range with a single kiln and a three-storey with attic 5 by 6-bay block of later date. There were also two 2-storey store blocks. The mill was originally water powered, later electrically driven. The OS 1st edition map depicts a coffee roasting and grinding works here; they are annotated as corn mills on the OS 25in map published 1924." (link here).
The business was known as John Strachan & Sons and the works as Gilcomston Mill. The business was started in around 1852 and John Strachan was succeeded as its proprietor by his son James Strachan (1838-1914). His obituary can be found in the Evening Express of 28th December 1914, page 5. His son, John Strachan, was later to become the business's managing director. The obituary of this later John Strachan can be found in the Press & Journal of 1st July 1935, page 8.
At the time of writing in 2022, the site is occupied by a residential complex called Strachan Mill Court - no doubt named after the coffee roasting and milling enterprise. Wellington Lodge
811 A photograph showing Wellington Lodge on the corner of Justice Mill Lane and Holburn Street.
The top of Holburn Street, towards Holburn Junction, was previously known as South Street and later as Wellington Place. In the background of this image, on the far left, can be seen the John Smith designed Water House on Union Street.
Wellington Lodge stood across the road from Holburn Church, roughly where the Glentanar Bar stands today. It can be seen on the large scale Ordnance Survey town plan and map sheets from the 1860s.
The property appears to have belonged to the Whytes of Dalhebity, Cults. For some time Wellington Lodge was the residence of Helen Whyte and she was likely the house's final resident.
Helen Whyte died aged 85 on 31st January 1898 (death notice: Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 09/02/1898, p. 4). Newspaper references suggest she was involved in various charitable activities. She was the daughter of Baillie John Whyte, a merchant, and had a brother also called John Whyte (1845-1904), a prominent citizen and advocate.
Another death notice indicates that Mary Ann Hardie, of 48 Victoria Road, Torry, was employed for 38 years as the servant for Miss Helen Whyte. Hardie died in 1895 (death notice: Aberdeen Journal, 17/08/1895, p. 4).
Newspapers also suggest the villa was the home of Miss Mary Murray Gordon. She would likely have been a relation of James Murray Gordon who was a partner in the same law firm as John Whyte, Helen's aforementioned brother.
Wellington Lodge was probably demolished shortly after the death of Helen Whyte. It made way for the extension of the larger tenement buildings on Holburn Street that can be seen in the background of this photograph.
The Aberdeen Weekly Journal's 'Granite Chips' column of 17th May 1899 (p. 9) states "A very large and handsome block of buildings for Mr Peter Farquharson has been erected in Holburn Street, stretching from the office of the Union Bank of Scotland to Justice Mill Lane." This most likely refers to this development.
David Miller in Archibald Simpson, Architect, His Life and Times 1790-1847 (2006) states that this villa was designed by Simpson for Mrs Yeats of Auquharney (page 174). Sandilands Chemical Works
854 Sandilands Chemical Works, Aberdeen. Sulphuric Acid production towers. These towers were filled with inert material (eg granite chips) over which weak sulphuric acid was sprayed from a series of lead pipes at the top of the tower to absorb the SO2 gases which were fed in at the bottom. As a result the liquid collected at the bottom of the tower was a strong sulphuric acid. This acid was then combined with phosphate rock to produce superphosphate fertilisers produced at Sandilands Chemical Works. Commerce Street School class portrait
1710 The name of the individuals and the class shown here are unknown. The board held by the child in the centre looks like it says Commerce Street at the top. The rest is more difficult to read. The line below may read "Senior I", suggesting that the children shown here might be around 11 to 12 in age.
Records for Commerce Street School are held by the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives (under reference ED/AT5/1).
The online catalogue entry for these records indicates that Commerce Street was the first new school completed by Aberdeen School Board and was opened on 13 March 1876. The school closed on 30 June 1925 and the pupils were transferred to Hanover Street School. Thereafter the Commerce Street School buildings were used as the infant department of Hanover Street School.
The photograph likely dates from sometime in the early 20th century. Guild Street Road Bridge
1872 This bridge was built in the 1860s to extend Guild Street, over the railway tracks, and link up with the newly built Bridge Street. It was part of the development of the first Aberdeen Joint Station and the Denburn Valley Railway.
Correspondent Ed Fowler describes the bridge as follows: A riveted and latticed 2-span steel bowstring bridge with flat-span plate-girder pedestrian footpaths to the North and South sides. It has corniced and panelled, granite terminal piers.
The chimney of Hadden's Factory is visible beyond, with Trinity Hall to the left and St Nicholas Church Steeple to the right.
A query concerning the exact date of erection for Hadden's chimney is asked in "Aberdeen Journal" Notes and Queries, vol. II, 1909, on page 77 by a "J. M." This is answered on page 383 by "R. A." with the following:
"The following appears in 'Aberdeen Journal,' 31st October, 1838:- 'The new Chimney Stalk of Messrs Hadden's Works, in the Green, is now in operation, and completely answers its purpose. It is 2021/2 feet above the level of the ground; 6 feet in diameter, inside, at the top; contains 126,500 bricks; and is calculated to weigh, altogether, about 850 tons." Lord Provost Mearns' Garden Party
1923 Daniel Mearns (1838-12th February 1913) served as Provost of Aberdeen from 1895-1898.
He was the youngest son of a shipmaster in Aberdeen, also called Daniel Mearns, and worked as a ship chandler in the firm of Mr P. Buyers at Regent Quay.
He entered the city council in 1876 and was also a member of the Harbour Board up until his death. He was involved in many schemes to improve the city such as encouraging the Corporation to purchase tramways and the construction of the larger market.
Mearns also served on the Scottish Fishery Board and the Marine Board, was Consul to Argentina and a Governor of Robert Gordon's Technical College.
In this photograph we can see Mearns in the centre of the frame, in a top-hat, hosting a garden party. In Memoriam St. Nicholas House 1970-2011: 4
2445 Top of St. Nicholas House just visible from the forecourt to Union Square, Guild Street. 30/09/2012 In Memoriam St. Nicholas House 1970-2011: 6
2448 Top of tower block visible from the end of the Adelphi. 26/12/2012. In Memoriam St. Nicholas House 1970-2011: 12
2454 View of Upperkirkgate from the second top floor of the tower block. 23/10/2011. 383-389 Union Street
2783 Rossleigh, Cycle and Motor Company Ltd., at 383 and J. & C. Graham, boot and shoemaker, at 389 Union Street in around 1937. 245-251 Union Street
2830 Milne-Wyllie Building at 245, D. Wyllie & Son, booksellers, at 247 and W. J. Milne, Ltd., hatters and hosiers, at 249 & 251 Union Street in 1937.
Correspondent Philip Wright tells us that Milne's was considered the top quality men's outfitters in the city. Its slogan was "Milne's the place, just opposite the club". This was a reference to The Royal Northern Club then located on the other side of the road at Crimonmogate House, 204 Union Street. A. McRobb, plumber & electrician
2904 A collated group portrait from 1928 of the staff of Andrew McRobb, a then prominent plumbing and electrician business in Aberdeen. McRobb himself is pictured in the middle at the top.
The print features a inscription reading "by the employees, as a mark of esteem on the occasion of his acquiring Central Premises 27, 28, 29 Adelphi."
The Aberdeen Post Office directory from 1928-29 indicates that McRobb also had a branch at 103 Market Street and his home address was 24 Murray Terrace. In the directory he is described as a plumber, gasfitter, electrical and sanitation engineer.
The print includes a small photograph of the new premises in the Adelphi. In 2018 the shown shopfront is occupied by Asylum, a retailer of comics, graphic novels and roleplaying games.
McRobb took an active part in Aberdeen civic life and his profession. In May 1935 he was elected as the president of the Scottish Federation of Plumbers' and Domestic Engineers Association (Press & Journal, 11/05/1935, p. 8). He was also later a councillor for the Ferryhill Ward, a Town Council baillie, and elder and Sunday school superintendent at Trinity Church (Evening Express, 13/03/1952, p. 12).
The portraits in this print were taken and compiled by prominent Aberdeen photographer Fred W. Hardie. At the time he had premises at 416 Union Street and 8 Justice Mill Lane.
This print was kindly donated to Aberdeen Local Studies by David Parkinson. His grandfather, David Charles Kelly Parkinson, can be seen by counting four portraits to the right from the bottom right and then three up. His portrait is just down and left from a symbol showing two tools of the trade. The Development of Marischal Square and Broad Street (23/08/2015-20/04/2018): 7
3057 A wide angle shot of lift shafts on the NE corner of the site taken from the top of Upperkirkgate. It exaggerates a bit the difference in size between the lift shafts and Provost's Skene's House, just visible in the bottom right hand corner. A scaffolding clad Town House spire, similarly, just visible in the bottom left corner. 01/11/2015 Aberdeen Cinemas: Electric / Capitol
3401 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Capitol cinema at 431 Union Street in February 1980. At this time the Capitol was in more regular use as a concert venue than as a cinema. This image shows large numbers of people queuing to get tickets for a performance by the band Genesis.
The Capitol was built as a cinema back in 1933. A few days before its opening, it was advertised in local papers as "Aberdeen's wonder cinema". Opened to large crowds on Saturday 4th February 1933, the Capitol was then the largest venue of its kind in the north of Scotland and had a stage that could be adapted for both film and variety entertainment.
The Capitol was built by Aberdeen Picture Palaces Ltd. on the site of an earlier upmarket cinema called the Electric Theatre that dated from 1910. When the Capitol opened, it was regarded as the most up-to-date theatre in the country due to its complex lightning system, organ music and other modern features, some of them being introduced for the first time in Scotland.
The venue could accommodate more than 2,000 people. The building's plans were prepared by Aberdeen architects Alexander Marshall MacKenzie and Clement George. Local newspapers stressed the local ownership of the cinema and the local craftsmanship that went into its construction.
Aberdeen City Libraries hold a souvenir brochure of the cinema's opening. One interesting feature of the brochure is the inclusion of specially created adverts for all the companies involved in the construction and furnishing of the new cinema. Some of the adverts provide rich information on the history of the companies and give an insight into how the companies saw themselves. The brochure details the companies behind every aspect of the buildings from the cinema seating and terrazzo work to the innovative lighting.
On the opening day, Mrs A. D. Hay, wife of the chairman of the Aberdeen Picture Palaces, unlocked the main entrance door with a gold key. This key is still held by the Hay family today. The cinema's first, busy evening featured a variety of entertainment. In addition to the showing of films, there was a ballet performance by the Henrietta Fuller Dancers and Mr Edward O' Henry played the theatre's new top of the line Compton organ.
During the opening ceremony, Bert Gates, another director of Aberdeen Picture Palaces, said: "It was a long lane that had no turning. They had built the Capitol not for to-day, but for the generations of Aberdeen people to come. The company had dedicated the Capitol to the people of Aberdeen, their children, and their children's children in the hope that in generations to come they might appreciate what had been given them."
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Electric / Capitol
3402 A photograph showing the Capitol façade in January 2021.
By the 1960s and 70s the Capitol was increasingly being used as a venue for live events. Michael Thomson credits its survival over the Majestic, closed down in September 1973, as due to the Capitol's superior stage facilities. The Donald family, the venue owners, had the stage enlarged in 1975.
Appearances by popular groups like the Bay City Rollers in 1974 suggested the future for the venue at the time. The Capitol also saw performances by the Rolling Stones, Roy Orbison, Queen, Boyzone and Chuck Berry among many others. The Capitol ceased showing films in 1995.
The Capitol contained a restaurant, and subsequently bar, in the cinema's former café area around this period. 1993 saw the opening of the Art Deco and cinema themed bar Oscars in this space.
The Capitol functioned as a wonderful venue giving North-East audiences the chance to see top performers for many years. It became increasingly uneconomic to run and the curtain finally came down on the venue on Monday 15th December 1997.
The building was later converted into a nightclub and restaurant called Jumping Jaks and the Chicago Rock Café that opened in around 2003. These closed down in 2008 and the Capitol laid empty for some time.
In 2013 Knight Property Group began plans to redevelop the site as a modern office complex. The £30m project retained and restored the cinema's original façade and employed an Art Deco style in its foyer entrance to reference the history of the building. The venue's auditorium that had been much altered and had fallen into disrepair was demolished. The launch of the new office complex was held on 10th June 2016. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3403 The Picture House was opened on 14th December 1914 with an inauguration ceremony chaired by Lord Provost James Taggart. It was built at 181 Union Street by the rapidly expanding English firm, Associated Provincial Picture Houses. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) explains that construction of the cinema was delayed due to the war.
As seen here in 1937, the cinema's entrance was dominated by two squat white marble finish pillars topped by bronze capitals. The atmosphere inside was said to be cosy and luxurious. After conversion, the pre-existing building on Union Street contained the cinema's large foyer and within this was retained a large, original fireplace to warm visitors.
The 900-seater auditorium stood side-on between Union Street and Windmill Brae. With a budget of £12,000, the Picture House was designed by English architects Robert Atkinson and George Alexander. Thomson explains that the architects were inspired along Classical theatre lines and the building featured dark wood walls hung with French tapestries. A large tea-room, called the Tapestry Room, took up the first floor of the Union Street building. Above that, on the top floor, was the manager's office.
Thomson suggests that an early strength of the Picture House was its highly competent orchestra, originally led by pianist W. G. Ross. These were pre-radio days, with recording still in its infancy, so the orchestral playing would have been a significant attraction.
The profits from the Picture House's first screening back in December 1914 were distributed to Aberdeen charities. The first talking picture to be shown at the cinema was The Singing Fool in 1929. The Picture House was an upscale operation and one of the key early venues for cinema exhibition in Aberdeen.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: La Scala / Majestic
3424 This photograph from the collection of the Aberdeen Journals Archive shows the Majestic Cinema on Union Street in 1972. This super-cinema at 234 Union Street was designed by architect Thomas Scott Sutherland and was built on the site of Aberdeen's first purpose-built picture house, La Scala.
A public company called Caledonian Theatres Ltd., with James Brebner of the Belmont as managing director, was formed for the purpose of acquiring the site of La Scala and some nearby buildings and constructing a large new cinema.
The Majestic opened on 10th December 1936 with a film called Eliza Comes to Stay as its main feature. In his autobiography, Sutherland states that the Majestic was his finest design. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City suggests that the cinema's style could be described, "without too much facetiousness", as "Sutherland Perpendicular".
Sutherland's characteristic long window panels were set in side panels on the building's Kemnay granite front. Decorative neon stripes were placed between each column. At the top of the front elevation was the neon "Majestic" sign and below that, in the centre, was the space to advertise the venue's programme.
In 1938 James F. Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd. acquired Caledonian Theatres and the Majestic operated as part of the Donald circuit from then on. In time the cinema closed down with the site marked for redevelopment. The Majestic showed its last film, Kelly's Heroes, on Saturday 29th September 1973.
The cinema and the neighbouring Clydesdale Bank building were soon demolished. On the site was built a new £1.5 million office block called Caledonian House. This was opened on 25th February 1976.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. |