Ardler is an area in the north-west of
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, built on land previously owned by Downfield Golf Club. The housing scheme was completed in the late 1960s and originally included six 17-storey multi-storey blocks that formed the northern part of the scheme. These were demolished between 1993 and 2007 as part of a major programme of regeneration due to finish in 2011.
History
Before the housing scheme
The origins of the name 'Ardler' are unclear, and certainly not to be confused with
the village named Ardler in Perth and Kinross (near Coupar Angus and north-west of Dundee). The name can be found on maps in the 18th century as 'Airdlaw', which could mean that it was the settlement of the Aird family. On the other hand, 'aird' or 'erd' is
Scots for earth, so could simply relate to the fact that where the housing scheme is now was once farmland. Ardler Cottages, Ardler ponds (feeding into the Gelly burn, which now runs underground through the middle of Ardler) and three fields once stood on the current site of Downfield
Golf Course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
just to the west of the scheme. These cottages were part of the
Camperdown Estate until the land was bought by
Dundee City Council
Dundee City Council is the local government authority for the City of Dundee. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.
History
Dundee City became a single-tier council in 1996, under the Local Government e ...
.
Just to the east of Ardler Cottages was more farmland which later became a 9-hole golf course, with the land rented from the Camperdown Estate. In 1932, with the land having been returned to agricultural use during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Downfield Golf Club was formed and the land remained a golf course until 1964.
To the south of and partly incorporating the area where Ardler presently stands was Blackshade, a post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
prefabricated housing
Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes or simply prefabs, are specialist dwelling types of prefabricated building, which are manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled. ...
development intended as a solution to the housing problems of the time, with rapid building needed to meet the demands of long housing waiting lists and those coming home from war. To the north was St Mary's, built in the 1950s, with the golf course in the land depression between the two with the Gelly Burn running through the middle.
The arrival of Ardler
In the 1960s the need for affordable housing was still apparent in Dundee, and the site of Downfield Golf Club was seen as an appropriate location. A land transfer between the Council and the Club saw the golf course move to its current location where Ardler Cottages and their fields once stood. The prefabricated houses on the site of the new development were demolished in the early 1960s, and the new scheme was built. On the south part of the site were 'courtyards',
bungalows
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
The first house in England that was classified as a bu ...
with an enclosed courtyard which offered some privacy, walk-ups and
maisonettes
An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ...
, with shared entrances which may have been intended to further increase a community spirit, and in the north were the multi-storey blocks. Most were small, 2-bedroom houses, ideal for a first home or for small families, but less so for larger families. In all there were 1,177 house units and six multi-storey blocks containing 1,788 flats, making 2,965 new houses in total. Added to this were the 18 houses that were above the new shopping centre making, with remaining older housing, 3,254 houses on the estate. The homes were very desirable for those coming from
Lochee
Lochee () is an area in the west of Dundee, Scotland. Until the 19th century, it was a separate town, but was eventually surrounded by the expanding Dundee. It is notable for being home to Camperdown Works, which was the largest jute production ...
and other parts of Dundee and many of the original residents were very pleased to have a house in Ardler. The scheme was provided with many facilities, mostly in the centre of the area, in an apparent attempt to create a strong sense of community. Yet for some residents there were almost two Ardlers, the houses in the southern half of the scheme and, on the hill overlooking them, the multis.
Decline
Ardler began to experience a decline particularly during the 1980s, and there were many reasons for this. People who had big families required larger houses. Middle aged couples whose families had grown up and left now looked towards smaller accommodation. The elderly who lived in the multis lived in fear of the vandals who were urinating in the lifts, drinking and using drugs and defacing the property. The lights on the landings were always being vandalised and this caused great distress to people who had to use the stairs when the lifts had been vandalised. Unemployment in Dundee was at a high level, and this worsened when the
Timex factory, located next to Ardler and an employer of many Ardler residents, closed in 1993.
Allied to this was the declining standards of the housing itself. Since the scheme was built, some effort had been made to improve some of the housing, such as replacing some flat roofs with pitched roofs more able to resist the weather. However, the housing suffered from problems such as poor insulation and damp. The cheap, quick solution to the housing problems of the 1950s and 1960s proved also to be short-term, and when it was realised that refurbishing the buildings was financially not viable, the decision was taken to regenerate the area more fundamentally.
Regeneration
Ardler has undergone huge change since the mid-1990s, with the demolition of the first multi in 1993 and the old four-storey blocks of flats. The re-building of Ardler started in 1998 when a partnership of Sanctuary Scotland
Housing Association
In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, Non-profit organization, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost "Public housing in the United Kingdom, social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budge ...
, Wimpey Homes and HTA architects was selected by
residents and Dundee City Council. Work started in January 2000 and is now 80% complete towards the target of creating 734 homes for rent, 69 refurbished homes and between 150 and 230 homes for private sale.
There is substantial open space in and around the village with new and innovative landscapes that include sustainable urban drainage systems, meadow and woodland areas. A priority for the regeneration of the Ardler Housing Estate included long-term strategies for social inclusion and community development. The Ardler Village Trust has been set up by local people and partners in the regeneration to help achieve this.
Ardler and the surrounding area
Parklands and facilities
Ardler is fortunate in some ways regarding leisure pursuits. It is close to Templeton Woods where people can go for a walk and experience nature first hand. Many of those who grew up in Ardler in earlier years of the scheme took advantage of the greater freedom children had and would make good use of the woods as an area for playing and exploring. Camperdown Park is also within walking distance and has a great deal of space with a large children's play area near the bottom of the park, a children's
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological g ...
, a golf course and
pitch and putt
Pitch and putt is an amateur sport very similar to, and derived from, golf, where the hole length is typically up to and just 2–3 clubs are typically used. The game was organised and developed in Ireland during the early 20th century, befor ...
to name but some activities. There is also a
cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
* ...
within walking distance.
Excursions into the surrounding area have not entirely stopped. In 1986, then ten-year-old Ardler resident Ross Prendergast made the news headlines when he ventured into the
Camperdown Park
Camperdown Country Park, often known as just Camperdown Park, is a public park in the Camperdown area of Dundee, Scotland. The park comprises the former grounds of Camperdown House, a 19th-century mansion, which was bought by the city in 1946. ...
zoo after hours. He got too close to "Jeremy", the park's
brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...
, who bit off the youngster's arm at the elbow.
The golf connection
Having been built on the site of the golf course, and with the Downfield Club still immediately west of the scheme, Ardler retained a strong connection with golf. Each of the three courts in all six multi-storey blocks were named after golf courses – some more famous and some more local than others. The streets were also named after golf courses (
Turnberry (in Ayrshire), Dalmahoy (Lothian),
Birkdale
Birkdale is an area of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The area is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from the centre of S ...
(Lancashire) and Rosemount (Perthshire)), with some of the multi's names used in the new streets built since the regeneration began (
Gleneagles,
Gullane
Gullane ( or ) is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the ninth century. The ruins of the Old Church of St. Andrew built in the twelft ...
, Hazlehead and
Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...
). Even the local pub in the north of the scheme was named the Fairways.
''Courts in Ardler multis:'' Barassie (Ayrshire), Baberton (Lothian),
Carnoustie
Carnoustie (; sco, Carnoustie, gd, Càrn Ùstaidh) is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast. In the 2011 census, Carnoustie had a population of 11,3 ...
(Angus), Cawdor (Lanarkshire), Downfield,
Edzell
Edzell (; sco, Aigle; gd, Eigill) is a village in Angus, Scotland. It is 5 miles (8 km) north of Brechin, by the River North Esk. Edzell is a Georgian-era planned town, with a broad main street and a grid system of side streets. Origina ...
(Angus),
Ganton
Ganton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the south side of the Vale of Pickering immediately north of the Yorkshire Wolds. Ganton lies west of the coastal town of Filey, and ...
(Yorkshire), Gullane (Lothian), Gleneagles (Perthshire), Hazlehead (Aberdeenshire),
Hoylake
Hoylake is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of En ...
(Liverpool), Lindrick (Yorkshire), Murcar (Aberdeenshire), Pannal (Yorkshire),
Prestwick
Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...
(Ayrshire), Scotscraig (Fife), Troon (Ayrshire),
Wentworth Wentworth may refer to:
People
* Wentworth (surname)
* Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder
* S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator
* Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...
(Surrey).
The children in Ardler also did their part to keep the golf connection. In the 1970s a 9-hole 'golf course' was created by some of them, with holes marked by significant landmarks. The holes were named, and even had particular 'par' scores.
Transport links
One of the lessons learned when Ardler was first built was the need for good public transport. St Mary's had not had this when first built, and residents had to walk through the area where Ardler would be built (perhaps even over the golf course) in all weather to get to buses to go to work. Ardler is now served by a few bus routes, including one that goes down Turnberry Avenue in the centre of the scheme.
Travel Dundee
/ref> Some residents, however, feel that they could be better served by public transport and that in some ways Ardler and St Mary's, as the north-west extremities of Dundee, are still the forgotten areas of the city.
Life in Ardler
Leisure
As well as their self-created golf course, children in Ardler had access to other leisure facilities. Each of the six multis had its own play park for the children that incorporated swings, a chute and a sandpit, and there were other play parks among the walk-ups in the southern part of the scheme. There was also enough open space for the provision for football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
. This area was well used by school and junior league football teams particularly at the weekends, and during a match it could be difficult to move due to all the cars parked in the area. Currently there is a bowling club in Ardler, football pitches and multi-sport area.
Education
Two new primary schools were built in 1967 Ardler and St Fergus, a Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
school. Originally there was confusion over the site, as St Fergus was built behind Chalmers Ardler Parish Church, a Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
. It was decided that they should be swapped round so that Ardler PS was closer to the church.
The local high school serving the area, although based in Kirkton, is St Pauls which is a newly built school where Lawside and St Saviors merged. The other Catholic high school in Dundee, St John's, is not far south of Ardler. Other students attend Baldragon Academy in Kirkton, which was a merger of Rockwell HS (where Ardler residents would formerly have gone) and Kirkton HS.
Local business and facilities
Turnberry Avenue runs through the centre of Ardler from Dalmahoy Drive in the west towards Macalpine Road in the east. This is the area which was earmarked for the shopping precinct and the Community Centre – built right in the centre of the scheme, with the clinic, schools and church – in what could be seen as an attempt to help create a community spirit.
The original Community Centre was located a few yards to the east of Blackshade Primary School. This was previously the Iona Street shops, which were knocked through to form the centre. There were many activities available to patrons but on Saturday afternoons it was specifically for the children with educational film shows, cartoons and games with prizes. The current Community Centre contains a library, a cafe, a gym and many other facilities which are extensively used by local residents, and also by people from much further afield.
In 1973 the shops were built in the centre of Ardler, bisecting Turnberry Avenue and closing it as a through-road, and included Templeton's Supermarket, a McColls newsagent, hardware store, hairdresser, Chemist, post office, council housing office, butcher, a Chinese restaurant and a fish and chip ship. There was also a Police Sub-Station and public toilets, which might suggest the expectation of numbers of non-resident shoppers in Ardler. Macalpine Shopping Centre on the road that forms the eastern boundary of Ardler was the other place nearby where residents could do their shopping and it had, and still has, an extensive range of shops. In the regenerated Ardler there are some new shops, including a small supermarket, on Turnberry Avenue - opposite the Community Centre, with the original aim of centrally located facilities to foster community spirit still very much in evidence.
There were public houses in the area also. The Fairways was situated between the westernmost two multi-storey blocks in the north and the Golden Pheasant was on Macalpine Road at the eastern edge of Ardler. There was also the Admiral, situated on Camperdown Road slightly further east, which is the one pub remaining.
In popular culture
* In the 1997 game, ''Grand Theft Auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones (video game developer), David Jones and Mike Dailly (game designer), Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan Hous ...
'', one of the neighbourhoods in Liberty City is called Ardler, which named after the area in Dundee, where DMA Design (now Rockstar North
Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) is a British video game development company and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The company was founded as DMA Design in Dundee in 1987 by David Jones (video game developer), D ...
) were based
References
{{Areas of Dundee
Areas of Dundee