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Past Times

Photos offer a window into life in Monifieth four decades ago

These fascinating photos offer a window into life in the Angus town in the 1980s.
Graeme Strachan
Donna Bramham outside Candy's Diner in October 1989. Image: DC Thomson.
Donna Bramham outside Candy's Diner in October 1989. Image: DC Thomson.

What was Monifieth like in the 1980s?

These fascinating photos offer a window into life in the Angus town.

The DC Thomson archives team has dug out a varied selection of photographs which capture people and places in a decade where life looked very different.

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 photos featuring Monifieth have not been seen for years.

You might spot a familiar face.

Do these awaken any memories for you?


Photos showing people and places in Monifieth

A specially-equipped caravan at Monifieth being presented to the Brittle Bone Society by the Lord's Taverners (Scotland) in May 1984.
A small group receiving the cheque. Image: DC Thomson.

A specially-equipped caravan at Monifieth being presented to the Brittle Bone Society by the Lord’s Taverners (Scotland) in May 1984.

Lord’s Taverners was set up in 1950 by a group of like-minded cricket enthusiasts with a shared desire to help those less fortunate than themselves.

A car attempting to negotiate a large puddle of water on the Monifieth road to the rubbish dump next to Riverview Park in October 1984.
Flooding in Riverside Park. Image: DC Thomson.

October 1984 brought heavy rain and flooding to Scotland.

Our picture shows a car attempting to negotiate a large puddle of water on the Monifieth road to the rubbish dump next to Riverview Park.

Behind the bar of Charlie's Lounge in the Royal Hotel in Monifieth is Mrs Jan McAnish.
Jan McAnish standing behind the bar. Image: DC Thomson.

Fancy a drink?

Behind the bar of Charlie’s Lounge in the Royal Hotel is Mrs Jan McAnish in March 1985 when a pint of lager would have cost you 77p.

Monifeith High Street.
Cars and pedestrians in the High Street. Image: DC Thomson.

A busy scene on Monifieth High Street in March 1985.

The eagle-eyed amongst our readers may spot the man in the distance climbing up the ladder to the roof next to the Arbroath fishmonger shop.

There were around 250 club members. Image: DC Thomson.

The president of the Tayside League of Gunfighters shoots a balloon from the hand of one of the club members during a demonstration at the Lowland Games in 1985.

They would meet in the Nine Maidens in Dundee every week and their exhibitions such as fastest draw displays raised thousands of pounds for charities.

Building work in 1985. Image: DC Thomson.

Many golfers using Monifieth’s Ashludie and Medal courses found parking space at a premium when they arrived to tee off in August 1985.

Local builders, Clova Homes, started construction work on the traditional car park in Tay Street which was opposite the Panmure Hotel.

Marion Ewart fashion shop in Monifieth.
Marion Ewart fashion shop. Image: DC Thomson.

An April 1986 shot of Marion Ewart’s ladies fashion shop on Maule Street.

Established in 1977, Marion Ewart was a well-stocked dress shop catering mainly for the mature lady requiring smart but wearable clothes in sizes 10-24.

The path at Monifieth beachfront blocked off.
The sign on the barrier gave a warning. Image: DC Thomson.

The beachfront footpath beside the caravan park was blocked off in February 1987 because of the “crumbling overhangs caused by soil erosion”.

The Courier said the pathway stretching along the riverfront to Union Street was now “almost impassable” with “walkers having to cling to railings at some points”.

Balmossie Halt in Monifieth. Image: DC Thomson.

A 1987 image of a construction digger and truck near the beach at the rear of the railway station at Balmossie on the border of Monifieth and Dundee.

The foreshore was in the throes of another transformation as work on the latest section of the Dighty Valley sewage works which would carry three pipes out to sea.

The new function suite at Monifieth Hotel.
The new function suite. Image: DC Thomson.

Staff members were ready to serve at the new function suite bar at the Monifieth Hotel on Hill Street in April 1988.

The Courier said the function suite could hold 50 people and was “attractively decorated in elegant Regency style and features a distinctive archway and bar in rich mahogany”.

A snooker table was among the lots. Image: DC Thomson.

Tigh Na Muirn in Victoria Street was an imposing red sandstone mansion but the nine-bedroom home fell silent when the elderly owner died in July 1987.

He was a former jute mill owner.

The content – including the snooker table above – were about to be auctioned off by Love’s auctioneers of Perth.

Construction of the William Low superstore in Monifieth.
Final stages of work in 1989. Image: DC Thomson.

Construction was under way on the new William Low superstore in 1989.

William Low had a chain of supermarkets across Tayside until the company was bought out by Tesco for £257m in 1994 and they were rebranded.

The supermarket is still there to this day.

It’s the final image in our Monifieth 1980s gallery.

Did our pictorial trip back in time jog any memories for you?

Let us know.

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