Duthie Park is Aberdeen’s playground, a place for people to relax, play, exercise and enjoy a green oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the busy Granite City streets.
Gifted to the city in the late Victorian era, countless generations of Aberdeen folk have come to know and love the park, its Winter Gardens, rose hill, boating pond and elegant band stand. Join us now as we look back at Duthie Park over the years.
Not a photograph of Duthie Park itself, but a key moment in its history. This is the grand parade of horse-drawn carriages from the Town House to the site of the park in 1881 when Miss Elizabeth Crombie Duthie presented it to the people of Aberdeen. The first turf was cut that day, but the park was not opened for another two years.
One of the treasured memories many Aberdonians have of Duthie Park is its boating pond. Generations have either sailed models on it – as these enthusiasts did in 1969 – or remember taking to the water on a paddle boat or later a kayak.
Whenever the sun shines in Aberdeen, Duthie Park becomes a haven for people to relax, play and enjoy the warmth – as can be seen in this tranquil scene from 1961.
The Winter Gardens are the jewels in the green crown of Duthie Park. But they have changed over the years. These elegant, soaring Victorian glass houses were swept away in 1969 to create the gardens we all know and love today.
History, tradition and spectacle come together as the the band of the Scots Guards beat a sunset retreat at Duthie Park, in 1989.
