How did Perth Road in Dundee look in the 1980s and 1990s?
One of Dundee’s oldest streets, Perth Road connects Dundee’s West End to the city centre and little has changed in the architecture over the decades.
Some of the businesses have been there for over a century.
Many are long gone.
How many will you remember from the ’80s and ’90s?
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.
Will they awaken any memories for you?
Robbie the Robot
Robbie the Robot surprised shoppers at William Low on Perth Road in June 1980.
The mechanical man worked for Coca-Cola.
He was designed by Ron Green, who designed R2-D2 of Star Wars fame.
West End
A view of the Perth Road in September 1981.
The names might have changed over the years but the shops and businesses look the same today, although some of the cars would now be considered classics.
Top of Roseangle
Brighter nights were ahead for people in Perth Road in September 1981.
New lamp standards were installed following repeated complaints about the poor quality of the street lighting between Roseangle and Sinderins.
Tayview Self-Serve Garage
A car ready to fill up at Tayview Self-Serve Garage in Perth Road in March 1982.
Four Star petrol was 33.7p a litre.
Wonder how many people paid with a Diners Club International card?
Speedwell Bar
The Speedwell Bar stands out on a busy Perth Road in September 1982.
The pub benefits from being one of the country’s finest surviving examples of an Edwardian pub, earning it status as a category B-listed building.
It is better known as Mennie’s, after former landlady Isobel Mennie.
William Low
The pedestrian crossing opposite William Low supermarket in December 1982.
The store opened in Perth Road in 1979.
William Low disappeared from high streets after being seen off by Tesco in September 1994, and the building is now home to Sainsbury’s.
Gunga-Din
Gunga-Din Indian Restaurant in June 1984 after opening a new extension.
Jacob Chacko ran the curry house, which built up a formidable reputation and became the first Indian restaurant to gain entry into the Good Food Guide.
Billy Connolly was among those who enjoyed a meal there.
Fernbrae Hospital
An operating theatre at Fernbrae Hospital in Perth Road in May 1984.
There were “no waiting lists” at the private hospital.
BMI Healthcare decided to close the 15-bed facility in May 2019.
Count De Beers
Count De Beers was “Dundee’s most exotic off-licence”, opening in 1984.
Wine and beer from as far afield as New Guinea was on sale.
Owner Roderick Lawrie had 312 beers on the shelves in August 1984, which was “one of the largest selections available in the world”.
Ninewells Garage
Ninewells Garage has been a family-run business since 1923 and was providing car servicing and repairs alongside a 24-hour breakdown and vehicle recovery.
The garage is still there today.
1986
Runners on Perth Road at the Blackness Avenue junction in July 1986.
On the corner is the B-listed Edwardian library that opened to the public in 1908 and was funded by the Dunfermline businessman Andrew Carnegie.
1987
The tenement gable at the Sinderins junction during work in April 1987.
Over the years, the buildings had become somewhat dilapidated and redevelopment work at the junction included the demolition of shops and flats.
The remaining buildings were refurbished.
Balaka
Balaka in Perth Road was opened by Samsur Rahman in 1977.
It became a big favourite and outlasted all of the other original Indian restaurants in Dundee before going on sale in June 2021 when Samsur and his wife retired.
It was replaced by Marmaris Kebab House.
Gilbert Grossett
The Gilbert Grossett butcher shop in Perth Road in December 1987.
The award-winning business was established in 1932 by Gilbert’s grandfather, David, and is still going strong in 2025 in the city’s Arbroath Road.
Mini Bandstand
The mini bandstand at Seabraes returned to Perth Road in July 1991 after being moved for repairs and refurbishment after vandalism.
It is a replica of the bandstand which was built in 1890 at Magdalen Green.
A sight for sore eyes
Perth Road in June 1991, showing McKay optician and Gunga-Din restaurant.
Gunga-Din was known as the “house of authentic Indian meals”.
A classic double-decker Tayside bus is on the left.
Oxfam Shop
Isa Law from the Oxfam shop in Perth Road in February 1992 was showing off the toys the European Commission said they couldn’t sell.
Under new safety rules which were coming into force, shops selling second-hand toys had to be able to prove that they were made before January 1990.
Anything made after that date had to carry an EC safety label.
Visions Video
Heading to the video store in the 1980s and 1990s was once part of a Friday night experience that could never be matched in the streaming era.
Visions Video in Perth Road provided “an all-round service” and was “offering the very latest in videos, computer games and CDs” in December 1992.
Harris Academy
Read all about it.
Harris Academy pupils in Perth Road with a Chicago Tribune billboard promoting their June 1994 musical production of Tin Pan Ali.
The tale of Ali Baba was updated and set in gangland Chicago where the hero was a street sweeper and the thieves were a bunch of inept gangsters.
Perth Road charity shop
The Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (RSSPCC) charity shop was given a new name in March 1995.
The windows were decorated with signage reflecting the charity’s new name.
The charity adopted the Children 1st name.
W&J Fitzgerald
W&J Fitzgerald’s newsagent at 298 Perth Road, which was probably unique, as newsagents go, because it was open 24 hours a day back then.
It was a big hit with late-night party people, cabbies and shift workers and behind the counter we see the team at the helm, Willie and Joyce.
It’s now Master Tailors.
Seabraes
A view from the flower bed area of Seabraes in April 1998.
The mini bandstand is surrounded by flowers and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and Dundee West Church are prominent in the background.
It’s our final image.
Did our pictorial trip back in time jog any memories of the area for you?
Let us know.
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