The theme for this week’s pictorial trip down memory lane is horses.
The archives team at DC Thomson have gathered a selection of images going back almost 100 years which feature horses out and about in Dundee.
These include a Grand National winner opening a bookies and the black Shire horse called Paddy who was a familiar and much-loved sight in the city.
Paddy came to Dundee aged four and was owned by Malcolm Street haulage contractors Robert Adam, where Chic was employed.
His coat was so shaggy that Mr Adam was said to have remarked: “Aye, he’s a real Irish horse, that fellow.”
So his name just had to be Paddy.
Along his regular route in his native Hilltown, people would wait for his arrival to feed him titbits, and he was especially fond of carrots.
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?
Horse-drawn tram
The Dundee and District Tramway Company Ltd was formed in 1877 and operated horse-drawn omnibuses and trams.
It was then that the first tram trundled from Albert Square to Windsor Street via Reform Street, Nethergate and Perth Road.
Overgate
A horse-drawn cart making its way along Overgate in March 1938.
The Overgate at the time was full of colourful characters and packed with shops, pubs, flea-markets, entertainers, waxworks and morbid curiosities.
Royal Highland Show
The Royal Highland Show started as a travelling show.
The event visited Dundee five times and the Queen Mother missed a day at Royal Ascot to attend at Riverside Park in 1957 where 131,000 attended.
Dundee’s last work horse
The last working horse in Dundee, Paddy was a familiar and much-loved sight in the city in the 1960s and early ’70s.
The big, black Shire and his carter, Chic Donaldson, collected bales of jute from the docks and delivered them to mills across Dundee.
Paddy nears the end of the road…
Paddy retired at the age of 12 in 1973.
This was due to a combination of factors – jute mills were closing and lorries were taking on Paddy’s job.
Grand National winner
Red Rum proved he was the people’s champion when he stopped traffic after taking to the streets of Dundee in 1982.
Rummy spent the night at stables in Invergowrie before travelling to Dundee where he was making a public appearance at the William Hill betting shop.
Camperdown Park
Parks department staff at Camperdown Park in July 1984, taking delivery of Bruce, the Clydesdale horse, on loan from farmer Jim Somers of Perth.
The five-year-old gelding became an added attraction to the park.
Dudhope Park
The Clydesdale horse giving children a ride in July 1987 at Dudhope Park.
This was part of the Dundee Community Festival where various side shows and stalls attracted 3,000 people with cart rides proving particularly popular.
Lochee Road
Ron Howie gets to work in Lochee Road in October 1987.
He was cleaning flower beds, aided by Bruce, the parks department’s own Clydesdale.
Easter fun
Horse and carts rides were among the attractions on Easter Sunday in 1988.
The Courier said “the world, his wife, their children and every conceivable size and variety of Easter egg ever invented” were there on the day.
Broughty Ferry
Santa was ringing the bell in Broughty Ferry in December 1990.
The big man was aboard the Broughty Traders’ Association festive horse and cart as it went round the streets collecting money and spreading good cheer.
Riding school
Riders enjoying a ride on their horses at Camperdown Park in May 1990.
They were members of a horse riding school that operated from the stables.
Hot to trot in 1997
Easter Fun Day at Camperdown Park in 1997.
A horse and cart ride was among the attractions and some 15,000 people joined in the fun, with around 5,000 cars alone flooding in through the gates.
It is the final image in our gallery of horses in Dundee.
Did our pictorial trip back in time jog any memories for you?
Let us know.
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