Guidebooks Aberdeen Scotland

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Lost Aberdeen. The initial chapters are an odyssey through the early town, from the Green to the Gallowgate, charting the disappearance of the irreplaceable medieval townscape. Moving on to more modern times she traces the evolution and gradual erosion of the Granite City, whose stylish yet restrained architecture once brought visitors from all over the world to see an Aberdeen which they recognised and valued as a unique city. She writes of George Street, originally planned as 'an elegant entrance to the city' and of Union Street, a marvel of early nineteenth century engineering with stunning symmetry, elegant terracing and memorable shops. There is also a requiem for Archibald Simpson's splendid New Market and the sadly missed Northern Co-operative Society Arcade. The final part of Lost Aberdeen recalls vanished mansions, and lost clachans, victims of the city's march westwards. Long gone industrial archaeology is also revisited, the railway stations, mills, shipyards, seafront, tollhouses and boathouse, which slipped away as if they never had existed. Lost Aberdeen.

King's College Chapel Aberdeen. A rare survivor from pre-Reformation Scotland. Lavishly endowed by Bishop Elphinstone at the end of the Middle Ages, the chapel was spared the worst iconoclastic horrors of subsequent centuries, slumbering on with benign neglect during the Enlightenment. Even the reforming zeal of the Victorians was tempered by archaeological sensitivity. As a result, the chapel is one of the few places of worship in Scotland where the visitor may experience the unity of a medieval vision. In addition to the structure and furnishings, documentary evidence allows a very complete picture to be built up concerning its contents and use. Bishop Elphinstone's Aberdeen Breviary, defining a specifically Scottish liturgy, lay at the core of worship in the chapel. The services provided the ritual for which the elaborate choir stalls were built. This book aims to integrate Bishop Elphinstone's heritage: the liturgy and music, architecture and fittings. These serve as a spectacular reminder of the medieval riches lost elsewhere in Scotland. The quiet survival of the chapel after the Reformation of 1560 is, in its own way, equally remarkable. Used only as a store and occasional meeting room for almost 300 years, the building was dutifully maintained by the University even when funds were low. Its strident crown tower had become a symbol of the University's identity and its political allegiance to the king. The later fittings reflect the restoration of worship to the chapel in the 19th century. King's College Chapel, Aberdeen, 1500-2000 (Maney Main Publication).

The Granite Mile: The Story of Aberdeen's Union Street. With its spectacular illustrations and expert commentary is one of the most important books to come out of Aberdeen. Union Street is rightly acknowledged as one of the finest thoroughfares in Britain and has seen significant change and development through the ages. This is the fascinating story of how it all happened and of the triumphs and disasters along the way. For centuries Aberdeen was a cramped, medieval town but in 1801 the construction of a great viaduct above difficult terrain started the transformation to the elegant modern city we see today. But in the early days, disaster followed disaster. Union Street's granite terraces were built to designs so inflexible and costly that lack of occupancy and consequently of income was one cause of Aberdeen's bankruptcy between 1814 and 1825. Things could only get better, and by the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a handful of soaring edifices reflected the city's new confidence and prosperity. These great favourites (all now gone) Watt & Grant, Falconers, Esslemont & Mackintosh, Andrew Collie, Gordon & Smith, Mitchell & Muil, Ledingham and Kennaway had set up shop in Union Street, where you could buy just about anything, from a side of beef to a bicycle. Jimmy Hay was at the Royal Athenaeum, and the irreplaceable New Market straddled Union Street and the Green. Enormous pride in Union Street endured well into the twentieth century but now there is anxious debate over its decline. The story certainly isn't over but The Granite Mile is a compelling account of how this famous thoroughfare came to be as well as a glimpse into the future of this great city. The Granite Mile: The Story of Aberdeen's Union Street.

A New History of Aberdeen. Aberdeen is a city shaped by its geography, climate and architecture. Like the land from which it grew, its projects qualities of hard work and fortitude, firm solidity, self-confidence and aspiration. It is a city with a character and personality that reflects its people. Conservative and "canny" in some senses, it has often been radical and inovative in its This book provides an understanding of the changes that have taken place in Aberdeen's economic and social structure since 1800, from the age of textiles to the age of oil. It analyzes changes in work patterns, housing, education, economy, social welfare, religion, local government, leisure and culture, and discusses the effects of national and international market forces, periods of instability and high growth, and political struggles. It features many of the people who played an important part in this period of Aberdeen's history. This history by 13 historians, economists, political scientists and geographers, shows that Aberdeen has survived economic upheavals and the disruption of two world wars, emerging as an independent city with a sense of its own worth and values.politics and in tackling social issues. Aberdeen, 1800 to 2000: A New History.

Jack Webster's Aberdeen. Aberdeen has had its fair share of attention from historians down the centuries. But in this fresh look at the story, Jack Webster condenses the knowledge and wisdom of past research and focuses on the later history. He observes the city's dramatic transformation in the twentieth century, when it went from an economy based on farming, fishing, textiles and granite to an industry which outshone them all. Who could have guessed that the Granite City would take on an international reputation as the oil capital of Western Europe? The events that unfolded from the 1960s were to transform the prosperity of Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland on an unprecedented scale. Jobs, housing, hotels and restaurants sprang up everywhere, and the standard of living was raised to a level unthinkable to a previous generation. Jack Webster's Aberdeen.

Lost Aberdeen: The Outskirts. In Lost Aberdeen: The Outskirts, the lands which encircle the city, spreading seamlessly round its heart like a great fan, are explored and the losses chalked up and discussed. The journey begins at Gilcomston, the city's first suburb, once a little village of cottages and weavers' sheds, with a hidden industrial enclave and a remarkably elegant west end. Alas, Gilcomston is so lost that it is hard to find today, in spite of its proximity to the city centre. The road now heads north to Berryden where the demise of the Northern Co-operative Society's imposing complex of meal and barley mills and dairies is regretted. The journey continues, with Morgan guiding the reader from faded landmarks to vanished villages through a poignant and evocative trail of the past. Lost Aberdeen: The Outskirts.

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