‘Top half’ tenant Dave recalls pals and playing

A PLEA for tales of life in Dundee’s former Ellengowan development has stirred the memories of one man who used to live there.

The appeal was made by Hillcrest Homes as part of a heritage project as work is under way to redevelop the site off Arbroath Road.

Dave Nicoll, 53, from Ardler, said when he read the appeal for stories it got him thinking about his time on the estate.

Dave said: “I am surprised I have remembered so much, but it’s also surprising what can jog memories to the fore again.

“I’ve given it a lot of thought and actually have many memories of Ellengowan Drive from 1977 to 2000 while I lived there.

“My parents were one of the last to leave the ‘top half’ in 2018.”

Dave fondly recalls the bedrooms of his family home at 92 Ellengown Drive having fireplaces in them.

Dave said: “I moved in in September 1977, I remember this was one month after Elvis Presley died.

“The living room had picture rails on each wall, two-thirds of the way up.

“It was extremely hard to drill through the asbestos that was in every house until late 1990s, early 2000s, when the houses began to get revamped.”

Dave has vivid recollections of the outdoor areas he used to play in as a young boy.

“Ellengowan House, part of the original farm that Ellengowan was built on, sat on the west side of the park between the two parts that became the ‘top half’ and ‘bottom half’ of Ellengowan,” he said.

“When we used to make dens in the small park as it was called,