Your Submissions
Life in the Wellgate
Wellgate Memories
I lived in the Wellgate from birth in 1955 to 1966 aged 11 when the landlords of the tenement houses there were under a compulsory purchase order so that the street could be demolished and redeveloped into what became the Wellgate Shopping Centre.
I have many memories of my time at 31 Wellgate. That close number referred to two tenement blocks, The front block was entered via the close directly from the street, which was located right next to the electrical products shop, Watts Electrical.
Continuing on through the close and past the stairs up to the front tenement houses, a long path led through the backies, as they were known which contained two air raid shelters dating from World War 2. Another close then led to the back tenement where my parents, myself and brother Angus resided.
Angus was born in 1960 and had Downs Syndrome and I remember him going missing several times when I was charged with looking after him, and instead was playing around the air raid shelters and hadn’t noticed he wasn’t there. We found him sitting in front of the TV in the large glass windows of Watts. We had no TV and he was fascinated with it. After that we knew exactly where he was if he went missing. I remember what would now be called an old-fashioned sweet shop at the bottom of Wellgate which I think was Nelsons and we went there on Saturdays to spend our Saturday penny and buy delights such as pineapple chunks from a big glass jar which were weighed out onto the scales and put into a paper bag. These would be taken to the Saturday cinema, which was the Gaumont, on Cowgate/Murraygate at the bottom of Wellgae and across the street. Being the oldest of the gang of kids in my backies I was in charge of getting them safely over the road and into the cinema where we sang along to the bouncing ball on the screen at the interval, in between the cartoon and cowboy movie that was showing that week.
As I got older I was looking to get some pocket money of my own and asked in each of the shops if there was anything I could do. I was only 10 and most shops like the Fish Market near the top of the street, wouldn’t take me as I was too young. I remember that shop having whole fish with their mouths open in the window and a constant stream of water coming down the glass and running around the fish, presumably to keep the ice they were sitting on, cold.
I struck lucky at the newsagent whose owner Mr Grant didn’t see any harm in me delivery the Tully (our local evening newspaper, the Evening Telegraph) just in the Wellgate. It would only take me an hour or so after school and he would pay me I think around 2 shillings a week, which seemed like a fortune to me. I got a canvas bag to put the papers in, They were heavy at first when I picked up the full load but got lighter as
the round went on. I was up and down the stairs of the tenement and often people came to the door when they heard me on the stairs, anxious to read the day’s news.
On Fridays, the last Tele of the week some people gave me a tip of a penny to add to my riches.
The best tipper though was a later addition to my round which I didn’t tell my mum and dad about due to the fact she was a well known “lady of the night” known as Sophie.
In addition to her reputation they wouldn’t have been happy that I had to cross a road to get to her flat, which I think was above Kennys Music Shop in Bell Street.
I think there was an outside staircase and a typical tenement plettie(platfrom) where I went along to the gable end and knocked on her door. She’d open it and I could see one big room – these were known as single ends in Dundee – and served as all rooms in one. I was curious about a screen I could see half hiding a big bed and there were usually items of underwear hanging over them. On Fridays she’d tell me to wait and go and get her purse and give me a threepenny piece or sometimes a sixpence if I was lucky!
As I got older Mr Grant offered to have me work in the shop on a Saturday. My pay would go up significantly and the bonus was I could read the magazines I loved, Bunty, Judy =, Diana and Jackie. I was in heaven and often wished I could tell Mr Grant that I went on to become an editor of some of those magazines, in D C Thomson, the Dundee based publisher of most of the ones I loved.
I remember when certain men came into the shop Mr Grant would tell me to go and put the kettle on and when I peeked out from the back shop he’d be reaching up to the top shelf where there were brown paper bags hiding certain magazines which I had to find out about and one day when he had stepped out I reached up and found Playboy – that was a revelation!
Other special customers were again men who asked for refill bottles of BelAir hair lacquer. It came in a glass bottle and was a vibrant pink colour. Again Mr Grant would shoo me away and he would put the bottle into a brown paper bag for the customer. It was only later I found out it wasn’t being used for its original purpose but was being drunk as it was alcohol based and stronger than ale and probably cheaper.
My dad worked in the Robb Caledon shipyard and he cycled there every day and two or three times a week he’d finish work and stop at Whyte’s pub at the bottom of Wellgate for a pint or three. My mum despaired on those nights, trying to keep his mince and tatties warm on a low gas in the oven and when he did get in three sheets to the wind hed chastise her saying it was cold!
He came a cropper one night when the local bobby stopped him on his bike, weaving his way up the street from the pub and he was charged with being drunk in charge of a bicycle. He spent the night in the cells in Bell St and was up in front of the Sheriff the
next morning who admonished him and told him not to let him see him in front of him again. He never did!
Another memory is learning to play chess thanks to John Lettice – his family lived in the top flat of the front tenement. They were English and thinking back must have fallen on hard times, as they spoke “posh” We used to should to each other from our windows and I would then go over and he taught me the basics of the game. I was more interested in the view over the rooftops of Dundee as he had the attic room of the top of the building.
The small streets and squares off Wellgate had their own shops – Charles Steet was about halfway down and it led along to a steep brae called Idvies Brae which led to Victoria Road.
I would be sent there on a Friday when my dad brought his pay home, to get the “messages” from the Sosh – the local name for the co-op.
You had to take the co-op book with you as you had to be a member to shop there and you would earn stamps which could be exchanged for goods each time you bought something. It was a great shop and I remember the meat counter which had big chunks of hams and meats and I would be instructed to buy a half pound of cooked ham and to tell them to cut it very thin. Whilst I waited I’d look at the broken biscuit barrel which contained loose treats like custard creams that had been broken and were sold off cheaply or sometimes just given to children like me who had been sent for the messages.
A final memory is of heavy rain one year causing all sorts of drains from Hilltown to overflow and rush down to the Wellage steps where they cascaded over the steps and kids rushing to get the wellies on to kick around in it!
Happy days!
Submitted by Anne Rendall (nee Kirkland)
6 Morrisons Court, The Wellgate, Dundee, 1963 to 1966.
Saturday March 30th 1963, my wife Hilda and I, newly-weds, moved into our flat on 6 Morrisons Court, the last street on the west side heading north on the Wellgate. We were on the top floor of a three-story tenement; on the landing we had one neighbour and one shared toilet.
For the previous weeks we had renovated our home, pulling out a huge cast iron coal fireplace, filling in the gaping hole, wallpapering the room, installed a gas fireplace and a gas cooker. The window in the room overlooked Morrisons Court and the window ledge was a favourite hang out for Wellgate pigeons. There was a bunker at the bottom of the window and a small sink with a tap that provided water that was either cold or a few degrees above freezing.
The living room was small, 10 feet by 10 feet. We furnished the room with a carpet, two armchairs a fold down table, a sideboard and a small black and white TV. It was cozy. The bedroom was 8 feet by 12 feet, enough space for a bed, a wardrobe, a dressing table, and later on, a baby cot and pram.
The window in the bedroom overlooked the Wellgate “backies,” When you raised the lower window, attached to the outside wall on the left-hand side was a pulley and rope that stretched to a wooden pole which had numerous pulleys secured to it for other homes. This contraption was for hanging out the washing. The pole however had snapped and fallen over but our rope was still free to move, but on a very steep angle.
Wellgate Shopping
Prior to Morrisons Court, Hilda and I had both lived in housing schemes. Hilda, in West Kirkton, and I in Dryburgh. In our new urban setting, we explored the many shops and formed friendly acquaintances with shopkeepers and assistants. Within minutes of our home there was a butcher – who sold the best roast beef, ever. A baker, a fishmonger, a licensed grocer, a barber, a chippie, a department store, and of course a pub. There was a picture house up the steps and across the street on Victoria Road, and another on King Street, and the wonderful Marks and Spencer was a 3-minute trek from Morrisons Court.
The Wellgate was an ancient artery, a much-travelled conduit from the Hilltown to the High Street. And on Saturdays our friends and relations when in town would knock on the door - there was no telephone – and sit down for a cup of tea, a Markie’s biscuit, and a blether. The kettle was constantly filled and the teapot sitting with a welcome fresh brew.
The Wellgate was an urban utopia. In 1966, Hilda, I, and our two-year-old daughter Susan, left Morrisons Court for Canada, we had outgrown our small cozy home.
In the 1970’s we heard from our families in Dundee that the Wellgate was to be razed to make way for a shopping mall. I realize urban renewal is sometimes necessary for the wellbeing of a city. But somehow the destruction of that old venerable thoroughfare felt like a desecration rather than an urban improvement.
Submitted by Robert and Hilda Boag
Charles Street
My grandparents lived in Charles Street off the Wellgate. My father (one of 17 children) was given the name of Stewart. She chose this name from the name of the butcher’s shop. I think it was Stewart Piggot. She thought it was a nice name and I think she had run out of names by this time. My father was born in 1905.
Submitted by Catherine Brooks
THE ALD WELLGATE
When fowk look back,
On ald Dundee toon.
N' a' o' the places,
Wi a' yist tae stroll 'roon'.
The best o' thum a',
Thi place that wis sae veri great.
Wis that street on the brae,
Thi bustlin' Wellgate.
Cross ower the Vicky,
It the bottom o' the Hull.
Yid look doon the street,
'N' feel a wee thrill.
Doon fae the steps,
Wir shops o' iveri kind.
Whar yi kid beh a' the things,
Wut wid cum ti yir mind.
Hunters the drapers,
Nixt tae the NBR fir TVs.
Hendersons fir furniture,
Wi' thir fancy settees.
Then thir wis Youngs fish shop,
'N' Piggots butchers is well.
Wa kin forget Drydens the fruiters,
Wi' its sweet earthy smell.
Martins fir hardware,
Alang fae Cable fir Shoes.
Claude Alexander, John Temple, Caledonian Tailors,
A 'yi hid tae dae wis jist choose.
At the tap o' a stinkin' closie,
Thi Pam Snooker Hall.
Plunkin' in there,
Wi a' hid a ball.
Watts the music shop,
Whar yid find the latest L.P.'s.
Andrew G Kidd the bakers,
Gave wis treats fir oor teas.
Graftons the clothiers,
Or Graftons sportswear.
Nelson the ice creamer,
Fir thi best sliders ani where.
Fir drinkers yi' hid Whytees,
Or the Foresters Arms.
Classic ald boozers,
Wi' ald fashioned charms.
A quarter gill o' whisky,
'N' a pint o' pale ale.
To mak a man happy,
Wie nivir a fail.
I street full o' people,
I street on the go.
Hustle 'n' bustle,
It nivir wis slow.
The dear ald Wellgate,
Wis sum whar eh'll nivir forget.
The sounds, smells 'n' feelings,
Stull stie wae me yet.
Submitted by William Tracy
Memories of wool and a wedding
I came to Dundee to stay with my Grandparents when I was fourteen, but had been a lot of times between Aberdeen and Dundee so I knew Dundee well. There was an Ironmongers’ shop on the corner just beside the steps, lots of things hung outside, watering cans, tin baths, brushes, etc - it was a popular shop.
Butcher shop - I think the name was Piggots, door was always open, and i could see a large butchers block with meat on it. Someone told me it was horse meat, I never liked passing that shop after that!
A few years on, I am married, now in 1959 in St Andrews Church. There was a gate that led from the church to the Wellgate, the guests walked to the reception which was in the Masonic Hall, 13 Meadow Street. Bride and Groom got a taxi!!! We could have walked, but that day there was a horrendous storm, very heavy rain, parts of Dundee were flooded. I think the gate might still be there in the church grounds.
Hunters was a big shop that sold everything. Clothes, furniture, china and knitting wool.
I went there for wool to knit a jacket. At that time I could not afford to buy all the wool at the same time, so some was put aside and collected as needed. It was always the same lady who served me, and we became good friends as we both lived in Douglas and Angus and our children played together. We were friends until her and her husband died.
Submitted by Trudy Whyte
The Wellgate atmosphere
I loved the little Wellgate shops. The street itself was fun to go down all those steps from the clock and possibly having been into McGills on each corner. I used to shop with my Dad while my 2 sisters and brother attended highland dancing classes run by Esther Clark inSt John’s church hall in Albert Street.
I can’t remember what we actually bought. My friend’s father was manager of Jackson’s the Tailor at the corner of the Murraygate as we came out of the Wellgate.
It really was a necessary walkway to reach Woolworths and M&S and the shops in Peter Street such as the pet shop – where we always stopped to look at the tortoises, fish in the tanks, rabbits and guinea pigs. And the Co-op was such a large important shop. Going up the Wellgate was important for reaching the sarsparilla shop at the foot of the Hilltown or the woman selling whelks from her pram at the foot of the Hilltown.
You really had to go up the Wellgate to reach the shop and Post Office which sold saving stamps for your summer holidays at Butlins camp in Ayr.
When I was at secondary school, a young Maths teacher told me that she’d lived in a flat in Wellgate while she was a student. The flat was above a little hat shop. One Christmas, the students went away to their parents’ homes and hadn’t shut a tap off properly so their flat leaked water down through the ceiling onto all the expensive hats!
A friend said “The Wellgate – I remember it well.” I asked her what she remembered. The Steps, lots of little shops. A tearoom with a big globe in the window at the bottom left hand side. So it’s the atmosphere and the actual street. We were just children and are 70 now.
Submitted by Ann Penhale
There was so much character
People lived there and created an atmosphere. There was three butchers’ shops and a café, a Milleners’ hats and a baby linen shop. A 8 tonne Hill & Steele Santy Clause at Christmas, Largs the music shop and Boots the Chemist and a clothes shop at the Wellgate Steps. A crowd of men stood at the railings, one of them was my Great Uncle Jock. He had one leg and had a wee dog called Peggy. There was so much character and it rubbed off on the people.
I would love to see a model of Auld Dundee in the Wellgait. Just think we could walk up the Wellgait and the Overgait again, etc. The Kings Picture House & Theatre and the Continental Ballroom with a mixture of Scots Dancing the Rough Stuff and Quick Steps, Sambas, etc. That would bring back plenty life in that area.
Submitted by Florence
Working Memories
Claude Alexander
I worked in Claude Alexander, gents tailors, at the foot of the Wellgate for about six months in 1964 and remembered how busy it always was. On Saturdays there used to be an elderly lady who sold bags of Whelks from the top of the Wellgate steps. The workers from the docks would always congregate on Fridays at the bottom corner of the Wellgate and Cowgate. Most Dundonians would start their shopping there by getting off the bus in Victoria Road.
Submitted by James Isard
Dryden’s flower shop and Scott’s Bar
I worked at Drydens flower shop the top of the steps. l was the Interfloral van driver, l also remember my first pint in Scott’s bar, it was 11p a pint of heavy but if you wanted a pint of Lager it was a shilling. Great days.
Caledonian Tailors
As a schoolboy, I had a Saturday job as a salesman working in the Caledonian Tailors clothes shop which was situated halfway up the Wellgate on the righthand side. I worked there at the end of the sixties 68-69. It was a very busy shop which was helped by being one of the first shops to accept Provident Cheques as payment. This was a way for working class families to access credit across a number of retailers so you didn't have to sign up for credit to one particular shop such as McGill's and Alex Smiths; both well known and popular city shops frequented by working class families.
I remember I was paid £1.25p for my days work plus commission of one halfpenny for each pounds worth of goods I sold. Although under age I used to go across to the Forrester Arms in my 1hour lunch break for a pie and a pint. I remember the pies were always burning hot and it took ages to get through it.
Also at the bottom of the Wellgate on the same sime there was that Panmure snooker hall situated through the pendie and up the top of the stairs It was a small snooker hall famous for its roaring fire that kept the place like toast all day long. As a youngster I used to frequent the Palm as it was nicknamed as well as the Imperial snooker hall which was above Samuels at the bottom of Reform Street accessed by the Arctic Bar pend.
Submitted by Jim Milne.
After the war I worked in Dryden's the fruit shop at the top of the Wellgate steps and when sugar melons started to come back in I managed to get one and took it home. We all had a bit but my father had two or three slices - I could see the juice running down his mouth and he said 'my, lassie this is braw!' Next day he was in agony - six years of inferior food meant that the melon was too rich for him.
Submitted by Nancy (as part of the Bygone Dundee project)
Someone mentioned the butcher shop selling horseflesh at the bottom of the Wellgate. I worked there as a laddie after school and on Saturdays, earning £1 a week. And yes, we sold only horsemeat. If I remember correctly beef was rationed at the time (1950) and the queues outside the shop were quite long on most days. We used to get a big parcel of meat home with us on a Saturday night, steaks, joints, sausages etc.
The first time I took some home we all felt a bit guilty eating a poor wee horse, but I remembered something the boss said "These horse were bred for the purpose. Never had a shoe on their hooves" and an empty belly was easily persuaded.
With regard to beef being rationed, much of my work entailed taking parcels of horsemeat to various butcher shops round the city. "If anybody says anything tell them a man gave you a tanner to take it in!" I never gave it a thought and it was only in later years that I realise the butchers were selling it as beef!
Submitted by Ian Christie (as part of the Bygone Dundee project)
The Wellgate Shops
“You could buy anything there...”
I remember as a child going to the Wellgate on Saturdays with my mum. There were lots and lots of shops. Later as a teenager with my pals then on to Woolworths and walking round all the other great shops. I remember once I was a wee bit older going into the shop at the bottom and buying myself a "fur Coat" I think the shop was called Swears and Wells but it was a very long time ago and I could be wrong. I felt very glamorous wearing my coat (no animal rights then) there was even a shop that sold horsemeat and there was always a queue (my Mum never went in there thank goodness).
When I married my husband and I went into Hendersons Furniture shop and bought our new furniture for our new home - everything on the never never !! Just opposite Hendersons there was an amazing ironmonger shop that sold everything from the kitchen sink to the smallest nail - wonderland for any DIY handyman (or woman). Further down the Wellgate there was an Aladdin's cave of a shop - Smith and Horner. You could buy anything there. These shops were always busy, more than you can say about todays impersonal shopping malls which are all the same and all sell the same thing. Bring back the individual shops and maybe the high street will be buzzing again.
Submitted by Sheila Horne
Watts’ Record Booths
Remember standing in the record booths of Watts music shop listening to the latest records in the charts. When you try before you buy. Also getting Bert Weedon’s autograph, a popular guitarist of the time made an appearance there.
Submitted by Ally Penman
Martin’s Ironmongery
My wife and I (both in our 80’s and ex-Dundonians) have been interested in reading about the project on the Wellgate prior to the 'new' centre, but many of the shop names do not come to mind. We remember Martin’s ironmongery' at the top on the bend - not mentioned. I remember that they ran a bus outing annually to Rothesay for staff and friends to one of which I and my parents were invited on one occasion. That was probably held on a Wednesday to minimise shop closure to the half day. We also recall McGill's but it may have just been far enough round the bend to be on Victoria Road.
Submitted by Wilson Ferguson
I am writing on behalf of my Dad, Ian Wilson. I found out about your project and thought I'd ask him if there was anything he remembered about the old Wellgate - sadly there wasn't much. But he told me that John Martin had an ironmongery shop there. He also had a shop in Broughty Ferry. My Dad was part of the GL Wilson family and buyer for hardware in GL Wilsons shop (drapery/department store, The Corner, Murraygate/Commercial St). On behalf on GLs, he bought hardware items from John Martin to sell in the store.
Submitted by Diane Anderson
“I loved the Wellgate when I was young...”
I loved the Wellgate when I was young. I remember the Butchers as it sold horse meat. My gran got it for my granddad, there was always a queue. When I got married we got a TV at Watts on hire. There was a modern men’s shop opened in 1960-61. My husband got a suit there, it was like what the Beatles wore, it was navy silky look material with red lining, what a toff!
Coming down on the left side there was a furniture shop, I think it was SCWS? There was Watts electical (TVs and Radios). I remember a ladies’ hat shop and a dress shop at the bottom on the corner. On the right side there was Martin’s ironmongers on the corner, 3 or 4 windows. There was a wall paper shop further down, there was a butcher, 2 or 3 big windows, I can’t remember the name but it sold horse meat, there was a café I think was Wilson’s and at the bottom was a 50/- tailors.
Submitted by Mrs Martha Lawson
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