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LOGIE NAE MAIR
By Bill Reid
I realise that Logie hasn't quite gone yet but as the plans for the new bypass are still on the cards I would expect that it might not be too long before there is little or nothing left.
What follows are photos and comments that I hope will describe how it used to be and some of the people that lived there. It was a good place to live and be brought up. There were little or few
problems and most neighbours were good people. You never heard or saw anything such as the sort of 'Neighbours From Hell' people or families as you hear so much about today.
It was a safe place where you could let children go out and play without having to keep an eye on them at every moment. We would play out until dark where we either broke up naturally or your
mother or father would call from the doorway or window.
Long summer days when we would play all sort of games. 'Badies, skipping, bools, rounders,and, football out on the grassy circle. In winter, making slides on the frosty pavements or snowmen
when there was heavy snow.
Guy Fox nights with a large Bonfire and fireworks that lasted until bedtime. And not to forget the occasional Concert Party, in bomb shelter at the back of No. 3. Badies = Hopscotch. Bools =
Marbles. Rounders = similar to Baseball.
Hogmany was a great time with the built up to midnight. Around 11.45 pm one of the family, usually myself when I got old enough, in our family, would go out and wait for the bells and go around
a number of elderly neighbours who lived alone and first footed so that they were free to go out or at least feel that someone had remembered them. I had two such people to visit, Mr. Wilson and
Mrs. Bremner, both at No. 5., which lasted a number of years.
These and other memories and comments following on this page are what comes back to me every time I revisited Logie and, of course, when eventually finding the block of houses demolished.
Sadly, Logie got a bit of a bad name, especially during the 80's and 90’s, which was very sad for me. But at least it was after my time there. But I think most people from my generation would agree
that it was a very safe place to live and grow up.
Two wartime memories I have is of sitting out at the curb outside our home and suddenly being aware of little black blobs of what had been smoke and my mother suddenly grabbing me and
running indoors. It was some time later that I learned from her that it had been a dogfight.
The other memory is of getting under the living room table with my aunt, Maggie who lived with us and her two children, my mother and brothers and sister and hearing the air raid sirens going.
I am not sure if that was the time when Middlefield School was bombed, or not. I remember too that we used to play in the bombed ruins of the school and also remember when it was rebuilt and
new extensions added.
The two worst winters that I remember was the one of 1947 when walking knee deep to school and arriving there very wet and cold. Everyone, of course was in the same boat and we spend most
of the morning getting ourselves dried out by hanging our jackets, scarves and boots and shoes over or below the radiators. We were sent home around midday time. I recall arriving home just as
wet and cold and having to get dried out once again.
The next was in 1962/3 winter, when everything was freezing up for weeks at a time. I worked at the Tivoli then and walked to work for a time as the buses were not running, or very sparsely. That
was a very long cold winter. The Tivoli lost a lot of money during that pantomime 'Dick Whittington' due to cancelled tickets and low patronage, with many people not being able to come in from
the countryside.
THEN
Taken around 1955 with a 2/6d (12p) camera from 'Little' Woolworths. It was what we Aberdonians call "A Rich't Driech Day" i.e. Bleak and wet. The railings in front of the houses and around
the cul-de-sac have been replaced since the war and as few people bothered with their front gardens I remember it used to get very muddy. However, an attempt has been made on replanting.
The view is from the doorway of No. 4 looking across to No.1. It is interesting to see so many Pidgeons, as we were more accustomed to having seagulls flying around. Likewise, we must have
had a rather wealthy neighbour as seem by the car. You didn't see many cars around there in those days. The street was still lit by gaslight.
That particular gas lamp brings back the memory of when it was knocked down. Mr. Hurn who lived at the corner of Logie Avenue was a fish lorry driver and it was interesting in that he would
arrive with some really fantastic new lorrie from time to time. He normally parked at the bottom of Logie Gardens, but for a time he suddenly started parking on the grassy circle, whether legal or
not. However, the ground quickly become very muddy and one evening he got stuck and couldn't pull forward or backward in spite of numerous attempts.
He finally got hold of a couple of sacks and dug then below the back wheels with a spade. He put the power on and the wheels slipped for a moment but then suddenly it gained traction and
with such force and speed that the lorry shot backwards out of the circle and across the road and hit the gas lamppost, which bent over. The glass broke and the top flew off and suddenly
there was a massive roar of burning gas that shot a good six feet into the air. Everyone around ran off, as they feared it would explode.
However the gas people eventually turned up, along with the police and the gas turned off at the mains. Mr. Hurn was heavily fined over that incident but had kept his job. A new lamppost
was put up quite quickly, the one in the photo, I would expect.
This Susan Dennis who lived upstairs. Her parents were Mr. & Mrs. Dennis.
Mrs. Dennis had been married twice and the two elder children's surname was Matheson.
A good ten years later and things are a little brighter. The railings have been replaced and gardens are spruced
up again. However the plants around the edge of the circle were removed and the whole area grassed over as
children wouldn’t leave well alone and even adults used them as short cuts. However, it made for a great play
area. The two concrete bomb shelters are also gone. One was where the central lad is bending over and the
other further down. I remember watching the workers with the large concrete ball and chain,
swing at and demolishing the roof and walls, then the trucks taking away the rubble.
No.5 Logie Gardens from No. 4. Looking down to Logie Avenue. In the 60's. It looks
like one of Mr. Hurn's fish lorries parked near the bottom of the street.
Our front door (No.4). We lived bottom left (in the photo) and the bedroom shown was mine
at the time. The Duncans lived next door. One of the daughters, Florence, emigrated to Canada
in the later 50's and is still in regular communications with my sister today.
Going to work on the railway at Kittybrewster. Note the old army rucksack, which was very
popular with workers in those days.
Outside backdoor at No. 4 Logie Gardens, with a neighbour's dog. In the 50's. Update: Another memory came back to me!
The gap in the joins of the wooden fence used to cause me some amusemant as when you banged or shook the fencepost
hundreds of 'Horneygollachs' used to rush out and/or drop off the fence. I used to love doing that and chasing them away.
Er! a Horneygollach' is an 'Earwig'.
Outside backdoor at No.4 Logie Gardens. With 'Puppy' our dog, who lived to 12 years old
and is still remembered with fondness.
My late brother, John and brother Alex, along with Alex’s' wife Kathy. Taken on the 'Green' with backs of
Logie Avenue in the background. Note the bomb shelter.
John, again.
Logie People, photographed out the back at No. 4 Logie Gardens (50's & 60's)
The late David McWillam. In his father's garden at the back of No. 4. David was recuperating from an illness he caught while
in the forces. Sadly he died soon after this photo was taken. The two bomb shelters between the houses are in the background.
We often held little concert parties in the No. 3 shelter, where many neighbours used to turn up.
Our next-door neighbour, Frankie Duncan, also caught the same illness as David, while in the forces, around the same time.
as David. I took a photo of him in his front garden, looking even more frail than David was in that photo but the photo
never came out. He too died soon after that. Both quite young men.
Dorothy Lynch and her son John.
My cousin Maureen Geddes with John lynch.
My cousin Maureen Geddes and her brother Edward Teddy), with Heather Lynch
plus myself with John Lynch. Edward & Moureen moved to Corby with their parents
in the latter 50's.
My mother and Sister, Sheila with 'Puppy'.
My mother, soon after getting home from work. With 'Tommy' the cat. 1960's.
'Tommy'. early 1960's.
'Puppy' was always known as just 'Puppy. He lived to 12 years old. This photo was taken
shortly before he died.
My old Schoolmate, Sandy Watt. Out the back. Note the back of the shops on Logie Place.
Early 60's. We have kept regular contact over all these years. The garden was Mr. McWilliams'.
Update: It was a great loss to me when Sandy died in April 2012. He was truely a great friend
and a friendship that lasted 59 years with never an argument between us. You can't put
a price on such friendship. So many happy memories.
Rear of the house on Logie Place. From our back garden. This hasn't changed much today.
Early TV's
Our very first TV in 1955. It was a 9" model with a bakelite box and was home-built by Jack Begg,
who was one of the projectionists at the Argosy. It cost us £15. We used to watch programmes such
as Six-Five Special on it and neighbours would come around to join in. The picture on the TV
is of one of the 'Interval' cards of that time.
A later TV set, which was a rental from Telemech. The older radio was used to listen to
the early BBC 'test' stereophonic broadcasts, which went out on Saturday mornings.
The VHF radio broadcast the left hand channel and the TV set the right hand channel.
Those were interesting times in sound broadcasting, . Stereophonics is taken very much
for granted these days.
1980's
Looking from No. 2 to No. 3. A sign of things to come as there are three flats lying empty.
View from No. 3 and No. 4 to No. 5. A path has been formed between 4 & 5.
No. 5 looking towards Logie Avenue.
A similar view from the 1960's picture, from the front door of No. 4. The iron railings are still there but there is
a modern street light. The circle of grass has been reduced by a good third to make way for residential car parking.
A view from further down Logie Gardens showing tenements 2 to 4. Again you can see the cut outs for residential
car parking The bottom flat of No. 5 has been boarded up. Another link to my time is that our TV aerial (the tallest
one) is still there.
Rear view of No. 4. The buildings are still in quite good Condition. All the fences have been removed and the
back gardens leveled and grassed over and there is a concrete path running alongside the houses. The Green
where my mother hung out her washing is still there but a path has been built around that. The clear view
between the house, with fences and bomb shelters gone is quite interesting.
The Ex Scatterburn tram terminus, looking over Persley around 1962. Persley is completely undeveloped and is open country, where
picnicing and berry picking was a big pastime during those years. Today Great Northern Road is a ridiculous mess of traffic on a dual
carriageway that is possibly the biggest daily road jam, in the Universe! Some improvement to the tranquility shown in the picture here.
NOW
From around the same spot as the above 1960's photo. Showing the new well-developed area of Persley.
'The Lanie' the lane from Logie Avenue to Great Northern Road, which we
used when going too and from the local shops. A sign of the times is the
large metal security fences that was not required in all the years we lived there.
From the top of the 'Lanie' looking up Logie Avenue. The high rise building in the background stands on what was my very first
chool 'Middlefield Infants'.
From the 'Lanie' looking west along Logie Avenue, with Logie Gardens on the left. On the right (Bottom flat) is the house where our
ex lodgers John & Dorothy Lynch lived. They lived with us for a number of years and had two children prior to getting their own home.
John's full time work was as a gravedigger at Allanvale Cemetary but worked part time as a Lime Operator (Spotlights) at the Tivoli Theatre.
He and his wife are buried at Allanvale Cemetary.
Turning left into Logie Gardens my thoughts were fixed on seeing what had happened to my old home. This is the sad sight that I
found. Just a big grassy, empty space with a clear view towards the old shops on Logie Place.
This watery hole attracted my attention, as I would never have guessed that this had been there all along. Perhaps it was the source of the
water system to the houses! However, children have been playing in it and have left a bit of a mess, but that's kids for you!
Looking towards No.2 and the natural gap that was between the two blocks of flats, with views over to the back of Logie Place houses.
The gap on edging stone is where the front gate stood and the path up to the front door ran.
A closer view of the water hole. This may have been the water mains to the building. I was surprised that water was left to run, forming a
burn running towards the road.
The gap between No.4 and No. 5. Even the 'newer' footpath has been grassed over. The Flats are completely empty and await their fate.
Standing roughly where my bedroom was, looking across to No. 1.
A slightly more right hand viewpoint with the gap between the run of No's 2 to 4 flats were and the rear of Logie Place.
A view approximately from Mr. McWilliams back garden.
From the same spot. A short telephoto view from the same spot but looking east towards the back of the houses on Logie Avenue.
We could have done with a path up to the shops and shortened the walking distance to school, but this is right on Mr. McWilliam's
garden which he was very proud of. Bert was a great character.
The rear of the shops on Logie Place. Now looking very run-down and the kindest thing would be their demolition. However, they hold
many memories of either going for a few groceries or something for school playtime. The building on the right wasn't there in my time
but I believe it was a Laundrette.
They don't look quite so bad from the front, apart from the sad 'closed' appearance.
Summers grocery shop was on the left and Simmers Newsagent in the center with the Chip Shop on the right. Mr. Summers was a sprightly chap who at the time always wore his glasses down on
his nose so that he could see his customers and then look down to read or write lists and receipts. It was a well-stocked shop.
There was a number of groups of this design of buildings in and around Aberdeen, some still in use today.
Logie Gardens September 2009
In September 2009 the empty space had been cleaned up and landscaped with a children's playground built between No's two to four.
The corner where No. 2 would have taken up the space behind the play shute.
The back between No's three and four. The back of Logie Place and the cottage type house remains much they were.
Looking from the site of No. 4 with the rear of the houses on Logie Avenue in the background with Logie Place to the right.
A childrens swing and a picnic table occupy the site of No. 4 with the remains of the shops in the background and the
rear of the other cottage type house Manor Drive.
The planned by-pass is still yet to be finalised.
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If anyone has further tales or photos from Logie it would be nice to know of them.