On impulse, a few weeks ago, I bought a copy of an 1866 map of Aberdeen. Pondering it, I decided to begin a series of walks to re-trace the roads of that time and see what buildings and features survived. I started today, with the stretch of land south of the railway (now disused but marked on my map) from Bridge of Dee to the railway bridge. Much of the grounds of the grand mansions has survived in the shape of Duthie Park and Allenvale Cemetery (both late C19th.) The only significant building which has survived, sadly, is Outseats House of 1800 which illustrates this post. It was a very interesting walk, accompanied by Alistair, the map, a highlighter pen ( to mark survivors) and a light rain. I spotted many interesting buildings and landscape features which I had not previously noticed.
3 comments:
I love old maps Elinor - the older the better. Fascinating to see how the spelling of place names have changed over the years. Liz.
Fascinating! I had to look up the house on Google Street Map. Will there be photos?
@Sarah, I may do photos on the other walks I plan but as this is an area I know so well I only took two as a basis for my painting. I plan to take one of each of the buildings I find from my map on each walk. There weren't many buildings in this part of Aberdeen in 1866. My next walk may be more productive: Hardgate and Holburn Street.
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