Reminiscences - People

I lived above Andrew Woodcock in mentioned  78, Lochee Road. I live near Aberdeen now, but last time I drove down Lochee road, the old tenement had been demolished. Andrew's brother Stuart was my pal during that time and my brother Andrew B was Andrew W's pal. All the "noisy" families lived over one another. Read more......

I was born in 1946 brought up in City Road (the roadie) as we called it. I went to Blackness Primary school the Logie Secondary, I was in the netball and swimming teams in both schools. I remember the old baths when there were 3 pools.

Childhood memory of my mum taking my brother and myself down the Old Overgate to the pea buster stall then over to Greenhill for our Saspirilla (Black Sass). Read more......

I was born in Maryfield  Hospital in 1950 and lived  in Buchanan Street until we got moved to Douglas in 1953. I went to St Vincent school until age 7 when a new school St Pius was built opposite my house  in Balmerino Road. I used to love going to the baths on Saturday morning one week and the Gaumont on another, I used to love going through the Arcade under the  Caird Hall and see the roast chicken turning on the spit. It made me feel really hungry.

With regards to Stanley's comment, Baxter Park Terrace was a block away from Baldovan Terrace, running from Pitkero Road to Arbroath Road. Park Avenue ran from Baxter Park along the bottom of Baldovan Terrace, crossing Morgan Street and into Albert Street.

I've just read about Nighebhoy on his way to school. The shop opposite Rosefield Street was called the Gift Shop and was Arthur Spinks mum's shop, the well known Dundee accordion player, he was boyhood pal of mine and I can still hear  his mum shouting 'Arthur, time to practice'.

I first lived at 21 Kinloch Street at the foot of the Law Hill. An old tenement with 1 bedroom and kitchen/front room. The coalman used to come in and dump the bag of coal in the space under the wooden draining board. We moved to Findcastle Street in 1953 and we thought it was great, a new house and a garden. I went to St. Vincent's infants and primary school. It was a long walk to school. Then on to St. Michael's in Graham Street, we got a penny transfer for 2 buses. Used to go the Marryat (near Caird Hall) and the Palais to see all the bands. Read more......

The Blue Mountains at the bottom of the Hawkhill on the left hand side were called after an Italian man came to Dundee and lived in that tenement, he was so homesick that he painted the blue mountains on  the wall of his flat to remind him of his home near the Blue Mountains in Italy .

I worked at the Veeder Root factory at Gourdie from 1977-79. I really liked working there making tachographs, sitting in long rows of women working away some with jigs some putting small parts together. My family lived in Fintry at 31 or 32 Findcastle Terrace opposite the primary school. My aunt's sister worked there also, Rosemary Pillins, and my friend Jackie Clancy, I think she later joined the navy. Her aunt Francis was really nice. Happy memories. 

I went to Mitchell Street school from 1966-68, primary 6 and 7 classes. My parents lived my mum's parents at 70 Polepark Road after coming back from New Zealand. Miss Joan Drumond was my teacher lovely lady and some of my classmates names; June Campbell, Marion Foy, Marion Finnie, Hazel Stuart, Flora Mcrae, Harry Knapp, Betty MacIntosh, Kevin Fyfe, lots more but don''t remember their names. Catherine Cvjetkovic nee Scott. Western Australia. 

I was born in Germany as my dad was in the RAF. Unfortunately my mum died before my second birthday and we moved to Dundee to live with my mum's parents in Linlathen at Blacklock Crescent. We were not well off, but at the same time I had everything for a great childhood. I went to St Vincent's Primary School where Miss McManus was my teacher and what a great teacher she was. All the kids loved her. Her father was the Lord Provost no less! Some time later my father remarried and we moved to West Lothian, however I've always considered Dundee as my home town. Read more......

I lived in St David's Lane, West Port, we used to play in the "Blue Mountains" on the Blackie. I have recently heard they were called the infamous Blue Mountains, does anyone know why?

Grew up in St.Mary's during the 60s. I especially remember the visits to the grannies house above the Windsor Bar for Sunday dinner. After dinner the adults listened to Stranger on the Shore and me and my wee sister watched the people and traffic on Princess Street from the sitting room window.

Born in Clement Park 1947, then lived in 21 Step Row and remember going and getting hard sticks of thin black liquorice and putting it in a lemonade bottle with a rubber stopper, filled with water, then put it under the bed for 2 weeks, boy you can't imagine what a great drink that was. Read more......

Pray conversation
May never be 'non-event'
As Information Technology
Floods with intent

Attempted business calls
(even with Smart Phones)
Can drive to sheer distraction
Lowering language tones

"We ARE very busy
Thank you for holding the line
Your call IS valuable to us"
(But it's wasting precious time)

"Press 1, 2 or 3 (instructs automation)
(in welcomed surprise)
"Or 4 - without hesitation
To connect with one who'll advise" Read more......

I was born in the front bedroom at 1, Craighill Place in 1946. My first school was the hutty at the bottom of Pitarlie Road, them went to the Rainbow, had great times playing and dancing in the backies where it was all tarmacked, somebody would put a record player on their window and we would jive away, even Mum's would join in, great days and not a care in the world.

Lived in Findcastle Place in Fintry late 50's early 60's . My father was the milkmam and I and 3 other boys delivered milk with him. I started at age 11 and finished when I was 16. We worked from 5 30 in the morning until 7 30. Carried two metal crates with 8 bottles of milk in each 364 days, got New Year's Day off. The winter was horrible used to go round hands and feet frozen, snot dripping but summer was great because when we finished the milk we would catch the berry lorry at Fintry shops and pick berries all day. Make a fortune. 

I remember walking to school in the morning and stopping at the shop that used to be on Milnbank Road across from the bottom of Rosefield Street. You got a 2p mix which did the whole day. At that time I was at Blackness Primary on Blackness Road. I had been moved from Mitchell Street Primary the year before. On the way home at night we would go past the police box on Milnbank Road next to the playpark to see if there was a policeman there we could talk to and ask questions.

My family moved to Carnegie Tower in November 1967, when I was 10. Carnegie Tower was the first of the 4 tower blocks to be built in Alexander Street. Previously in that area, there had been streets full of old small shops and tenements where families lived, mainly in cramped conditions and sharing outside toilets with neighbours. I was an only child and we had lived only a few hundred yards away in a one bedroomed first floor tenement flat at 76 James Street. Read more......

I note the photograph of the Princess Cinema, I am the laddie on the bike, the photo taken by someone from D.C. Thomson about May 1959. I lived at 88, Hawkhill from 1951-53 and went to Tay Street School. Them moved away to Paisley. Came back in 1958 and lived in Rosefield Street. My mum had a second hand shop and a cafe in Brook Street, bottom of Larch Street. I remember playing in the high landie. Only remember one person from Tay Street School, a lass called Ella McGuiken who loved in Park Row until about 1960. She was a bonnie dancer. Read more......

I moved from Montrose to Dundee and worked as a porter in the D.R.I. After a spell at Step Row off the Perth Road, we were given a house in Dunbeg Place, Trottick. We came to know some ot the residents and still keep in touch with Betty and Ian. My brother, who was a chef in the D.R.I. and I played golf at Caird Park. Ian and I frequently visited the Claverhouse (Ian called it the slaverhouse) on Saturday nights. Happy days.

My grandfather Simon McIntosh was stage manager of the King's Theatre and prior to that of the Palace Theatre. I have his autograph book with some of the 'stars' like Harry Lauder and pictures of that time.

I was brought up in Cherryfield Lane, one memory I have is of Harry Deaks horses coming home from a hard days work on the building sites, sometimes a horse would slip on the cobbles and crash to the ground, this terrified my pals and me to see the horse struggling to get up, we thought the only safe place to get away was to run up three storey's in the building opposite. The year would have been in the 1940s and I would be about six or seven.

Our family lived in Linlathen next to Mossgiel and Linlathen High School which are no longer there. Times were hard but we made do playing football in the street, making swings on trees, playing street games such as ghems up the poley, kick the can..this was late 60s/70s...we would go to Swanny Ponds, Baxter Park and Den o Mains. I remember as a kid going to Caird Park with a wheelbarrow to collect twigs/broken branches for the coal fire, going to Pitkerro Rd newspaper shop for the penny tray which had all kinds of sweets...wish I got pics from those days. 

I was born in 1946, and lived on Baldovan Terrace until 1958. I was reading the letter from Magnus Walker about growing up on Park Street. Baldovan Terrace is one block away from Park Street. He stated that he played in Baxter Park and Stobbie Pond which were both placed that I also played at. I was just wondering if I knew him. I moved to the U.S. in 1961 where I have lived ever since. I am now also retired, and live in Buffalo, New York. I enjoy your articles on auld Dundee. They bring back many memories. Many thanks.

I live in Birmingham now, but grew up in Linlathen with my Gran and Aunt Norah looking after me as my mother was ill in the DRI. I went to a few schools, enjoyed the freedom of playing in and out of the prefabs in Fountainbleau Drive, climbing the gate on the bridge which leads to Fintry where my aunts later moved to. The Den o Mains was the place to be at Easter. I have seen pictures of the Rainbow School and Stobswell which I went to but can't find St Michaels. O well happy days.

The day war broke out it was one week to my 8th birthday and I spent it with my family. We were evacuated to Banchory, Aberdeenshire. We had never seen green fields or cows and we had to walk one and a half miles to school. I was amazed but loved it. We stayed for six years and did not want to come back.

Round City circles (in roundabout way)
Travellers are travelling every day

Inner circles - outer circles
Serving old and young

'The Circle' falls fluently
From the tongue

May she remain
True to her own good name

Leaving little doubt
She knows with certainty

She's a Roundabout

I am trying to remember the name of the street game where you put a ball inside a woman's nylon stocking and hit it against the wall, above your head and between your legs? Anybody know?

I was brought up in Polepark by my dad Frank Traynor and the lovely Ann and Bert Small who owned a little grocer shop at 16 Polepark Road. They took over the majority of my care after my mum sadly died when I was four years old.

I have many happy memories of the jute workers who came into the shop and the actors from the Rep Theatre which was in the church at the top of Polepark. It was a lovely time to grow up and a caring way of life when people all looked after their neighbours. Ann and Bert Small ran a lovely wee shop and were kind to their customers. Read more......

The parrot that sat on the milk crates outside Keillors shop at the bottom of the Blackie, the sledging down the brae from the Blackie to the burn, so many kids there we had to line up to get your turn. Great days, but we were all kids then, we didn't know about life then.The woman that sold puff candy across from St Joseph's school, that's just a wee bit of great memories.

The Citadel – now razed to the ground
Leaves behind the silent sound
Of Salvation Army Silver Bands
Of tambourines in soldiers happy hands

Songs of praise of “Blood and Fire”
A motto truly to inspire

No last post or bugle sound
As her walls came tumbling to the ground

I also worked at Bonar and Long back in 1969 for about 1 year to 18 months. I worked in the office and was friends with Irene Lawrence and Ted Johnstone. Ted was a draftsman. I moved out of the country and lost tough with both of them.

I was born in 1947 in Blackshade - a great place to grow up. Prefabs like little bungalows with front and back gardens! Open grassed areas for endless football and woods for countless adventures! Hatties was the first newsagent (hat never left his head) it was at the top of Iona Street. The only other shop to start with was Sandies at the St Mary's brae roundabout. Read more......

A beautiful setting by the sea
What a surprise to me
Dundee City of Discovery
With the river called the Tay
Yes it takes your breath away
As I view from the Law
Scenery to beat them all

David Barrie, 1995

An Aladdin’s cave it seemed tae be
In the early 80’s – for you an’ me!

Bargain-huntin’ hopin’ tae find
Perhaps an unusual “Vassart” (signed)

Or Clarice Cliff – Moorcroft – Weymss Ware
Among the junk depositied there

For many stall-holders a family affair
Workin’ the’ gather selling their ware

Some selt second-hand claes
That’d mair’n often seem better days!
An’ if the ‘student-look’ was in the mind
It was nae ower hard tae find
Odd apparel has an academic ring
An’ youth (ye ken) must hae it’s fling Read more......

The sweetest of love songs
I'll bring to you
Greeting each morning
As sunlight peeps through

Singing ever so softly
Lyrics so true
A sweet little love song
Meant only for you
 

Victoria Park – The Angus Show
Marvellous weather – off we go!
Horses – sheep – cattle calls
Competitions – colourful stalls

“Guess the weight of the bull today!”
But he wasn’t in sight – he’d run away!

£10 prize for the lucky winner
But by the time he was caught
Was he several kilos thinner?

Early in the morning he’d broken loose
No one ready with a noose

Red Alert was the call today
Constable Shepherd made his way
Crook in hand – eager to go
Chasing the bull around the show Read more......

Desperate Dan
A 60th birthday tribute 1997
(BSE Scare year)

Hi! There Desperate Dan
D.C.Thomson’s ‘Dandy’ man
Tough as nails – stubble on chin
From Cactusville your were ‘drawn-in’
In 1937 – to comic page
Immediately to centre-stage

With enormous strength and appetite
Gigantic cow-pies were your delight
But menus change – less beef jerky
More fish and veg and legs of  turkey

Your boots have raised a lot of dust
Spurs gathering reader-trust
Returning every week
To ‘sit-com’ and havoc wreak Read more......

Bash Street – the newest in Dundee
Celebrated the 60th anniversary
Of Bash Street Kids – Class 2B
They were a’ there – jumpin’ up ’n’ doon wi’ glee
The kids wir chuffed
Dennis The Menace – wiz affay huffed!

The Headmaster (in robe and mortar board)
Taen it a’abroad
Ordering biscuits and tea
The janitor there tae see
Crumbs were swept (but beein’ lazy)
He broucht the cat tae make it easy Read more......

I lived at 20 Kings Cross Road Beechwood up to the early seventies then moved to Kirkton when I was thirteen. I remember a newspaper vendor called Johnny Croll who used to give us a few bob to deliver the telegraph to the industrial estate through the hole in the wall in Beechwood,we also used to collect empty lemonade bottles from the factories then take them to Margi McBains sweetie shop and receive a few pennies for them. Halcyon days indeed.

I was born in Maryfield Hospital in 1947. My mum Ruby Fisken was a long time nurse there. My dad Jim played the piano in a local band that played at the dancehalls. I used to go and sit by his side. By the time the night was over, you couldn't see anyone's heads for the secondhand smoke.

In summer, I loved going for a day at Broughty Beach. When the bus would start and stop, all the shells of the wilks would run back and forward. Read more......

Wha remembers “Napper” Thamson
And his jaunty bus tours
Lavin’ early in the morning’s
Comin’ hame at a th ‘oors

In the fifties – oot for a run
Soakin’ in some summertime sun

Remember ‘Napper’s’ furniture store
Wi fancy goods an’ welcomin’ door
Furniture – toys o’ every kind
Walk roond – mak’ up yer mind

Browse roond – dinna be shy
Naebody’s forced tae buy

Display cabinets – radiograms
Quilts for cots an prams
Single an double beds
Striped flannelette sheets an candlewick spreads Read more......

Wha’s no takin’
Their turn o’ the stair
Wha’s no takin’
Their turn o’ the stair
Dowpies – spent matches
Stour lyin’ there
Oh! Wha’s no takin’ their
Turn o’ the stair

There’s somebody’s washin’
On my streetcher line
There’s somebody’s washin’
On my streetcher line
Socks an’ pyjamas
Nane o’ them mine
Somebody’s washing’s
On my streetcher line

Wha’s no takin’
Their turn o’ the stair
Wha’s no takin’
Their turn o’ the stair
Fluff frae last Seturday
Auld mattin hair
Oh! Wha’s no takin’ their
Turn o’ the stair

Remember wartime ration books
The ingenuity of wartime cooks
Nothing allowed to go to waste
Porridge becoming a familiar taste

Tatties and neeps (stomaches-full)
Peas from the kailpot to chew at school
Remember tops of eggs being taken
For tea – it was no joke
Kids then seldom tasted yoke

Powdered egg in a tin
Less sugar and sweets (more saccharin)
Baked rice, raisins, curds an’ whey
Custard and rhubarb – desserts of the day Read more......

Tattie howkin’ in bygone days
Reminiscin’ auld ways
Up i’ the mornin’ wi’ the dawn
Scarcely e’er the cock had crawn
On tractor bogie tae fertile fields
Harvestin’ precious yields

Smell o’ diesel – strictly measured drill
Wicker sculls – strewn tae fill
Muscles achin’ – backs bent
Scatterer scatterin’ wi’ intent
Up ae drill – doon ainither
In a’ different kinds o’ weather Read more......

Within dregged teacups
Silhouetted leaves in scattered profusion
Are drawn into irregular mysterious patterns
By an unknown hand

Will their shapes satisfy the seated listener today!

The translator – searching thro’ compelling creative artistry
- pauses – aware of tangible outlines

Carefully, selectively (in the trust which is strong between them)
- he utters his impressions

Images of the future! – Perhaps

But how many desires are made of gold
And how many teardrops does this teacup hold
 

I spy with my little eye
Down by the shore
Fulsome flotsam – effluent galore
Entangled refuse – broken glass
Canine litter fouling the grass
Walking along stony beach
Pollutants within offensive reach
Sewage slapping rock and shingle
On high water mark they intermingle
Seducing whelk breeding ground
With sensuous sweet soothing sound
Consider harvesting in haste
Thro’ contaminating clinical waste
Sharps freely ebb and flow
Nomadic – their numbers grow
They deride
Predictability of each turning tide.

Wha remembers the Palais
The Locarno an’ the Chalet
Kidd’s Room an’ Gray’s Rooms
An’ pals th’gither at th’ looms
Plannin’ a nicht at the Empress
Tae dance wi’ lads in spivy dress
Or enjoy Hawhill’s Robbies
Or partner Hilltoun Proggies

There were dancers – romancers
And the inevitable bunch o’chancers
The quickstep and rhumba
Foxtrot – tango and samba
The energetic jump an’ jive
It was a great time tae be alive
Big band sound – crooner’s voice
Last waltz – ladies choice Read more......

Saturday was buster day
Chums eagerly made their way round Boots' corner
Past Greenhills sarasparilla (Black Sass)
Mid Kirk Style outings for a lad and lass

Late 40s - early 50s the old Overgate
Was where they kept that special date
Sitting by the fire to eat
Tupp'ny busters - a weekend treat

Winter - summer - the stall was warm
Coke-fire sparks caused alarm
When chip-pans on top (remember)
Spat boiling fat to red-hot ember
Rocketing fire to boot-lace thongs
(Before retreival with heay tongs) Read more......

I'm gazing at you from this coffin
Unwittingly fashioned by hand
Laid out reslendent in plush velvet jacket
Looking remarkable grand Read more......

Abusing alcohol!
Consider - you might lose control
One drink - maybe two
Till one day it's got a hold on you
Blurring vision
Scorching the mind
Entering dimension of a different kind
Encouraging the soul's demise
Till - ultimately - thro' despairing eyes
Despising the vessel from which you sip
You're compelled to raise to your lip
In nauseous intoxication
Consider the risks being taken

On Sunday evenings church-bells chime
Heradling bingo-time
Worshippers congregate religiously
To queue and wait Read more......

My flat is very small
Four metres from wall to wall
Scarcely room to hang a hat
Let alone swing a cat
But I have a pelican - who - what's more
Lays chocolate cream eggs by the score Read more......

The rainbow faded to black and white
Willows bowed their branches low
Woodlands of evergreen pine
Wore weeds of indigo Read more......

Pay now - die later!
Consult a funeral undertaker
Discussing - on personal request
Arrangements
For 'laying to rest' Read more......

Have I ever told you
You have a heart of corn
Or that the sun shone brighter
The day that you were born Read more......

Crowds gather in anticipation
Showing their appreciation
The footman grinds the hurdy gurdy
In tuneful animation
A monkey turns to look around
Two bluebirds take their station - Almost midday
Precisely then - the clock becomes alive
Unicorn gallops and nods his head
To the cat's fiddling jive Read more......

Spending a most enjoyable and comfortable evening in Queen's Hotel on Friday 15th November 2013 with former employees of Watson and Philip (Food Importers, Dundee) I only recognised one person there - ME - my reflection in the cloakroom mirror. Years have rolled. After all 1951-1953 were the years I was in the firm's employment. It was my second job after leaving Rockwell High School at the age of fourteen-and-a-half. Read more......

Auld clinker hull and mast
And sail-spar frae the past
Anchor near the beach
Yards awa' frae slipway reach.
Shreds o' shroud and strands o' net
Cling reverently yet
Tae fragments o' forestay at the bow.
Her workin' keel back-broken now. Read more......

May Christmas-time be white
Snowflakes falling thro' the night
May tinsel - mistletoe - Christmas trees
Join in harmony to please Read more......

What about this lady who was a bible singer from the old Overgate. She had a hall above the 60 minute cleaners and was blind. She used to sing in City Square on a Sunday and we used to call her organ over from her hall. In these days we used to go with her to public houses for a donation, and she got quite a bit of money in them days. In her hall we used to sing all bible songs and she had acute hearing and knew by your walking who was doing anything wrong. Her hall was freezing at times as we used to stand on chairs to get warm etc. Read more......

A seagull - fancy free
Requested directions to the sea
To see what he'd never seen before
Perhaps travel to a sandy shore

 Read more......

Standinn' in a lang queue
Tae see the double-bill
Ootside the Plaza
On the middle o' the Hull
Some frae Norrie's Pend
Ann Street - Coldside
Winchin' couples haudin' hands
Waitin' tae get inside Read more......

Land o' Cakes whaur pies were born
Nae true Dundonian dare wad scorn
A dinner '' Wallace's juicy pies
Mooth-waterin' sicht afore oor eyes
Succulent mince - a joy tae savour
Nae ither dinner has sic' flavour
Bairns love them - dads an' mums
Grannies - grandads an' their chums
Enjoy pies, tatties an' warmed baked beans
A royal dish tae serve yer freens

The Auld Overgate's up an awa
Wi Tally Street and Thorter Raa
Whaur Cafe Royal's atmosphere
Brimmed an frothed wi custome cheer Read more......

I remember the royal arch in the early 1960s nobody in Dundee at that time liked it. It was like most buildings in the town centre covered with black soot generated by the smoke from all the mills and domestic fires in the town centre. This was before the clean air act was applied in Scotland. It was covered in black soot which was  contrasted with the white bird droppings deposited on it. Dundonians were happy to see it go.

 

I've just came across this site by accident and its wonderful to read old  stories and look at old photos of Dundee. I was born at the foot of the  Hulltoon (as it was known) in Sheperd's Pend (46 Hilltown), when I was 4 we swapped houses with my Grannie to 20 Hulltoon. They called it Meekie Land I went to St Mary's Forebank and St John's schools growing up 1944 to 1959. They were great days.
 Read more......

I was in the twist marathon with hubby Jim McKenzie at the JM ballroom, he won world champ once. My sister Marilyn and our brother Ray all lived in the West Port, St David's Lane.

I was born in Dundee in 1948, although we did move away for a number of years as my father was in the RAF. We came home in 1961 just in time for the swinging sixties when it was all happening. Saturday night was the Marryat night and it was fantastic. Then having a blether at the coffee stall before catching the last bus home and woe betide me if I wasn't home off that bus. Happy days!

Re Ian Robertson's memories of his time spent working at Bonar Long, I worked there as well from 1957 to 1960 and remember the Test Department. The foreman of the test was Frank Spalding. An apprentice was electrocuted I remember in the test bay. I remember Douglas Berry (research) Roy Macdonald Factory Manager and Ronnie Anderson (Assembly - Frank Herschell (Winding) and a guy called Franklin who was managing director. I now live in rural Manitoba, Canada. but have many happy memories of my time spent at Bonar Long.

I was reading your summary about Vyachaslev Molotov and it reminded me that, while walking around Emmock woods one day early in the war, my father and I saw a large plane land at Tealing aerodrome (Handley Page Hereford?). My father at that time worked for WP Robertson who provided chauffeur-driven hire cars/taxis in the city. Read more......

I used to wind the Auld Steeple clock every week. I was apprenticed to Wullie Reid who was responsible for maintaining many of the citys' turret clocks in the mid 50s. Later, around 1957-9 I wound the clock at the Royal Arch. The West Station clock was also refurbished by Jack Knight and I. We worked for Rattray the Jewellers at that time. Great memories of these years.

I was brought up in Ninewells and am now 63 years old. It is amazing how much this place has changed in a fairly short time. Gone is Bill Davidson's wee shop, Joe Johnstone's smiddy, Lauries's nursery and the greenhouses behind it. Ninewell's garage is still there, albeit much changed and no longer a petrol station. There was also another petrol station close to where the railway bridge crossed over the Perth Road by Johnny Callaghan's scrapyard. Read more......

I remember the Scene 1 disco, behind the boutique that was open during the day. I remember plunking off school to see the Hollies who opened it.

My mother used to take me to Gray's cinema when we lived in Paton's Lane in the 40's.

Played down the Magdalen green on the swings and in the band stand, used to love going to the fair, lots of happy memories of Dundee.

We lived in MacVicars Lane off the Perth Road for a while but in 1959 we moved to Millars Wynd. I went to the Demonstration School in Park Place and remember some classmates names like Kenny Campbell, Ronald Koppel, Alistair Soutar, Diane Buick, Cherry Leaper, Jaqueline McMaster and Stewart Patterson. Our headmaster was John Gunning and it truly was the best education a child could have. The teachers like Mr Watson, Mrs McFeet and Miss Gregg were simply the best. Read more......

I remember the Empress Ballroom beside the Royal Arch. It was called recory roundabout. I went with my friends and we were still at school as we were aged 14. We paid 1/6 admission and we loved every moment of it.

Does anyone remember the disco that opened up in the Overgate Centre called Scene 1? It was not there very long.

I have a 1935 copy of a puBlication from Glasgow called 'The Bulletin' I could not find any reference to it but there is an advertisement on the back page for Beattie's Bread, I recall my Nanny speaking about different products from Scotland and England and this is one of them. Is it still in business? Just curious.

Spent a lot of my school holidays at my grans in Catherine Street, Dundee and with my auntie and uncle in Monifieth. Always remember 'Land O Cakes' scones and getting eggs and four from there. Also the chippie and mealie puds. Mum was a Dundonian and dad served in the fire service for a while. Good times!

I have fond memories of growing up in Beechwood, living in a tenement in Kingscross road. I remember playing and making dens,  and having many adventures at the miley. I think its still there and keep meaning to visit. Maybe one day. I wish my old house was still there.
 

On Main Street I loved the smell coming oot o' Johnnie Norries candy store... Magic!
 

Playing football in the streets all day/night, greengrocer vans, ice-cream vans. Happy days, real family days, a community, the days oe the Waltons. Skint knees, holy-troosers, base-ball shoes, plym-soles(sand-shoes)and punk-rock, bring it on, bring it on...bring it on.

As I sat on my dad’s knee
Many stories he told me
They were always of the same wee thing
Everyone different, made my heart sing. Read more......

Fincraig Street in the summer of the 1960s.

PlayingThe pong of the bins, nappies, endless nappies on the line in the “backies”. Elvis on the radio from upon verandas and beer bottle Andy with his long black sack collecting last nights booze refuse. Bumble bees in jars with clover stuffed inside and chalking boxes on the pavements while the green nurse passed by. Read more......

I remember when the Queen came to town about 1957 or 58. There was a bus provided by the school, we were transported to the Kingsway to see her but when everybody had to get their bus back I got lost and another bus had to take me to the Eastern School in Broughty Ferry.

We lived in tenement at the bottom of Blackness Road / Brook Street. Only gas, no electricity and the loo was on the landing, my mother having to clean her part of the stairs, and as Billy Connolly would say we used an old army greatcoat as an eiderdown. Then the exciting time of moving to St Mary's to a three bedroom house with garden and a great treat of having a loo and bath indoors. Even though I was only 2/3 I remember the journey in the back of a removal van from our old tenement to our new home. Great days, I wish I could rewind and go back to those days (time move on). Read more......

Born 23 Hilltown 1926. The Progie Dance Hall, Norries Pend, the Wellgate Steps, always plenty action. Owned the Silvery Tay. Chipper in Menzieshill before moving to USA. My dad owned a chip shop at 21 Hilltown in 1926. I remember Andy Reekie the seven foot cop and Dirty Joe selling roasted chestnuts at the end of Dudhope Street.

Deserted natural habitats
Abandoned sea shores
Where have all the gulls gone?
Flying to fast-food stores! Read more......