52

A photograph showing many large sailing ships in the Upper Dock of Aberdeen Harbour. This image looks north west towards the junction of Market and Guild Street from Regent Road (near the start of Blaikie's Quay). The prominent granite building in the background was at the corner of this junction at 62-68 Market Street. It was a warehouse and offices with shops on the ground floor. The site was redeveloped for the office blocks that can be seen today in around the early 1980s. This block may have been demolished at that time. Prior to the late 19th century continuing development of Market Street and the creation of Provost Jamieson's Quay, the south side of the Upper Dock was the site of various ship building yards, with timber yards behind. The ship shown in front of the building is the City of Aberdeen. It was built in 1862 by John Duthie, Sons & Co. for the China trade. It was altered to barque rigging in 1877 and this be the period of this photograph. The ship has an entry on the Aberdeen Built Ships website.

111

This building stood on the site now occupied by the Harbour Offices on Regent Quay and was erected in 1634. It was demolished in 1883. Dues were levied there, for the weighing and packing of goods.

290

This building stood on the site now occupied by the Harbour Offices at Regent Quay and was erected in 1634. Small dues were levied there for the weighing and packing of goods and in this old structure were stored all sorts of unclaimed merchadise which were sold off at the end of a year and a day from the date of deposit. Latterly the buuilding became a sail loft and was demolished in 1883.

291

A photograph of the building understood to have served as the Harbour Office from 1837 to 1885. It was replaced by the 4-storey harbour offices, designed by A. Marshall Mackenzie, and built on Regent Quay between 1883 and 1885. This older office is thought to have stood at the foot of Marischal Street, to the north west of Regent Bridge, just above the harbour's Upper Dock.

293

Plan of the Harbour of Aberdeen as it was in 1769.

298

Regent Quay at Aberdeen Harbour. The Harbour Office Buildings are on the left of the photograph, with Donald & Co. on the right

331

Harbour Offices, Regent Quay, Aberdeen Harbour.

335

A photograph looking east from the junction of Market Street and Trinity Quay. The side of the General Post Office building is shown on the left and the Harbour Office, with clocktower, is in the distance on Regent Quay.

350

New Quay, Aberdeen Harbour. This photograph shows the navigation channel leading from Aberdeen Harbour into the North Sea, with the North Pier in the far distance on the left. The New Quay later became part of Pocra Quay. The Pier was built by John Smeaton in 1781 and extended on several occasions to provide better access to the harbour. At the corner of the photograph is the customs Watch House, part of which has now been converted into a seafood restaurant. The brick obilisk in the centre is a ventilation shaft for a sewer which emptied into the channel. A newer sewer outfall has rendered it redundant. It is popularly known as Scarty's Monument. 'Scarty' was the nickname of William Smith, one of two harbour pilots in the mid-19th century. His duty was to keep watch from the North Pier during rough weather. Nicknames were often used in the fishing community to distinguish between people of the same surname.

351

The Round House, the Harbour Masters Office, Pocra Quay. The building was also known as the Pilots' House.

361

This photograph, looking south east from Regent Quay, shows the old Regent Bridge located at the bottom of Marischal Street. As shown here it could swing open to allow ships to enter and exit the Upper Dock from Victoria Dock. The bridge was later replaced by a steel framed swing bridge operated from Regent Bridge House located at its south west end on Jamieson's Quay. The new bridge opened on 29th December 1904. An account of its construction can be read in the Aberdeen Journal of that date. In the background of this image is HMS Clyde, a Navy Reserve Ship for the training of cadets.

444

Queueing for bananas after the end of World War Two, when fruit was still rationed. The shop in question belongs to George Pegler & Co.

468

Harbour Office, Regent Quay, Aberdeen Harbour. Designed by A. Marshall Mackenzie 1883-5.

470

This building stood on the site now occupied by the Harbour Offices at Regent Quay and was erected in 1634. Small dues were levied there for the weighing and packing of goods and in this old structure were stored all sorts of unclaimed merchadise which were sold off at the end of a year and a day from the date of deposit. Latterly the building became a sail loft and was demolished in 1883.

502

A Leith registered fifie leaving Aberdeen Harbour. The white building seen behind the sails is the Round House, the Harbour Master's office, on the New Quay at Fittie. The fifie was a fast wind-powered sailing boat favoured for herring fishing on much of Scotland's east coast from the 1850s until well into the 20th century. Its main features were the vertical stem (front) and stern (back) and the wide beam (width) making them stable in the water. Fifies had two masts, a main dipping lugsail and a mizzen sail. Fifie's were increasingly decked following the recommendations of Captain Washington's 1849 report into the Moray Firth fishing disaster. See SCRAN's webpage on Scottish sail powered fishing boats for more information on the subject. The Tidal Harbour is in the background, beyond the landing stage of Pocra Quay's Lower Basin.

504

A photograph looking west along Victoria Dock in Aberdeen Harbour. Taken from the Wellington Street end of Waterloo Quay. The pontoon in the foreground may be serving as a floating lifeboat station. The presence of St. Nicholas House on the right gives a rough indication of period - latter half of the 20th century.

592

Large sailing ships in the Upper Dock of Aberdeen Harbour. Trinity Quay and the spire of the Town House are visible in the background.

641

This photograph shows the corner at the end of Regent Quay in the late 19th century. The building in the centre of the image, with pediment, is the offices of the Great North of Scotland Railway Company and to its left is the entrance to the Waterloo Railway Station. The railway station was opened by the company on 1st April 1856. It was built to supersede an existing station at Kittybrewster. Waterloo was once the station for all railway passengers and goods going between the city and the north. Trains coming and going from the south stopped at a nearby, but unconnected station on Guild Street. It had opened two years earlier in 1854 and was operated by rival railway company, the Scottish North-Eastern. Passengers with connecting trains would need to dash along Trinity and Regent Quay or wait for a bus. Connections were not guaranteed. It took Parliament to settle the differences between the companies. This saw the construction of the Joint Station, opened in November 1867, and the creation of the Denburn Valley Railway. Both Waterloo and Guild Street subsequently became stations for the transport of goods only. The buildings shown in this photograph were altered and eventually demolished in the 20th century. Remnants of the station can still be seen today in a small yard and the railway line following the old canal path and joining the main tracks heading north at Kittybrewster. On the right of this image can also be seen an building, likely a goods shed, of the Aberdeen, Newcastle & Hull Steam Company. This passenger ship service was founded in 1865 and had offices at 43 Marischal Street. The building to the left of Waterloo Station, far left here, was the site of an establishment called Berry's Hotel and served as various pubs until the late 1960s. It looks like it was closed or being refurbished at the time of this photograph. To the left of this image would be Commerce Street and Regent Quay. Waterloo Quay would begin to its right.

657

A George Washington Wilson photograph titled The Harbour Mouth, Aberdeen and numbered 505. The image looks north east from the fields above Old Torry. Point Law, dividing the River Dee channel and the Tidal Harbour, is largely undevelopment. It looks like construction work may be going on over the water at Pocra Quay. Correspondent Ed Fowler suggests that the large temporary looking building that can be seen across the water, past the round house on the New Quay, is of particular interest. He posits it was used to cast concrete blocks for an extension to the North Pier between 1869-77.

732

This photograph shows Marischal Street at its junction with Regent Quay, looking north towards Castle Street. It was built to improve the connection between the harbour and the main part of the city, which had previously only been accessible via the steep incline of Shore Brae and the Shiprow. In 1766, the Town Council were successful in purchasing the unoccupied Lodging of the Earl Marischal of Scotland which stood on the south side of the Castlegate. It was then demolished to open up the way for the new street, named in the Earl's honour. It was the first street in Aberdeen to be paved with dressed granite setts. Houses were built and were occupied by prosperous professional men such as Dr William Dyce; Andrew Roberston, William Young and Alexander Fraser; both to become Provosts of Aberdeen. These properties were mostly converted to commercial use in later years. The buildings on the right were replaced by the long and narrow, neo-classical building, designed by Robert Gordon Wilson and built in 1901-02, that can still be seen today at 33 Regent Quay.

1115

The Prince Regent Hotel with the entrance to 'The Jug' pub on the right. The house was once owned by Tommy Scott Sutherland, the famed architect.

1208

Trinity Lane, Aberdeen, c.1975, from Exchange Street. The Trinity place-name comes from the area once being the site of a Trinitarian Friary. The building to the right in this photograph was once known as Trinity Chapel, or Trinity Parish Church. It was opened for public worship on Sunday 27th April, 1794. For a number of years, the chapel was an important centre of religious life and activity. The Disruption of 1843 significantly diminished the congregation. The building was subsequently sold by the Presbytery and became the Alhambra Music Hall. See Gammie's Churches of Aberdeen (1909) for more information on the history of this congregation and building. A large part of the exterior still stands and the building currently houses Wagley's public house. In this photograph Alex. McKay, electrical appliance showroom, is in occupation. Newspaper notices indicate that the business moved here, from 41 The Green, in 1966. The building in the centre of the image is best known, as shown here, as a banana warehouse for Knowles & Sons, fruiterers and later as a restaurant and art gallery. It was originally built as a church for Aberdeen's Catholic Apostolic congregation. MUSA was a restaurant and art space, with a focus on music, throughout the first two decades of the 21st century. It closed down in October 2018. 8th March 2019 saw the opening of a new bar in the building called The Hop & Anchor, specialising in craft beer. It is owned by a company called the Draft House and this is their first pub outside London. The Draft House is owned by Brewdog, the North East beer company.

1244

Aberdeen Harbour's Pocra Quay with the Round House, the Harbour Master's Office, in the centre of the photograph and the Customs House on the right. This image was taken in the 1970s. This part of Pocra Quay was originally known as the New Quay.

1252

Aberdeen Harbour, Regent Quay with the Harbour Board Offices on the left, 1883-1885, designed by A. Marshall Mackenzie.