How did Dundee look in 1965?
The DC Thomson archives team has dug out a varied selection of photographs and they are sure to spark a memory or two.
Vanished views, changed landscapes and departed characters are captured.
In 1965 a pint of milk would have cost you 9p and a Ford Cortina £644.
Fancy a house?
The average house price was £3,344.
Dundee West Station was closed after the last train left for Glasgow.
The Rolling Stones performed at the Caird Hall.
That year also saw The Sound of Music, Doctor Zhivago and Thunderball being among the most popular films locally at places like the ABC and the Gaumont.
It’s now been 60 years since 1965, but for Dundonians of a certain vintage who were there and remember, it probably won’t feel like that long ago.
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.
Angus Garage
Angus Garage in North Tay Street on New Year’s Day in January 1965.
There was no shortage of garages and car showrooms in Dundee when vehicle ownership became widespread in the post-war years.
The showroom was selling vehicles from Hillman, Humber, Sunbeam and Commer.
Skyline Bowling Alley
The ten-pin bowling craze arrived in Dundee in the 1960s and eventually became a popular pastime for families and friends.
The Skyline bowling alley on Marketgait opened in 1965 with its futuristic “control girls” at the helm in costumes that were straight out of Star Trek.
There were two sets of lanes in the Skyline, which was a great place for a night out.
Jim Brady’s newsagent
Jim Brady’s shop in Lochee Road in January 1965.
Brady was well-known in Dundee as a former boxer and he won the British Empire bantamweight title against Kid Tanner at Tannadice Park on New Year’s Day 1941.
Brady’s shop was a former tram waiting room.
Charleston Drive
The new bus shelter on Charleston Drive in Menzieshill in January 1965.
There was no protection from the elements for passengers waiting for the bus.
Was this the finished article?
Hilltown
A view of the top of the Hilltown in February 1965.
The Bowbridge Bar on Mains Road is still serving customers today.
A man is up a ladder above Rough and Fraser and the Bilsland’s Bread van is driving past the Hilltown Clock which has stood there since 1900.
Dundee City Square
It is strange to see cars in City Square in February 1965.
Back in the 1960s and 1970s it was normal to see dozens of cars parked around the edge of the square before becoming pedestrian-only from 1986.
Some of the stores in the background include Maypole, Timpson and H Samuel.
Jill Gascoine gets married
Jill Gascoine started her acting career in the 1960s and had regular roles at Dundee Rep before working with Downfield Musical Society.
She married Dundee hotelier Bill Keith at St Andrew’s Parish Church in March 1965.
Jill helped to run the Greystane Hotel before finding fame starring in TV shows such as The Onedin Line, The Gentle Touch and C.A.T.S. Eyes
Lyon Street
A bus turning from Lyon Street into Albert Street in March 1965.
The Windsor Bar is still on the corner where a pint of lager 60 years ago would have cost you two shillings and four pence.
Does anyone remember the Broadway Café in the picture?
Dundee West Station
Opened in 1889, Dundee West Station was made from red sandstone with a broad, semi-circular booking office that offered access to four platforms.
British Rail reduced Dundee to one main station with passenger numbers dwindling.
The last train left on May 1 1965 – the 8pm to Glasgow – and more than 200 people gathered to wave it off before the station was demolished the following year.
Shore Terrace
The Shore Terrace bus stance at the back of the Caird Hall in May 1965.
The photograph was taken from the new Tay Road Bridge approach road looking over Dock Street, which was like a construction site.
When planned, it was envisaged 10,000 cars would cross daily from 1966.
Auld Dundee Pie Shop
The Auld Dundee Pie Shop at Castle Street was a household name in the city from the turn of the 20th Century until it closed down in 1977.
The Scotch pie – or ‘peh’ in Dundonian – became a large part of the city’s culture.
During the Second World War the queues for pies used to stretch down to the bottom of the street, as they were a welcome supplement to wartime rations.
Jamieson Brothers
A row of delivery vehicles, including Kellogg’s and HP Sauce, waiting outside the Jamieson Bros cash-and-carry warehouse in Clepington Road in May 1965.
The new warehouse, a 21,000-square foot unit, was described as a “supermarket for shopkeepers, hoteliers and boarding house owners”.
Stock valued at over £70,000 was inside the building in 1965.
Rockwell Works
A worker is pictured with new “beaming” machinery at the Boase Spinning Company which was based at Rockwell Works.
The company was a flax spinner and manufacturer.
After the decline of the jute industry, the mill was used by Okhai for manufacturing crisp packets before the site was razed to the ground in 1988.
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones performed two shows at the Caird Hall in June 1965.
The Marryat Hall next door was turned into a casualty station after 40 “screaming and sobbing girls” were treated by ambulance crews after becoming hysterical.
Before the gig they were taken for a photo shoot for teen girl magazines Romeo and Jackie at the Taypark Hotel in Broughty Ferry.
Gelly Burn
A view of Gelly Burn on Dundee’s Strathmartine Road in September 1965.
Children are sitting on the footbridge.
A prefab is in the background, which was among the 1,500 erected by Dundee Corporation to deal with the post-war housing shortage.
They started to disappear gradually, making way for newer dwellings in the 1960s.
It is the final image in our 1965 gallery.
Did our pictorial trip back in time jog any memories for you?
Let us know.
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