History - Aberdeen Voice

Dickens Fellowship Meet Again: Wed April 24

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Apr 222013

Thanks to Dr Paul Schlicke who has reminded Voice that local Dickens fans are planning to meet this week.

Paul informed Voice,

“As previously intimated, at the next meeting of the Aberdeen branch of the Dickens Fellowship we will discuss Hard Times Part 2, Reaping.

“Feel free to join us, whether or not you managed to attend last month’s discussion of Part 1, Sowing.

“We will meet from 7-9 pm on Wednesday 24 April at Grampian Housing Association, 74 Huntly Street, 300 yards up from the Catholic Cathedral, at the corner of Huntly Street and Summer Street. There is free parking adjacent.”

The venue’s also near enough to Union Street and Rosemount to travel by bus. Last month’s meeting had a lower than expected turnout, but the weather, which prevented some from attending, is improving.

Some believe that his writings are as relevant in the current austere age as they have ever been.

If you have read any or no Dickens, or are just curious about the continued interest in an author who was born over 200 years ago, you’ll be made welcome.

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New Lanark – A Mexican Menie?

Environment, Featured, News 3 Responses »

Apr 052013

This will be a familiar story to those Aberdonians who tried and failed to stop the Donald Trump golf development on the Menie Estate North of Aberdeen. By Duncan Harley.

A powerful multi national company files a highly controversial planning application with the local council, debate and consultation takes place and planning consent is granted despite environmental considerations.

Local voices are silenced and the powers that be give the go ahead for the development.

Only this time it’s the UNESCO World Heritage Listed village of New Lanark and the iconic Falls of Clyde which are under threat.

New Lanark is best known as the social experiment set up by Robert Owen. Owen, a social reformer, had seen first hand the results of the abuse of the labour force in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution and formed the opinion that better conditions would improve production as well as improving the lives of the workers in the cotton mills.

Robert Owen’s view was that a “permanent cause of distress was to be found in the competition of human labour with machinery and that the only effective remedy was the united action of men and the subordination of machinery.”

Between 1799 and 1813 he improved the lot of the workforce at New Lanark. He introduced educational provision for both children (who formed a significant portion of the workforce) and adults and improved housing and access to basic foodstuffs by pioneering the Cooperative Movement. Street lighting was provided as was free access to medical treatment and state of the art sanitation and water supplies.

The village of New Lanark became a model for social reformers both in the UK and across Europe.

By the 1960’s however the village was under threat from general neglect and the mills finally closed in 1968.

The Lanarkshire County Council of the time seemed largely uninterested in the village and it was only through the work of the New Lanark Association that the buildings and heritage survived. Houses were renovated and over time the village gained a new status as both a living museum to social reform and an historic place to live and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings.

This is a council with a long history of unusual decision making however.

In the 1970’s the Hamilton Palace Grounds were sold off to developers and are now home to such iconic brands such as “Carpet for You World” and “DIY Disaster Planet”.

This despite the land having been left “in perpetuity” to the people of Hamilton by the Duke of Hamilton’s estate.

Also in the 1970’s the council approved the plan to create Strathclyde Park which neatly packaged the flooding of the local marshland habitat of Bothwell Haugh to create a weed infested nitrate rich waterway with a US style fast food “Fun Park”.

Locally the park is known as Junkie world and most folk avoid the place in the summer evenings due to the risk of being run down by joy riders or even mugged.

The industrial heritage of the area was largely ignored and local opinion was also largely ignored. The various layers of local government felt that they new best. Sound familiar?

Then along came a few new industrialists who have promised the area income from open cast mining. The Clyde Valley is now scarred with open cast coal and sand workings. The idea of course is to strip back the topsoil for re-instatement when extraction is complete. However the nature of the process means that woodland, grassland, dykes, copses and hedges are destroyed and wildlife habitat at best interrupted and at worst completely destroyed.

Now it seems that Comex, a Mexican multinational mineral extraction conglomerate have filed an application to expand existing opencast quarrying operations just upstream from New Lanark village at the Falls of Clyde.

The falls are the power source which powered the Robert Owen mills and are a rich habitat as well as an iconic beauty spot. The proposed new opencast workings will be visible from the New Lanark valley and the noise of the extraction machinery will invade the tranquillity of the heritage village.

Comex are of the opinion that the 3.6 million tons of sand and gravel it plans to extract from the countryside beside the falls will have no visual impact. Campaigners completely disagree. Many fear that the potential loss of UNESCO status will further damage the site since the initial 6 year extraction application will no doubt lead to further applications in the future and if the UNESCO listing is withdrawn it makes it more likely that subsequent applications will in fact be approved.

The area is supposedly protected by a series of planning policies. In 2012 it was promoted to a Category 1 Area – representing the highest level of protection against quarrying. But given the history of the local authority in the past and the pressure for inward investment the local’s and protest groups such as Save our Landscapes (SOL) are very concerned to say the least.

Why, I hear you ask, should this matter to the folk of Aberdeen and the North East?

Scotland has a mere four UNESCO listed World Heritage Sites. In no particular order of importance they are St Kilda, New Lanark, Edinburgh Old and New Town and Skara Brae in Orkney.

There are in fact 4.5 if you count the shared listing of the Antonine Wall with Hadrians Wall and the Northern Roman Empire’s Reaches but it may be better to let Alex Salmond sort out that issue sometime in the future.

The UNESCO World Heritage List includes 962 properties worldwide forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.

The Criteria for Selection are stringent and loss of listing can occur if the criteria ceases to be met due to changing circumstances or failure of a country’s politicians to protect the site.

To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.

These include:

To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius.
To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design.
To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history and to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.

New Lanark ticks all of the above boxes!

According to UNESCO:-

“Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. Places as unique and diverse as the wilds of East Africa’s Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet and the Baroque cathedrals of Latin America make up our world’s heritage.”

According to the protest group Save our Landscapes, if the new opencast workings are given the go ahead:-

“The quarry would destroy the landscape that forms the setting of New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde”.

If the situation resonates with you then you may wish to consider e-mailing Michael McGlynn, Head of Planning at South Lanarkshire Council. His e-mail address is planning@southlanarkshire.gov.uk and you should to quote planning ref: CL/12/0525 and give reasons for your concern or objection.

You might also wish to contact your local MSP although you should be aware that Aileen Campbell, MSP for the area, has assured constituents:-

“Historic Scotland are taking their role very seriously.”

This, despite the fact that to date Historic Scotland has done little to intervene apart from stating that the quarrying operations will not be visible from much of the site and that the extraction process by the Mexican quarry firm will only be for six years.

Mexico has 31 UNESCO listed sites including the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino in Baja and the Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila near the Rio Grande River.

I suspect that any Scottish firm wishing to extract minerals from these heritage sites would be subject to ridicule by the Mexican authorities. Let’s hope the local and parliamentary bodies in Scotland see sense on this issue.

Sources:

Save our Landscapes: http://saveourlandscapes.moonfruit.com/#/new-lanark/4555343294
Times Article: http://www.clydesdalesheritage.org.uk/new-lanark-embarrasment/
UNESCO: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list
About New Lanark: http://www.newlanark.org/
Observer, Scottish Town fights for Rights: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/31/new-lanark-heritage-industry-clash
Hamilton Palace: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Palace#The_site_today

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Dickens Fellowship Foregathers Once Again

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Mar 252013

By David Innes.

Aberdeen’s nascent Dickens Fellowship meets again this week. Anyone who has an interest in this literary and journalistic master and his peerless work is welcome to attend and participate.

It’s informal, friendly, fun and informative. We cannot guarantee Pickwickian brandy and hot water, but there will be coffee available.

We’ll meet on Thursday March 28 at 19:00 and will conclude before 21:00.

Thanks once again to the kind hospitality of Grampian Housing Association, 74 Huntly Street, Aberdeen, we’ll be meeting in the centre of town.

The GHA offices are at the crossroads of Huntly Street and Summer Street. There is ample car parking and the venue is only 400 yards from Union Street and regular bus services.

This time, we’ve decided to discuss Hard Times (1854). Although many will have read the whole novel, our discussions will concentrate on the opening section, Sowing, which comprises chapters 1 – 16, including the wonderful satire of Chapter 2, Murdering The Innocents.

Dr Paul Schlicke will be happy to answer any queries about the group. You can contact him by e-mail at p.schlicke@abdn.ac.uk

Dickens Fellowship Meeting A Success

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Mar 072013

Aberdeen’s embryonic Dickens Fellowship had a most successful meeting last week, with lively discussion of Scenes from Sketches by Boz. David Innes reports, with thanks to Dr Paul Schlicke and to Grampian Housing Association for the kind hospitality.

Several of the group spoke warmly of their favourite Scenes, why they found them to be especially moving, horrifying or entertaining and how they gave insight to Dickens’s own radicalism at a time of significant political and social upheaval.
A query as to why the passages are written by ‘we’, revealed that this was a journalistic tradition, claiming and emphasising collective adherence to a principle, which Dickens skilfully utilised in Sketches by Boz.

Prose fiction was still regarded as inferior to formal writing in the early nineteenth century, so Dickens was a hugely influential in gaining narrative fiction its due respect.

The group discussed how, with so little formal education, the author became such a formidable wordsmith, yet despite his love of theatre why he was such a poor playwright. We found out that in writing his fiction, he acted out, in the privacy of his writing den, each character’s dialogue as it took shape. The theatre was an incalculable influence on his writing and his dramatic sell-out reading tours in later life.

As ever, where open friendly conversation takes place, we became diverted occasionally and discussion of Scenes led to brief examinations of Dickens’s views on contemporary transport, his ability to document conviviality and vitality and his not always kind treatment of his friends and loved ones.

We move on to discussion of a novel at our next meeting, and the choice is Hard Times, concentrating on the first section ‘Sowing’ (chapters 1–16). The meeting will again be held in the Grampian Housing Association, 74 Huntly Street, at the corner of Huntly Street and Summer Street, on Thursday March 28 from 1900 to 2100. There is free parking in the GHA car park.

Meetings are open to all. Anyone who has an interest at all in this master storyteller will be made welcome. You can e-mail p.schlicke@abdn.ac.uk to be added to the mailing list

Brigadoon, Trump And All That Oor Wullie Stuff

Aberdeenshire, Featured, Opinion 2 Responses »

Mar 072013

By Duncan Harley.

Depending upon your view, this little spiky haired character sitting on his bucket is either a part of our Scottish cultural heritage or the sole reason folk in the USA and elsewhere sometimes imagine that we all live in caves and eat haggis three times a day except on Sundays when we chase sheep around the place just for the devil of it!

“Oor Wullie”, for those not in the know, is a Scottish comic strip. It’s published in the Sunday Post, a Scottish newspaper printed in Dundee and seemingly somehow associated with journalism.

With an average circulation of 242,555 in 2012, which is just about what the Observer and Sunday Mail record sales wise, the newspaper has significant market penetration although there have been persistent rumours that many readers buy the paper and immediately send it abroad to ex-pats without either reading or indeed censoring the content.

Famed for columns about aches and pains, kilt races and lost pets it could be viewed as a sort of National Enquirer without the blood and murders and seems to satisfy those who don’t really want to be bothered overmuch with news or current affairs

The weekly cartoon features a character called Wullie, whose trademarks are spiky hair, dungarees and an upturned bucket, which he often uses as a seat. The artistic style settled down around 1940 and has changed little since. A frequent tagline reads, “Oor Wullie! Your Wullie! A’body’s Wullie” with probably no sexual innuendo intended. Mind you, after that Cardinal O’Brien fiasco, Wullie’s head might just be on the chopping block next!

The image of us Scots is often defined by such strange quirks of popular culture. Look for instance at that recent Hollywood blockbuster Brave which Visit Scotland no less promoted as an “Oscar-winning animated adventure from Disney, the team responsible for worldwide box office smashes such as Toy Story, Up and Finding Nemo”.

The story follows the red haired heroine Merida, a skilled teenage archer battling to change her fate. Toy Story, Finding Nemo and a teenage lady archer? What on earth has that got to do with Scotland?

Braveheart was bad enough, being described by Billy Connolly as “a piece of pure Australian shite” and voted number one on the British film magazine Empire’s list of “The Top 10 Worst Best Pictures”. The plot involves a smattering of history plus a rampant sexual relationship between Mel Gibson and Princess Isabella.

Isabella of course was born in 1295, and Wallace was killed in 1305, making her only ten at the time. Isabella did not have her first child until 1312, which was seven years after Wallace had died. Do the maths!

Such assaults on the Scottish image remind me of that awful Brigadoon musical of the 1950’s in which some American tourists stumble upon an enchanted Scottish village called Brigadoon.

Every 100 years seemingly, the people of Brigadoon awaken for 24 hours then go back to sleep for another century. After performing on Broadway and London’s West End it was made into a film then a TV series staring Peter Falk of Lieutenant Columbo fame.

With Scottish Independence the horizon it might just be time to have a wee think about how we portray Scotland in the eyes of the world. After all what we put out to the world is what we will reap.

Plus we certainly don’t want any more write ups such as this tripe by a man who claims to half Scottish …

“I am both proud and excited to share with you my most recent addition to the Trump golf portfolio, in The Home of Golf, Scotland. I have been actively looking for links land in Europe for the past few years, and of course my preference was Scotland over any other country because I am half Scottish.

“My Mother, Mary MacLeod is from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. She grew up in a simple croft until she landed in Manhattan at the age of 20 and her first language was Gaelic. When I saw this piece of land I was overwhelmed by the imposing dunes and rugged Aberdeenshire coastline. I knew that this was the perfect site for Trump International – Scotland.

“I have never seen such an unspoiled and dramatic sea side landscape and the location makes it perfect for our development. Our site is close to two of the world’s most famous courses and is just 25 minutes by car from Aberdeen Airport. As this exciting development comes to fruition, the standards for the golf experience in Scotland will be taken to new levels of excellence by the addition of Trump International Golf Links.”

- Donald J. Trump

Dickens Fellowship Meet Again

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Feb 182013

The city’s fledgling Dickens Fellowship will be meeting again on Thursday 21 February at 1900, in a room kindly provided by Grampian Housing Association, 74 Huntly Street. Dr Paul Schlicke reveals more.

“In light of the sparse attendance at our last meeting when we were treated to an exhibition of Dickens treasures in the University Library, it’s crucial that we have a decent turnout, if our organisation’s to carry on and grow. Please make an effort to attend if you are at all interested in Dickens’s work and life. At this meeting, we’ll be discussing Scenes from Sketches by Boz”, he wrote in a message to nearly 50 individuals who have registered an interest in participating in a Dickens Fellowship.

Dr Schlicke is keen to welcome suggestions regarding the sorts of events which might prove most popular in future.

“We attracted huge audiences for Miriam Margolyes and Jim Naughtie, but they were obviously high profile events. We had respectable attendances for academic lectures over the past 12 months, but we’re not in a financial position to bring speakers in from outside.

“Last year was special, it being the author’s bicentennial, so the University paid for those who came to lecture as part of the 2012celebrations. I’m uncertain whether or not there would be much interest in turning ourselves into a reading group, so any thoughts as to what might be organised to attract 20 or more participants regularly would be welcome.”

In closing, Dr Schlicke spoke in glowing terms of the work done on the recently re-opened Dickens Museum in London’s Doughty Street after a £3m facelift.

“It is simply wonderful. After worrying times only a few years ago, the Museum’s financial position is now decidedly healthy, and a bright future is in prospect. Following a gala celebration held there for Dickens’s birthday on 7 February, it has been open daily. It is well worth a visit!”

For this week’s meeting, there is parking opposite Dana Petroleum’s offices, with access from Kydd Street. Tea and coffee will be available. It would help in planning for numbers if you could let Dr Schlicke know if you plan to attend.

p.schlicke@abdn.ac.uk
http://www.dickensmuseum.com/

A Dickens Of A Night

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Dec 142012

Peering out over the High Street’s rimed cobbles from ‘neath their frosted brows, one might easily mistake these spectral figures as characters from some long-forgotten Victorian melodrama. But no, this is Old Aberdeen. They are, in fact, local Dickens enthusiasts, gathering for the last time in the great man’s Bicentennial Year. David Innes reports.

“No fog, no mist, clear bright, jovial stirring cold” is how Dickens described Christmas Day in A Christmas Carol.

He might have been describing conditions in Aberdeen on Thursday 6 December, but while the wintry weather was without doubt a factor in keeping numbers low, those who braved the temperatures and icy underfoot conditions to attend the event at the new university library enjoyed a one-off treat.

The university is proud to possess one of the best Dickens collections in the world and it was a privilege to be present when the first editions of all his works were laid out for examination and enjoyment.

With special thanks to Keith O’ Sullivan, the University of Aberdeen’s Senior Rare Books Librarian. Thank you, Keith.

Particularly worthy of mention are the two first editions of Oliver Twist (1838). Until publication of this novel in its constituent parts, Dickens had used the pen name ‘Boz’. He had decided, however, that his own identity be used when the book was published in collected form.

The first edition was published by George Bentley before Dickens’ wish could be granted. It was only delayed by a week, as the Boz edition sold out and the imprint with the author’s own identity was offered for sale.

The entire Sketches by Boz series is also part of the University’s collection. It was surprising to see that each part was priced at one shilling (5 pence), expensive for the times.

Theatre posters of interest and lesser-known works were also displayed, each adding to the overall picture of the hugely-talented man still loved by millions, two hundred years after his birth.

Due to the low numbers, formal business was suspended for the evening but dates of future meetings, based around discussion of specific writings from the great man’s output, were agreed. Everyone on the mailing list will be contacted in advance of these meetings, the first of which is scheduled to be held on 21 February 2013.

If you wish to be added to Dr Paul Schlicke’s e-mail circular, drop him an e-mail p.schlicke@abdn.ac.uk

Publishing Icon Folds: Scotland Closed for Business

Creative Writing, Satire and Humour No Responses »

Dec 032012

By Suzanne Kelly.

The bell tolls for one of Scotland’s most famous businesses, which had exported its products around the world. Its long-serving staff members, some of whom had been with the firm for over five decades, are distraught as the firm lets them go for younger, more modern business models.

Yes, the Dandy has folded in a very literal sense; it is no more.

DC Thomson could have closed one of its other comedy publications such as the Evening Express or the Press and Journal. The circulation of these comics was outstripped by the Dandy.

In its drive to modernise, however, the firm has decided the world needs more erotic literature and will open a ‘sexy’ publishing arm soon (but obviously not as sexy as the Evening Express).

One DC Thomson insider said:

“We’re considered axing the Evening Express. It doesn’t make as much money as the Dandy, but it sure is funnier. Besides, our new core family values don’t permit us to continue inspiring bad behaviour in young people. The company will therefore continue producing the Evening Express and Press and Journal, which inspire no one, young or old, to do anything.

“We will now go into the now-respectable mummy porn industry, seeing as ‘Fifty Shades of Gray’ is making so much money, something we haven’t managed to do for some time.

He continued:

“One thing is for certain, young people today are always on the Web. We think the reason we have done badly of late has to do with the Web, whatever that is. In fact, we’ve been making a case for building a web in Aberdeen, as the web’s what everyone seems to be into around the world.

“I can’t imagine why people are against the web and all the connectivity it would bring – whatever that means. We’ve been gently hinting in our comics in subtle ways that the city should have a web. Perhaps we need to give the web idea a bit more coverage in our local papers.”

Many of those let go have suffered problems. One young woman, Beryl the Peril, has noted a deterioration in her relationship with her father. Social services have intervened, and she is receiving therapy to find more productive means of channelling her frustrations rather than pelting her father with snowballs. She has been cautioned that her neighbourhood antics could earn her an ASBO, and she may be charged with elder abuse.

“It’s all because we didn’t cover the dual carriageway that my life’s a mess,” Beryl told a press conference; “Without a granite web, what’s a girl to do but get in trouble down the Union Square Mall.”

A canine was seized under the dangerous dog act, as no one is certain what breed it is. Gnasher, as it is known, was owned by a former Dandy employee named Dennis. It is thought the dog picked up some aggressive behaviour from its relationship with Dennis, who will be charged with menacing behaviour.

Dennis and Beryl have both been put on mandatory Ritalin regimes and will soon calm down, becoming acceptably well-behaved members of society.

Aberdeen City Council has come forward with at least one job offer for a redundant staff member.

“We have been looking at the accomplishments of one Dandy regular, and hope to poach him for our administration. Roger the Dodger, as he is known, is just the sort of person we need running things around here in an executive capacity. A go-getter like Roger would be the perfect addition to our team, even if he is a bit of an over-achiever and a little over-qualified.”

Sadly, staff member Desperate Dan may not be well enough to find any future work. After decades of eating Cow Pies, he has contracted BSE. Normally a very serious condition, ATOS have assessed Dan and decided he is still completely fit and well for all types of work. The Health & Safety Executive have rightly banned him from shaving with a blowtorch, and he is no longer permitted to lift a cow with one hand, either. According to friends, Dan is feeling desperate.

Health problems are also plaguing ex-DC Thomson employee Bananaman. His binge eating, and use of genetically modified bananas purportedly to gain strength have greatly injured his health. Some say he was actually using performance-enhancing drugs but pretending his strength came from fruit. Others think his delusions of powers including flight stem from a bad drugs experience in the Torry area of Aberdeen.

A team from ATOS will assess his fitness to work (which will say he’s fine) and determine whether or not he needs drug rehabilitation. Social workers will help his rehabilitation by helping him choose appropriate dress for the workplace.

We wish all the comical characters of DC Thomson all the best in their futures.

The Spirit Of The School

Aberdeen City, Community No Responses »

Oct 312012

By Graeme Milne.

There is something about schools, particularly old Victorian schools, that are a breeding ground for urban myths and tall tales of ‘ghosts’.

I personally know of at least three in Aberdeen that are ‘supposed to be haunted’.

Older kids take great delight in recounting these stories to the more sensitive, exaggerating them to the point where to set foot in the spirits’ domain is asking for trouble.

Usually thought to be haunting the attic, a place associated with all manner of spookiness, the restless spirit would appear to be doomed to a life among the cobwebs and dusty books of these forbidden areas. That being said schools can be mildly spooky; places where imaginations run riot after the noise of the school day has dwindled.

Despite being a breeding ground for the fevered imaginations of the young, many of these buildings can, after closer scrutiny, be legitimately described as being haunted – as in the case of Victoria Road School.

It was with much sadness to pupils and parents that in 2008 Victoria Road School was deemed surplus to requirement and despite a campaign to keep it open, the building was closed. Today it lies empty, its future open to speculation.

Victoria Road School was essentially a school of two halves, the first part being built in 1878 after the Fisherman’s Association of old Torry voted to pay £1400 towards the costs. On May 2nd 1878, Torry Public School, as it was once known, opened. The first headmaster Mr. William Yunnie had according to records the unenviable task of teaching 100 pupils in the ‘main room’.

As the population increased, so did the need for space and by 1904 Victoria Road School, as it was renamed, was opened with the original part of the building being delegated as a base for teaching children of nursery age, a tradition which continued until its closure.

During my research I was told that a number of head teachers lived in the older part of the building, upstairs in a series of small rooms, a rumour that perhaps bears out as Miss Nesbit, head teacher, is listed in the 1905 Post Office Directory as being at that address.

During World War Two, the main body of the school was hit by a shell during a bombing raid causing massive damage. I am glad to say however that in true Dunkirk spirit it was quickly rebuilt despite the austerity of wartime. The school has always held an interest for me, not least because my daughter Geraldine once attended there.

However there are many other reasons why this building remains a point of fascination for me and as you will have guessed it is due in no small part to the persistent rumours about it being haunted.

Since its closure I have made a point of speaking to as many former staff members and pupils as I can about the alleged activity and in particular about the sightings of a lady seen in what has been described as Victorian dress who was named ’Lizzie’ by staff.

It must be said that during my research I have come to the conclusion that cleaners, apart from having to work long unsociable hours, have the added disadvantage or advantage, depending on your point of view, of usually being in the right place and right time to experience otherworldly phenomena.

Judging by what I have been told though, many do not consider it a perk of the job for which they should be grateful. Usually the first in a building or the last out at night, cleaners have to contend not only with overflowing bins but also the chance of bumping into someone, quite literally, that should no longer be there. Victoria Road School is no different in that respect as you will hear.

I first became aware of the rumours concerning the school while in conversation with my partner. Having spent many years working there she had obviously heard stories concerning the building, particularly the older part of the school which has a central gym hall with rooms running off it. The woodwork in this part of the building is Victorian and really quite grand with large dark coloured doors leading to the dining hall and class rooms.

She looked very real, so much so I began to speak to her but she just went on through the gym door

Upstairs was the old school nurse’s office which at that time was used for a variety of different purposes. Carol described how on one occasion she was in the room moving some boxes when she had an overpowering feeling that someone was also there, standing behind her. So tangible was the feeling that she left the area promptly.

She found the experience unnerving and after mentioning this to colleagues found out that others had experienced the same sense of being watched. I asked if she would mention my research to interested parties and was soon in receipt of a number of interesting tales, one of which described an actual full-bodied apparition that had been seen at close quarters.

But before we look at this example, the school administrator, Maureen, furnished me with the following account which has a great similarity to Carol’s experience.

She stated,

“As a former pupil of the school I cannot remember any mention at that time of a ‘ghost’ while I was there so I cannot believe that what happened three years ago was in any way influenced by my childhood memories.

“As the school administrator I was spending the first week of the summer holidays working in the office. I had of course heard from other staff members of their experiences in the building but can honestly say that I took it all as nonsense, being quite a sceptical person myself.

“That day I was entirely alone in the building but was in no way bothered as I had worked alone in the holidays for many years. I was packing up and getting ready to go for the day.

“I picked up my handbag and had just started to put my jacket on when I had the most uneasy feeling. I saw nothing and heard nothing but had the most overwhelming sensation that there was a presence outside the large office window. Needless to say I got out of the building as quickly as possible and felt extremely uneasy for a few days after.”

When I asked if she had heard of any similar occurrences she stated that the school cleaners had always claimed to be aware of something but this had always occurred in the old school. This, as I have mentioned, was the original Torry Public school before it was renamed and extended.

With my interest piqued I was soon given an account by one of the long serving school cleaners who told me the following:

“The first time I felt anything was at the bottom of the school, the old part. It was an intense cold feeling that went away as quickly as it arrived. This happened several times. I just got used to it until one day while cleaning the gym my ‘hoover’ was switched off at the wall.

“I immediately thought it was one of my colleagues trying to get my attention but on turning round to speak was shocked to see a woman who was dressed in what I thought was 1900-1920’s clothing. She looked very real, so much so I began to speak to her but she just went on through the gym door going towards the bottom part of the school. She literally vanished before my eyes.

“After that I began to hear footsteps quite regularly, always around 5.30 in the morning. Although I sometimes felt apprehensive I just carried on as normal until one day I was buffing the back corridor at around 6.30 in the morning when the buffer went what I can only describe as “funny”, turning by itself and pinning me against the wall.

“At the same time the temperature went very cold. I got it shifted and then I shouted out to whoever was doing this to stop it! At other times doors would open and close. It didn’t bother me though as you got used to it. Another strange thing is that you would also hear a lot of footsteps coming from certain areas as though children were walking through the corridors.”

When I asked if she had any other experiences she would like to share she described an incident that happened during the ‘big clean’, which was a thorough top to bottom clean of the building once term had finished.

“I was late one year with the big clean and had to go back to the school gym area again to put on polish. I took two of my dogs with me. I got as far as the top area which leads to the gym when they both stopped and started to pull back and shake. One darted up to the top of the stairs while the other just lay down frozen to the spot and shook.

“I had to just get on with the polishing and leave them there till I had finished. It was very cold at that point and needless to say my dogs wouldn’t come back into the school. I would often feel someone was watching me and used to say “hello Lizzie” when it got cold, however I didn’t feel threatened apart from that time with the buffer.

“A funny thing happened in the main corridor about a week before the school closed. The grandfather clock started to tick quite loudly but as you got nearer to it, it stopped.

“Also in the last week there were more noises than usual heard all over the school, footsteps, doors banging and certain areas seemed to be abnormally cold. These cold spots seemed to appear all over the school and were very random. It was worse at the bottom end where the head teacher would have stayed. This used to be the old medical room.”

I found the above accounts fascinating and when asked if she remembered anything else particularly relating to the time the figure was seen, she stated the following.

“The lady I saw looked like a teacher and I would say she was approximately five foot 3 to five foot five inches in height. She was very slim and had black hair all tied up on the top of her head. She wore lace up boots and a long skirt to her ankles. She also had on a white shirt and long black cardigan coat and seemed to be carrying something in her hands, which I could not make out. It was so vivid”.

Intrigued, I began asking around if there were any other people in the area that had heard of these events but drew a blank. This, however was to change soon after when I attended a local community fair, and as luck would have it, I had a chance meeting with Mary, a former worker at the school. She was tasked on occasion with locking up the building and told me the following which occurred at the end of her shift.

“Everyone knew about ‘Lizzie’ and she was seen a number of times over the years. This never happened in the newer part of the school but always in the original part.

“As you know there is a long flight of stairs that connects the two buildings and staff would always notice a difference in atmosphere and temperature between the two. I remember my friend having her ‘hoover’ switched off at the wall while cleaning and after switching it back on turned round only to see a figure of a woman in old fashioned clothes standing behind her. The building definitely had cold spots which would sometimes follow staff around.

“The main thing that happened to me was when I saw the figure of a man in the building which gave me quite a start. I was about to switch the lights off at the top of the stairs when I noticed a figure standing at the bottom. Thinking it was the janitor I shouted down and asked what he was doing.

“The figure never moved and so I shouted again and started to walk towards it. I got part way down when I noticed it wasn’t the janitor at all. The figure instead, was that of a small skinny man wearing a flat cap. As I approached him he just vanished before my eyes. I was scared and I turned and ran from the building.

“The first thing I did when I got outside was to phone the supervisor who took the whole thing in her stride. The thing I remember most afterwards, was that I was perplexed as to who he was as most of the stories I had heard connected to the building seemed to relate to a female figure. I still wonder who he was.”

I asked if she had any further information to impart and she continued:

“The funny thing is that we all knew about the sightings of ‘Lizzie’ but were told not to speak to the kids about her even though many parents asked questions. Apparently they did not want the kids finding out too much as they did not want to scare them. Now that the buildings are closed I have often wonder if she is still in there.

“I would have loved it if we could have got a medium in to help solve the mystery but I would imagine that would never have been allowed. The building definitely had an atmosphere and we knew who was responsible for this though I might add there was never a bad feeling.”

So for now, Victoria Road School lies sadly empty and although I visited it frequently in the past, its secrets now lie dormant. Despite this my aim is to continue to gather evidence about this building as I have been told there are many other people out there who have experienced similar sightings.

The question is, who is or was ‘Lizzie’? It would appear that many ‘ghosts’ are named as a means of humanising them and most alleged haunted houses seem to have a cheerfully named spirit or two, the school being no exception.

Interestingly if staff had looked through one of Aberdeen’s old Post Office directories from early last century they would have noticed an entry stating the person residing at Torry Public School was a lady by the name of Miss E. Nisbet, occupation Headmistress.

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Hard Times? Not For Dickens Fans

Aberdeen City, News No Responses »

Oct 262012

Following the stupendous success of the most recent gatherings of Aberdeen’s Dickens aficionados when Miriam Margolyes entertained us and James Naughtie enlightened us, Dr Paul Schlicke has asked Voice to remind readers of the next planned event.

Professor Michael Slater, the world’s foremost living authority on Dickens will be in Aberdeen on Thursday 8 November.
He will be speaking on his experience of writing what is by far the best modern biography of Dickens, under the title An Attempt on the Life of Charles Dickens. The lecture will take place in room 228 of the new University Library at 7 pm. This will also be an opportunity for members of the public to experience this recently-opened state-of-the-art learning and study facility.

Professor Slater, of Birkbeck College, University of London, is author of Dickens and Women, The Genius of Dickens, Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing, and most recently, The Great Charles Dickens Scandal.

He is a former editor of the Dickensian, past chairman of the board of trustees of the Charles Dickens Museum in London, past president of the international Dickens Fellowship, past president of the Dickens Society of America, and founder of the annual Dickens Day at Birkbeck College. He is an excellent speaker. We are privileged to have him visit us in Aberdeen.

For your diaries – our final meeting of the calendar year, at 1900 on Thursday 6 December, will be an exhibition of the Dickens treasures held in the University of Aberdeen library. The collection is one of the very best in the world, including first editions of all of Dickens’s novels, copies of his periodicals, and a wide range of supporting documents. Not to be missed!

Bring along your favourite reading passage from Dickens, which we didn’t have time to enjoy at earlier meetings. We will also use the gathering as an opportunity to discuss the future of our branch, not only in considering possible topics for future meetings, but also deciding whether or not we wish to affiliate with the international Dickens Fellowship.

These events are open to all members of the public and we would be delighted to meet new friends and fellow admirers of the master of fiction.

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