165

Powis Gateway, Old Aberdeen. These curious towers stand at the gate leading to Powis Lodge, almost opposite King's College, Old Aberdeen. They were constructed by John Leslie of Powis, who succeeded his father, Hugh Leslie of Powis, the builder of Powis House (1802). John Leslie succeeded his father in 1812, and the towers were finished in 1834. The crescent on the top of one of the towers is the crest of the Frasers, the predecessors of the Leslies in the property of Powis. As indicated in the bottom right, this etching of the gateway is by Aberdeen artist Henry Jackson Simpson (1893-1963), known professionally as Jackson Simpson. He was a prolific and successful local artist who specialised in etchings and watercolours of architecture, land and seascapes and wildlife. Simpson died at his home at 58 Craigton Road, aged 70, on 28th March 1963. His obituary, which gives an account of his life, featured in the next day's Press & Journal. He was a native of Aberdeen, the son of William Jackson, an art dealer in Diamond Street. He trained as a lithographer and joined his father in business. He served in WWI with the Northumberland Fusiliers and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery. In 1935 he took over the family business following the death of his father. He was well travelled around Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire and this is reflected in his art. University related subjects such as Marischal College, King's College and, here, the Powis Gateway, were among his most well known works. A keen sportsperson, and prominent freemason, he also set-up the Craigton Club and was highly involved with the Northern Arts Club. An article titled 'The charming story of Jackson Simpson: Scotland's celebrated etcher' featured on the Press & Journal website, in partnership with the McEwan Gallery near Ballater, on 8th June 2022. The feature was produced to highlight an exhibition of Simpson's work at the aforementioned gallery.

1071

The Aberdeen area had many granite quarries, and there was a need for men who had the skill to reduce huge blocks of granite into manageable pieces by chipping it with a variety of hammers, and chisels to produce the required shape and size. In this 1920's photograph we see a settmaker at Persley Quarry on the north side of the River Don in Aberdeen, at his wooden shelter or 'skaithie'. These shelters provided some sort of wind break for these men who had to sit on blocks of granite patiently working on the hard stone. Settmakers made cassies for roads and Aberdeen setts were used to pave streets in London. On his left is a tripod structure which acted like a small crane to lift the bigger stones into position. Note the lack of protective safety equipment apart from some extra padding on his knees.

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.

3828

An aerial view, looking south east, of Sandilands Chemical Works from around the 1920s that featured on a postcard. Surrounding houses on Baltic Street, Garvock Wynd and Garvock Square can also be seen. These houses were primarily used for chemical workers. The property was owned by the Miller family and they were no doubt the origin of the name of the street running along the west side of the works (on the right in this image), Miller Street. The main gate for the works was on the road that leaves Miller Street at the lodge house, shown in the bottom left of the highlighted area here. The large property south along Miller Street, on the corner of Baltic Street, was called the "Big Hoose". Attached to this house was the factor's house and a public W.C. The factor collected rents from all the houses on the Miller property. Sandilands Chemical Works produced cod liver oil, other oils, pitch, disinfectants, candles, fertilisers and serums. In this image, a mixture of newer granite buildings and those from earlier in the 19th century can be seen.

202

Hans Christian Andersen wrote 'The Snow Queen' in 1844. Aberdeen City Libraries hold a number of interesting resources relating to the author. Perhaps the most notable is a 1926 reprint of his autobiography 'The True Story of My Life' translated by Mary Howitt and published by George Routledge & Sons. Born in Odense, Denmark in 1805, Andersen wrote three autobiographies during his lifetime. 'The Book of My Life', written in 1832 aged 27, was for close friends, the Collin family, and was not intended for publication. 'The True Story of My Life' in 1846 was to accompany a German edition of his collected works and his final autobiography, 'The Fairy Tale of My Life', was published in 1855. Mary Howitt (1799-1888) was an English author who came to prominence as a translator of Scandinavian literature, in particular eighteen volumes of the Swedish novelist Frederika Bremer (1842-1863) and many translations of Hans Christian Andersen. In the 1926 preface to 'The True Story of My Life' Scottish author and poet, Violet Jacob, claims that Howitt's "precise and innocence English" is the ideal vehicle for conveying Andersen's writing. It was through Howitt's translations that the English speaking world first came to know Andersen's work. Howitt dedicates her translation of 'The True Story of My Life' to the Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind (1820-1887). Lind was world famous for her immaculate voice, generosity and strong religious convictions. She and Andersen were good friends. When Lind rejected Andersen as a suitor she became the model for the Snow Queen with a heart of ice. Their friendship endured nonetheless and in 'The True Story of My Life' Andersen explains the central influence Lind had on his work: "Through Jenny Lind I first became sensible of the holiness there is in art; through her I learned that one must forget oneself in the service of the Supreme. No books, no men have had a better or a more ennobling influence on me as the poet, than Jenny Lind, and I therefore have spoken of her so long and so warmly here." The autobiography also contains other glimpses into the inspiration behind 'The Snow Queen'. For example, Andersen's childhood surroundings are said to have inspired the roof top garden on which the story's heroes, Gerda and Kai, first meet and become friends: "Our little room, which was almost filled with the shoemaker's bench, the bed, and my crib, was the abode of my childhood; the walls, however, were covered with pictures, and over the work-bench was a cupboard containing books and songs; the little kitchen was full of shining plates and metal pans, and by means of a ladder it was possible to go out on the roof, where, in the gutters between and the neighbour's house, there stood a great chest filled with soil, my mother's sole garden, and where she grew her vegetables. In my story of the Snow Queen that garden still blooms."