Fintry, Dundee

Fintry is a housing scheme in Dundee, Scotland. Fintry is located in the north of the city with Claverhouse and Mill o' Mains to the west and Whitfield to the east. On the north, Fintry is bordered by farmland, including the Powrie Farm and Powrie Castle (from which one of the pubs in the area derives its name). Local parks include Powrie Park (at the north of the scheme), Finlathen Park (in a deep valley to the south of the scheme), and Caird Park to the immediate southwest of the scheme.

Customarily, the borders of the scheme are accepted as being: Forfar Road on the west side with Mill O'Mains, Longhaugh Road on the east side with Whitfield and the Dighty Burn on the southern side (inside Finlathen Park). On three of the four sides, and (formerly) half of the north side (see section on Cheviot Crescent and Grampian Gardens), Fintry's borders are defined by three to four storey high tenement blocks.

Fintry is served by bus routes 26A, 32, 32B, 33, 33A and 33B known as the Fintry Shuttle. Fintry is in the new North East ward of Dundee City Council, represented since May 2007 by Councillors Andy Dawson and Willie Sawers of the Scottish National Party, and Brian Gordon of the Scottish Labour Party.

Fintry has two bars, the Powrie Bar at Cheviot Crescent and the Dolphin on Fintry Road. Fintry also has two chip shops, a Chinese takeaway known as the Blue Lagoon and three Indian takeaways, often referred to as the Tartan Tandoori, the Tasty Point and the Mirch Massala. There are two churches, Fintry Parish Church of scotland and Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church.

History

Construction of the scheme began in the 1940s; previously the area had been farmland. Two buildings from this time survive, one being a former farm cottage on Longhaugh Road which is in private ownership, the other being a farmhouse which now sits on Fintry Road as the Fintry Nursery. At the time of construction, part of the plan was that all streets in Fintry would begin with the prefix "Fin". However, since the scheme was built there have been some deviations from this plan; all of these are detailed in the section below.

Cheviot Crescent and Grampian Gardens

Cheviot Crescent (formerly Fincraig Street) and Grampian Gardens (formerly Fingarth Street) were renamed in the early 1970s due to their poor image (these two streets were blocks of densely-populated tenements with a poor reputation and the name made it difficult for the council to attract new tenants into the flats).

Some time after their construction, surveyors found that the tenements had been built with inadequate foundations for the ground conditions, and were beginning to subside. After all the tenants were moved out to houses elsewhere in the city, almost the whole north side of Cheviot Crescent was demolished (two blocks were left standing at the east end of the street). Several blocks on the south side, and in Grampian Gardens, were also demolished.

Since these demolitions some limited rebuilding involving small bungalows has taken place on parts of the land formerly occupied by the tenements. Amond Way and Amond Gardens, built in the early 2000s, are named after the late PC Trevor Amond who was known in the area for his community work. These occupy land where nos. 7-12 Grampian Gardens once stood. Cheviot Rise is a small back street behind Cheviot Crescent, where the access road and part of the car parks were behind 45/47/49 Cheviot Crescent. Grampian Close is situated at the west end of Grampian Gardens.

20 Grampian Gardens used to be a community block that allowed teenagers of the area hang out and this was run by tenants such as (Anne Feltham, Cathy Sandeman, Carole Lawson) and also Councillors (George Mason) and Tayside Police (PC Trevor Amond). This was a successful community area until the teenages started to reduce and they spoilt the area.

Famous Fintronians

• The Grahams of Fintry, local landowners until the 19th century
• Derek Johnstone was born in Fintry and lived there when he was signed by Rangers. Famously, he scored the winning goal for Rangers against Celtic in a Scottish Cup Final at the age of 16. He went on to represent Scotland and became a TV soccer pundit for a time. At age 12, he played for a team named Fintry Celtic.
• Brian Molko (lead singer of Placebo) spent the first few years of his childhood in a closey in Fintry Crescent.
• Stephen Glass, former Newcastle United player hailed from Fintry.
• Charlie Adam was born and grew up in Fintry, where his family still reside (including Charlie Adam (footballer born 1962) Snr.