Remains of the Lock Keeper's House at Persley. The house is immediately behind Persley
Gardens.
You can make out where the ceiling and floor beams were fitted. I can remember
when there were still wooden beams showing.
An interesting point is the contrast of how well the outside surface of the granite
has stood the passage of time but that the inside surfaces appear to have a strange
appearance of weathering that looks more severe.
From the lower east side of the house, showing the original steps up to road level.
Interesting too that both end windows were designed with a curve pointing
towards the top,like a church window..
View from halfway down the path from the house showing the entrance to the Lock machinery.
This area was obviously locked off to the general public.
The workings, while well rusted still demonstrates how well built it all was.
You can see the two end 'squared' connections where handles had been attached to
manually
urn the windings.
A full view of the ruined house. Looking west towards Persley Bridge. I had wondered if
the house had been fitted with electricity but as the windings appear to have been
manually operated I would doubt if it was.
From the same spot. Binnie Brother's Vehicle Repair works. Now replaced with a modern day
Physical Health Club building.
And again from approx. the same place. Persley Bridge seen overlooking the weir. It is interesting
that the new section of the bridge is in one span while the original bridge had five arches. A nice
contrast of old and new.
On the path between the old castle and Woodside House. A Deer suddenly appeared up
ahead and I just had time to zoom in and snap this picture before it darted out of sight.
Persley Castle, which is now an old people's Care Home. I remember playing in the ruins and then
later the castle being taken over by the Taylor family, who lived at the house and walled garden at
the botton of Manor Avenue by the tram terminus. They used it as a timber yard. It again fell
empty for some years until being totally rebuilt for the Care Home use in the 90's.
A 1955 photo taken on the path between the castle and Woodside House. I remember it being
very overgrown with numerous trees but they appear to have been cropped and cleared at
this time.
Woodside House Hotel. I used to deliver bakery here when working at Mitchell & Muils. It too is
now a Care Home.
The Lads Club. Taken at the time when it was under threat of being demolished to make
way for a Bus Depot, which thankfully didn't get passed.
A perfect example of what a ridiculous idea having buses traverse this road was. There is a
steep and twisting gradient up to Maggiemoss Road. Along with a junction at the very busy
end, this narrow road would have had to be widened and numerous long established trees
destroyed to make it possible.
On the pathway towards Grandholme. Looking up over the railway line to Great Northern Road at the Haudagan and the
quite modern high rise flats, roughly where the 'Hard-up Mansions' used to stand. The railway itself follows the line of
the old Aberdeen-Inverurie Canal.
The path, looking towards Woodside.
This area appears to be some sort of Animal Hold. Did farmers transport their animals
from here ? I remember we used to collect Acorns in abundance at this spot. I did try
to eat the nuts once but they weren't very appetizing.
The Woodside Electricity Substation. You still get a strange feeling passing this site, which
has expanded considerably over the years and generates a distinct humming sound that
reflects the amount of electricity being transformed here. Where is the Power Station
that supplies the electricity?
Jamiesons Park, which is incorporated with the Lads Club.
The river Don, from the high embankment on the path, near the site of the old Woodside Cloth Mill.
A 1955 photo I snapped with my 2.6d (12p) camera of the ruined Woodside Cloth Mill.
All that remains of the Cloth Mill site now is a
piece of machinery. It is quite impressive.
The remains of the south entrance into Woodside Cloth Works.
On the footpath. Looking towards Grandholme Bridge.
Grandholm Road Bridge.
The builder's plate on Grandholme Road Bridge.
A view of Grandholme Road bridge from the north side of the river.
You can glimps various bird life around this area.
Further along the river was the worker's footbridge that was closer to Grandholm Mill.
Grandholme Road Bridge as seen from the Footbridge.
Grandholme Mill
