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The Highgate and the High Street – pictures capture Lochee in ’80s and ’90s

Lochee in the 1980s and 1990s is the subject of our pictorial trip down memory lane.
Graeme Strachan
People outside The Crawford bakery and Boots at the back of the Highgate in 1983.
The Crawford bakery and Boots at the back of the Highgate in 1983. Image: DC Thomson.

Lochee has always maintained its separate identity despite becoming part of Dundee in 1859.

The industrial revolution saw the rapid expansion of the area and the 282-foot Cox’s Stack was the landmark for what became the largest jute works in the world.

Lochee’s peaks and troughs over the coming years would coincide with the peaks and troughs of the city itself but local pride in the area remains strong.

The DC Thomson archives team has dug out a varied selection of photographs featuring people and places in Lochee.

Grab 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 they awaken any memories for you?


Lochee baths

A man works on the tiles beside the pool at Lochee swimming baths.
Lochee swimming baths. Image: DC Thomson.

Lochee’s swimming baths have given people tons of fantastic memories through the years but they were closed for a long time for improvements in 1980.

In October of that year the finishing touches were being completed with the much-awaited reopening of the popular pool due to take place in January 1981.

This good news was given to the Evening Telegraph by Lochee councillor Charles Farquhar, who said the interior of the elderly building was now “smashing”.

Indoor curling

Children try curling at Lochee Leisure Centre.
Curling at Lochee Leisure Centre. Image: DC Thomson.

Gordon Lang looks focused during a game of indoor curling at Lochee Leisure Centre, while Barry Goodwin, Andrew Milligan and Barry Inglis look on.

Health and safety standards were more lax in May 1981.

North Pole bus stop

Passengers braving the chill in February 1983 as they wait to board a bus
Passengers braving the chill in February 1983. Image: DC Thomson.

Welcome to the North Pole in February 1983.

A Courier article said the bus stop at the Lochee Road by-pass was called the North Pole bus stop by users because they had to brave the elements without a shelter.

Lorne Street Market

The outside of Lorne Street Market in 1983.
Lorne Street Market in 1983. Image: DC Thomson.

There was something for everyone at the Lorne Street Market in Lochee, which opened in 1973 and could pull in thousands of customers every weekend.

The market was destroyed by fire on October 7 1981 but our picture shows the exterior of the newly built building and the signage in September 1983, before reopening.

Electric dreams…

People look in the window of The new Hydro Board shop in Lochee.
The new Hydro Board shop in Lochee. Image: DC Thomson.

The frontage of the new Hydro Electric shop in Lochee High Street in November 1983.

It was very convenient, in terms of bill payments and purchasing Hydro Electric stamps, before the shop closed in 2006 despite a campaign by councillors to keep it open.

Lochee High Street

Cars and shoppers on Lochee High Street in 1985.
Lochee High Street in 1985. Image: DC Thomson.

A view along Lochee High Street showing the shopping precinct in August 1985.

The Low Freeze store can be seen on the left, with the AB Nicoll store and Bright Sparks hairdressers at the end of the street.

Little has changed in the architecture of the street over the decades

Lochee residents walking on the road…

Two people walking on the narrow Bright Street in Lochee.
Bright Street in Lochee. Image: DC Thomson.

Bright Street, short as it may be, was one of the busiest in Lochee for elderly people in 1985 who were using the street to go to the King George Memorial Club.

The pavement was highlighted as “downright dangerous” by residents in the Evening Telegraph who said people were now walking on the road to avoid “holes and ruts”.

Meet Boris the silver fox

Boris and pupils at Lochee Primary School in October 1990.
Boris visited the school in October 1990. Image: DC Thomson.

A special adoption ceremony took place at Lochee Primary School in October 1990.

Originally from Russia, Boris, the silver fox, was now based at Camperdown Wildlife Park and was being sponsored by P3 pupils and the school’s parents’ association.

Fancy a holiday?

Staff and clients at the Lochee branch of Ramsay World Travel
Staff and clients at the Lochee branch. Image: DC Thomson.

Going strong in the Highgate Centre in September 1991 was Ramsay World Travel, where manager Paul Flemington and staff were taking summer 1992 bookings.

There was a low deposit of £15 and free child places with the Ramsay World Travel shuttle mini-bus able to transport you to the airport after a pick up in Lochee.

Shoes and repairs at Behr’s

The exterior of Behr's Footwear in 1993.
Behr’s Footwear in 1993. Image: DC Thomson.

Behr’s in Lochee High Street was offering “quality footwear at bargain low prices” in various styles, colours and fittings for men, women and children in 1993.

Gents’ all-leather shoes were £43, Doctor Marten boots were £38, ladies’ leather shoes were £29 and you could also buy a pair of bowling shoes for £13.95 and £14.95.

Perfect for heading over to the Megabowl for a game at Stack Leisure Park.

Dirty Laundry

Cars parked outside Lochee Laundrette.
Lochee Laundrette. Image: DC Thomson.

The Lochee Laundrette at 155 High Street in November 1993.

Maybe you took your clothes here or went to the brilliantly named Dot Cotton’s, which was also a fixture in Lochee in the 1980s and 1990s.

Tunnel of history

Youngsters cutting the subway ribbon.
Cutting the subway ribbon. Image: DC Thomson.

The subway from Peel Street to Lochee High Street reopened in February 1994.

The ribbon was cut after the subway was refurbished by pupils from Ancrum Road Primary School with panels depicting important city events going back to 1309.

The ghosts of the Highgate

People sit on benches outside the Highgate Shopping Centre.
The Highgate Shopping Centre. Image: DC Thomson.

A view of the interior of the Highgate Shopping Centre in Lochee, showing the Kwik Save and Crawford’s stores in November 1998.

The closure of the Kwik Save store in 2004 left the single-storey Highgate Centre as little more than a passageway between High Street and car parking to the west.

It wore its scars up until its partial demolition in September 2012 when the diggers arrived and set about pulling down the remains of the shopping centre.

It’s the final image in our Lochee gallery.

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

Let us know.

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