04-06-2025
Pictures published for first time show Dundee landmarks in 1987
How did Dundee look in 1987?
These images provide an amazing insight into life in the city.
They were taken by DC Thomson photographers while out on other assignments and marked a shift in photographic practice from monochrome to colour.
For nearly 40 years, the collection of colour slides was largely forgotten about.
They were digitised after gathering dust.
They show the brown blockwork of the Wellgate Centre.
Vanished views of Tayside House and the Stakis Earl Grey Hotel are captured alongside the brutalist architecture of the Overgate shopping mall.
The photos hark back to the days before the City Square was pedestrianised.
Some scenes have changed beyond recognition.
Others have changed very little. City Square There was a pedestrian crossing on the High Street in 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
A view across the pedestrian crossing towards the City Square and Caird Hall.
On the left is Burton menswear and the Pronuptia bridal store.
Cathay Palace Chinese restaurant replaced Café Val d'Or when it closed. Perth Road Cars driving down the Perth Road in 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
Looking down the Perth Road in November 1987.
The TSB bank was still there.
Do you remember the large bright-yellow bins? City Churches A view of the Dundee City Churches. Image: DC Thomson.
Little has changed in this scene from the Nethergate in March 1987.
A group of people walk past the City Churches.
There is a taxi rank on the right hand side and in the distance you can make out a Tayside Region Volvo Ailsa blue-and-white double-decker bus. Overgate Centre The exterior of the Overgate Centre in 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
A high view of the old Overgate shopping mall including the concrete walkway.
It was looking rundown and neglected.
What Every Woman Wants can be seen in the background, which in 1987 was selling 'baggy traditional hip hugging marble wash' jeans for £9.99. Tay Road Bridge gardens There is an individual sat on a bench reading. Image: DC Thomson.
A magnificent floral display at the Tay Road Bridge Gardens.
The circular garden under the approach road was surrounded by benches.
Pipe bands used to play in the gardens. Dundee Howff This picture shows part of the graveyard that was surrounded by trees. Image: DC Thomson.
The Howff is a historian's own heaven.
There are 1,751 gravestones in the cemetery, which came into existence in 1564.
There are many more people, however, buried there. Tayside House Tayside House standing beside the Tay Hotel in March 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
The Tay Hotel on Whitehall Crescent alongside Tayside House.
Tayside House was demolished in 2013 and the Tay Hotel is now the Malmaison.
Dundonian entertainer George Duffus gave a talk to Dundee Rotaract club about what makes different people laugh in the Tay Hotel in March 1987. RRS Discovery The Discovery alongside another ship in the dock. Image: DC Thomson.
The Discovery was still in a wet dock in March 1987.
Dundee Heritage Trust paid just £1 to the Maritime Trust for the Discovery and she arrived at Victoria Dock in April 1986 from London's St Katharine's Dock.
She returned home after 85 years spent away. Post Office The Renaissance structure with its detailed columns and cornices. Image: DC Thomson.
The three-storey former Dundee Post Office building in Meadowside.
In 1987 a first class stamp cost 18p.
The interior became Circus Nightclub in October 2001 after closure and London Nightclub and Cubic Nightclub under subsequent ownership changes. Wellgate Centre An exterior view of the Wellgate shopping centre. Image: DC Thomson.
The brown blockwork entrance of the Wellgate Centre in March 1987.
There are signs on the frontage for British Home Stores and Mothercare.
Every Dundonian will recall the Wellgate waterfall, which was made up of curtains of plastic wires which water flowed down and trickled into a pool below. Stakis Earl Grey Hotel Stakis Earl Grey Hotel in 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
Construction of the Stakis Regency Casino and Stakis Earl Grey Hotel.
The casino offered roulette, blackjack, three-card poker and slot games with a bar and restaurant providing food and drink into the wee small hours.
The 129-bedroom hotel occupied an unrivalled site on the banks of the Tay with a stunning vista across to Fife framed by the bridges. Shopping centre There are people walking past the shop windows. Image: DC Thomson.
Another view of the Overgate shopping centre from February 1987.
The Shoe People, Lunn Polly and Home Charm are among the shops in the picture.
In the background is the William Low supermarket. Tay Road Bridge car park Tay Road Bridge car park in 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
Several cars in the waterfront car park.
You would park there to go to the Olympia swimming pool.
The large gasometer from Dundee Gas Works can be seen in the background. McManus Galleries Dundee McManus Galleries. Image: DC Thomson.
Cars coming past the McManus Galleries in March 1987.
The one-way system that was in place is completely different these days.
Rabbie Burns is seen surveying the passing show. Royal Exchange Assurance There is a clock above the entrance sign. Image: DC Thomson.
The Royal Exchange Assurance building on Panmure Street.
It was originally built in 1957.
The bus stop adverts include one for Outspan oranges. St Andrew's Parish Church The exterior of the church in 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
Cars parked along the pavement outside St Andrew's Church in King Street.
St Andrew's Church was completed in 1774.
When it was built in the 18th Century the area was semi-rural. DC Thomson The headquarters of DC Thomson. Image: DC Thomson.
The foundation stone was laid for the DC Thomson building in 1904.
Christened 'Courier Buildings' and dominating the west side of Albert Square, the company's new home was one of the most advanced buildings in Europe.
The exterior red sandstone cladding came from Dumfries. The Steeple A floral display in 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
A flower bed in front of The Steeple Church.
It was one of a number of floral displays across the city centre.
The picture may well evoke nostalgia for the days when the streets were clean. Chamber of Commerce The A-listed building in 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
Dundee Chamber of Commerce in March 1987.
These were the days when you would see a red phone box on every street.
The building is now home to the Brewdog pub and a function suite. Sinderins The parting of the roads at Sinderins. Image: DC Thomson.
The Sinderins junction where Perth Road and Hawkhill join together.
The tenement gable was refurbished in 1987.
The traffic system is the same today. Dundee Law View of Dundee showing the Law. Image: DC Thomson.
A view looking over the city to Dundee Law.
The summit is the highest point in Dundee and includes the war memorial.
It was formally unveiled by Sir Iain Hamilton in 1925. City Chambers Looking across Dundee City Square in March 1987. Image: DC Thomson.
The City Square filled with cars before it was closed off to traffic.
The Thomas Cook travel agent is on the right of the City Chambers.
Littlewoods, Boots and H. Samuel stores are in the background. Dundee High School Image shows the exterior of the high school. Image: DC Thomson.
Looking towards Dundee High School from McManus Galleries.
Cars are parked in the playground.
There are now bus stops outside the school railings. Concrete walkway There are several pedestrians walking past the shops. Image: DC Thomson.
The concrete walkway lined with shops in the Overgate Centre in 1987.
You can make out the signs for Mothercare and Birrell's Shoe Shop.
It's the final image in our stroll through Dundee in 1987.
