Old Photographs Monifieth Angus Scotland

Tour Scotland wee video of old photographs of Monifieth, Scottish Gaelic; Monadh Feith, a town in Angus on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. Monifieth remained a small village, comprising a number of turf huts until the early 19th century. In the eighteenth century, the economy of the parish was mainly dependent on agriculture. Other industries included quarrying and weaving within the home. During the 19th century, the village gradually expanded following the introduction of larger scale industries to the area, including manufacture of machinery for flax mills in 1811. James Low and Robert Fairweather had set up their foundry in the village at the start of the nineteenth century and in 1815 developed the first carding machine for flax tow in the area. With the growth of the textile industry in Dundee and Angus the business grew rapidly, and, by the late nineteenth century, James F Low & Co Ltd was producing a wide range of machines used for the processing and spinning of jute, flax and similar fibres. As well as building machinery for local use, the firm attracted orders from across the world and by the 1880s the Monifieth Foundry employed about 300 workers. Although Monifieth had no harbour, cargo was off loaded from vessels on Monifieth Sands in the relatively sheltered Firth of Tay at low tide and horse drawn vehicles would move the cargo to nearby destinations.
The Reverend James Gerard Young, born 1821, died 1899, was minister of the Parish of Monifieth from 1855 to 1899. The Gerard Trust was set up under his will for the establishment of a cottage hospital in Monifieth. The Gerard Cottage Hospital opened in October 1905 and was operated by a Trust until July 1948, when it was transferred to the Eastern Regional Hospital Board. By 1970 the hospital had been closed and the building altered and extended to become St Mary's Residential Home for the Elderly run by sisters of that Order and owned by the Diocese of Dunkeld. At Milton of Monifieth in the eighteenth century, a separate hamlet from what was then known as the Kirkton of Monifieth, there was linseed oil extraction mill. 1794 records show it as producing 800 bolls of oil, which apart from a few pints sold locally, were exported to London, Wngland. Another product from this operation was cattle feed, exported to Yorkshire farmers. There was also a fulling mill, thread mill, several tanneries all in business at Milton prior to 1845. Monifieth has two golf clubs and is close to Barry links, which is where Sir Robert Maule, the first links golfer, is reported to have played golf in 1527. William Fisher Cassie, usually referred to simply as Fisher Cassie in his field and as Bill Cassie by his friends, was born on 29 June 1905 in Monifieth. He was a British civil engineer and academic. He was a noteworthy author on building structure. He was an expert on soil mechanics and a strong advocate of underground transport systems. He died on 20 April 1985. Monifieth railway station serves the town of Monifieth near Dundee, Scotland. The station was opened on 6 October 1838 on the Dundee and Arbroath Railway. A tramway service was introduced in 1905, with cars journeying into Dundee City centre at regular intervals. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.

[@leemick6806]

Very wonderful photos, and really excellent information!!! Thanks!!! 👍 Cheers, Lee 😊

[@tourscotland]

thank you for viewing my video and your comment, Lee

[@eridaniss314]

interesting information! thanks. i think one of my ancestors might have worked in the flax mills in the early 1800's.

[@tourscotland]

thank you for your comment

[@jingshelpmaboab]

The photograph at 2.13 must have been taken 1960-61 when the teacher second from left at the front, Miss Sandford, who taught me in P2, was on exchange from the USA. Violet Fisher, who taught me in P6 & P7, was one of the two teachers on exchange in the USA. She spoke about it when I visited her several times (still in her own house in South Ramsay Street) around twenty years ago.
The photo at 1:13 is of Ramsay Street and you can see the block of flats at the top right where I lived until I was 7 or so, when we got a council house in Ashludie Terrace and the flats were demolished. We were a family of five by then, in a two room flat (bedroom and living room / kitchen), outside toilets, no bathroom, communal washhouses and drying greens either end of the toilet building... Ashludie Terrace was luxury by comparison. I was too young to really understand the need for the move but I can still remember Mum's excitement.

[@tourscotland]

thank you for your comment and information Bob

[@jingshelpmaboab]

@@tourscotland And thank you for posting these photos.

[@DrB81]

Haha I know a bunch of them at 1.55. I was a couple years older at Seaview.

[@tourscotland]

thank you for viewing my video and your kind comment