![Some of the shops in the new shopping precinct at Monifieth in 1975. Image: DC Thomson.](https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/10/H308-1975-09-XX-Monifieth-Shopping-Precinct-%E2%92%B8DCT_51672310-fc1wer9q-scaled-e1698753608513-1hm8eyltd-940x564.jpg)
Monifieth has a rich history that can be traced back to the Picts, and the Angus town is the focus of this week’s pictorial trip back in time.
The DC Thomson archives team has dug out a varied selection of photographs featuring shops, churches and landmarks which are sure to spark a memory or two.
Grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy having another browse back through the ages courtesy of The Dundonian, which appears in the Evening Telegraph every Wednesday.
Some of these photographs have not been seen for years.
Do these awaken any memories for you?
1958
Monifieth Gasworks in 1958, which became a feature of the town’s skyline from the late 19th Century – before the discovery and exploitation of North Sea oil.
Much of the gasworks was cleared by the 1960s and the site is now a recycling centre.
1967
Thousands of people would spend their annual vacation in Monifieth in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, before most “bucket and spade” breaks were taken abroad.
The Broughty Ferry Guide and Advertiser in August 1960 reported how the site was welcoming caravanners from as far south as Hastings and as far north as Wick.
One seasoned caravan dweller declared it the finest site he had sampled.
1972
Originally built in 1872, Monifieth South Church was located on Hill Street and became surplus to requirements on the amalgamation of the burgh’s kirks in 2014.
The kirk lay empty for a number of years and was put on Scotland’s buildings-at-risk register in 2016, before Angus Council approved plans for a housing conversion.
1972
The “new” Monifieth Shopping Centre pictured in June 1972.
The ironmonger was a real Aladdin’s Cave of wonders which sold anything and everything and many people will remember the unmistakeable smell of the shop.
1972
The shopping precinct car park in June 1972.
The Vault pub and the Spar shop can be seen and other businesses in the 1970s included Lambert’s Shoe Shop, the Star Café and Piggott’s the Butcher.
1976
Can anyone remember what this was all about?
Sewage is running down Grange Road in January 1976 and one workman is using a digger and another strikes with a pick-axe to get at the source of the blockage.
1976
The sheltered housing complex at Tay Court in October 1976.
A woman is walking past with a pram in this shot from the DC Thomson archives, and you can also see one of the tenement blocks in the background.
1976
The names might have changed over the years but the row of shops and businesses on Monifieth High Street look the same today as they did back in October 1976.
Some of the vehicles would now be considered in the “cult classic” variety.
1976
The popularity of the shopping centre saw a new pelican crossing in Monifieth High Street, which came into operation in November 1976.
Has much changed?
1976
This is High Street in September 1976 with the Burmah garage in the background.
Petrol back in 1976 was 77p a gallon, although there were also fewer cars on the road.
1978
The need for a school serving secondary pupils from Monifieth and Barnhill became apparent in the 1960s, when the Angus burgh was the fastest growing in the area.
The 1,050-capacity, £2m Monifieth High School building opened in 1979 and was split into three separate blocks “attractively finished in brown brick facing”.
1979
The go-kart track opened in 1977 at Riverview Park and was operated by Tom Smith of Speedkarts Ltd, who also ran the Low Road Garage in Auchtermuchty.
The 10-year lease expired in 1987 but people of a certain vintage will remember paying £1 to go three times around the track against the backdrop of those huge dunes.
1979
It may have been Carnoustie where Tom Watson lifted his first Claret Jug after winning the Open championship but it was another Angus town that introduced the American to golf in Scotland in 1975.
The then 25-year-old, who was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1949, got his first taste of links golf at Monifieth, after he discovered nearby Carnoustie was closed for practice games ahead of his first Open.
The practice round helped him come to terms with the peculiarities of links golf and he went on to win the Claret Jug after a play-off against Jack Newton from Australia.
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