THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Dundee is to do its part in linking up the Mother Country with her Colonies. With this object in view a branch of the Victoria League has been formed and this branch will have control of the Overseas Club which is to be opened in the premises at 29 Nethergate at present being utilised as a recruiting office. This important step was taken at a meeting held in Lamb’s Hotel. Miss Drayton of the Victoria League in London gave an interesting account of the work carried out by the League.

50 years ago

Britain’s first heart swap patient was allowed to sit up and wave to his wife through a sound-proof glass panel as he lay in a hospital bed yesterday. He also gave her a wink, but they were not permitted to speak to each other. A bulletin from the National Heart Hospital in London said the patient, Frederic West, 45, of Leigh-on-Sea was satisfactory and following a normal post-operative course. He is feeling tired at the moment but doctors are quite happy with Mr West’s progress.

25 years ago

A spring outing turned into an ordeal for a group of Dundee pensioners yesterday when the coach they were travelling in crashed into a ditch. Miraculously, not one of the 52 people on board the bus was injured in the accident, which happened on the Forfar to Brechin road, near the Justinhaugh Hotel, Foreside, shortly after noon. Members of the St Peter’s McCheyne Senior Citizens Lunch Club were on a day trip and heading for the Royal British Legion in Banchory.

One year ago

Smoke billowed into the air in a massive cloud as some of Highland Perthshire’s finest woodlands burned. Parts of Faskally Woods and Craigower behind Pitlochry were engulfed in flames as miles of woodland caught alight and the area faced a loss of disastrous proportions. Helicopters dropped thousands of tonnes of water from local lochs as emergency service units from across the region battled to contain the blaze. At its height, the fire was visible for miles around.