In photos: Snapshots of the life and times of 1960s Aberdeen

In the 1960s, Aberdeen still had heavy industries, a busy fishing port and was a popular holiday destination.

Freedom, political and social change, as well as a youth revolution, swept Britain in the 1960s, and Aberdeen wasn’t entirely immune from change.

The city was slowly undergoing all sorts of changes; bomb-damaged buildings were gradually placed with modern ones, and the city’s first tower block rose from the ground.

1960s: A familiar sight to all motorcyclists of old, Cheyne’s on the corner of Holburn Street and Willowbank Road in Aberdeen pictured here in 1960. Image: DC Thomson

New housing estates sprung up on the outskirts, with many in the post-war generation e enjoying sanitary homes with electricity and mod-cons for the first time.

In the evenings, people enjoyed downtime in the city’s dancehalls, at the bingo and the bookies.

Bookmakers’ shops illegal until 1961

Until May 1961, betting shops were still technically illegal in Britain, but the introduction of the Betting and Gaming Act was to change that.

The idea was it would take gambling off the streets and into regulated shops.

In Aberdeen, betting shops were inconspicuous outlets with frosted glass windows and doors going by the name ‘Commission Agent’.

Ahead of the change in law, the P&J offered a rare insight into this back-street business in Aberdeen in 1961.

1961: Betting shops were not legal until May 1961, so this photograph from February that year showed a rare glimpse behind closed doors. Back then, Aberdeen’s betting shops were discreet places with frosted glass doors bearing the name ‘Commission Agent”. These men sit round the table selecting horses to bet on. Image: DC Thomson

The bookmaker told the P&J: “We don’t allow women or drunks in here. We’re very strict about that and we have a doorkeeper to stop them coming in.”

There were about 60 betting shops in Aberdeen at the time, each with about a dozen bookies’ runners who would place bets on behalf of punters.

1960s bingo boom continued in Aberdeen

While women were barred from the bookies, they found fun elsewhere – at the bingo.

Cinema was falling out of fashion by the 1960s as many people had televisions at home instead.

However, many of the old cinemas were turned into bingo halls.

1962: During the 1960s, many cinemas were transformed into bingo halls. The Kingsway Cinema on the corner of King Street and Frederick Street became the biggest bingo hall in northern Scotland. A popular venue, this photo shows the bingo queue snaking down Frederick Street, stretching up both sides and crossing at one end. Image: DC Thomson

The Art Deco Kingsway on the corner of King Street and Frederick Street opened as a cinema in 1939.

But it closed in 1962, and was swiftly turned into the biggest bingo hall in the north of Scotland.

Nearly 2000 people turned out for the opening night of the bingo at Kingsway.

The popularity of bingo in other parts of the country was said to be waning by the ’60s, but the bingo boom continued in Aberdeen.

But even the promoters were taken aback to see thousands of people queuing around Frederick Street awaiting the first “eyes down” in 1962.

In pictures: Aberdeen in the 1960s

1962: Let’s twist again, like we did last summer! Back in August 1962, Chubby Checker was king – and these dance hall fans were definitely twisting again at the Beach Ballroom during a twist contest. Image: DC Thomson

1963: Bella Main ferrying passengers across the River Dee at Blairs Ferry. Bella thought it was a pity the old ferry had fallen into disuse, so she took over operating it in the 1930s until her retirement in 1967. Prior to that she was the local postie and known in Bieldside and Murtle as ‘Postie Belle’. Image: DC Thomson

1963: Aberdeen’s City Cinema in George Street offered low-cost entertainment. On the bill here, World War Two hero Audie Murphy stars in ‘Battle on the Beach’ in June 1963. The cinema closed in 1967 and became a bowling alley before closing in 2007 when it was turned into shops. Image: DC Thomson

1964: Striking styles at the finish of the first deliveries in the Mixed Doubles League matches at the ABC Bowl, Aberdeen. Image: DC Thomson

1965: Kippers galore – but the demand was so great that the staff could barely cope at the Festival of Bon-Accord kipper barbeque at Aberdeen Fish Market. The crowds who queued up for this delicacy waited patiently as the assistants dealt with the many orders. Image: DC Thomson

1965: The Ambulance which was being sent to Mary Slessor Hospital, Calabar, as a gift from the people of Aberdeen on display outside the West Church of St Andrew, Union Street. Some passers-by stopped to have a look. Image: DC Thomson

1966: Crowds listening to Aberdeen City Police Pipe Band’s performance at Union Terrace Gardens on an August afternoon. Image: DC Thomson

1966: Mrs Osborne, pouring tea, was one of the Women’s Voluntary Service ‘ladies in green’ at Kingseat Hospital. The women trundled their trolley around the wards bringing conversation and cheer to visitors and patients alike. Image: DC Thomson

1966: The scene at Poynernook Road as lorries queued up bumper to bumper waiting for supplies of ice. The ice was held up by an unofficial strike at two ice factories when pay negotiations broke down, so fish merchants sent their own vehicles down to collect ice for their trawlers. Image: DC Thomson

1967: After gulping down 17 pies in two hours, William Ewan of Aberdeen was declared winner of the pie-eating contest at the Beach Amusement Carnival Park. Twenty people entered, but after an hour two-thirds had dropped out. At the end 250 pies had been eaten. David Hall (22), right, is seen making short work of the pies as he leaves two competitors behind – Alex Munro, left, and Sandy Simpson. Image: DC Thomson

1968: Aberdeen Students Charities Queen Wendy Corbett and her attendants. Eighteen-year-old Wendy was in her second year as a pharmacy student at Robert Gordon’s Institution of Technology. Flanking her are Jennifer Brunnen, 18, a first-year physiotherapy student at Woolmanhill, and 20-year-old Retna Ayadurai, from Malaysia, a first year student at the School of Domestic Science. Image: DC Thomson

1969: Bus drivers in the Corporation Canteen in Victoria Court which served breakfasts, lunches and suppers, and light meals on Sunday. Image: DC Thomson

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