Dunfermline Photos

The London-born photographer Joseph Mackenzie (1929-2015) became well known in Scotland for capturing urban images during times of great social change. He learned his craft in the RAF and was later appointed as Lecturer in Photography at Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. His work featured in major exhibitions back in the 1960s and I had the good fortune to encounter a large selection of his Dundee photos last year in the McManus Galleries. I didn't know he had also been commissioned by the Carnegie Trust in 1967 to chronicle the Auld Grey Toun of Dunfermline. Over a period of two years, Mackenzie shot over 400 images and some are currently on display at the Carnegie Museum. When I read about this temporary exhibition, it was the proverbial no brainer.

Mackenzie worked exclusively in monochrome and didn't record the names of his subjects. His images provide a vital snapshot into community life from an age now considered as bygone, although many of the accompanying social problems still sadly endure. The Dunfermline study provoked mixed feelings among the town council. While the skill involved was obvious, the raw honesty of the camerawork did not create a picture postcard view of the surroundings. I should imagine there was a great desire to move forward and embrace a brighter future. The passing of more than half a century permits us to view Mackenzie's gritty output with an more objective eye. The photos I saw today were receiving their first public showing since 1994. From boardroom scenes inside the City Chambers, to homeless men gathering under a railway viaduct, Mackenzie roamed around the town in 1968 - the year Dunfermline Athletic FC won the Scottish Cup for the second time. The last passenger train departed from the Upper Station and musical acts such as The Who, David Bowie, Cream and Deep Purple appeared at the Kinema Ballroom. Unsanitary living conditions for the working classes across Scotland were finally being swept away as local authority housebuilding programmes continued apace. The exhibition depicted townsfolk from all age groups and also covered some of the heavy industry still extant. The brickworks (below) and gasworks were still part of the local landscape. Nicole and I wandered around the display and I found it hard to obtain usable smartphone images for the website as the protective panes of glass in front of the original photographs reflected objects in the background. Technical issues aside, I found the exhibition a rewarding experience and learned new facts about the history of my adopted home town.

Mackenzie withdrew from public commissions in 1972 after a series of pictures relating to the troubles in Northern Ireland were officially censored. He vehemently disagreed with this move and reverted to building a private collection at home. In the 1980s, he photographed the Dundee district of Hawkhill as the final textile mills in the area were closing down. I had seen this body of work at the McManus Galleries, along with the council funded photo essay from 1966 that documented the construction of the Tay Road Bridge and the decimation of the city's railway infrastructure. Again, there is nothing romantic about Mackenzie's portrayals of what we now call the City of Discovery. Change is often necessary but a rapid transformation can lead to a sense of loss for those experiencing the aftermath. Of course we don't wish to live as our grandparents did, in the material sense. Just as they sought to distance themselves from the Victorian conditions their forebears endured. It's rather more difficult to place a monetary or statistical value on concepts such as social inclusion and mental wellbeing. Joseph Mackenzie's pictures are certainly thought provoking.

Karen Matheson

By far the most successful act to sing in Scots Gaelic is Runrig. The Skye boys (later augmented by two Fifers) achieved worldwide success over 30 years and remained just as popular when original frontman Donnie Munro was replaced by Canadian Bruce Guthro. Commercial sensibility dictates that Gaelic-speaking bands should at least pepper their set with some English material and this was the path taken by both Runrig and Capercaillie - another band notable for using the ancient Celtic tongue.

Capercaillie were founded in 1984 by Argyll musician Donald Shaw. The band is fronted by his wife Karen Matheson and the couple hail from the village of Taynuilt. Fiddler Charlie McKerron has been on board since 1986 and the current line-up has been together since the 90s. The 11 studio albums have cumulatively sold over a million and the band scored the first ever UK top-40 hit sung in Gaelic. Tonight's concert in Kinross was a solo outing by Matheson and the show was originally scheduled prior to the global pandemic. Rearranged for the 2022 Kinross-shire Festival, the venue was the Loch Leven Community Campus - a leisure and education complex that opened to the public in 2010 and contains Kinross High School. The main auditorium seats 350 and the room was well filled. At £20 a ticket, this was clearly a professional touring operation. Joining Matheson and Shaw on stage were Hannah Fisher (fiddle) and Sorren Maclean (guitar) - a couple who reside on the Isle of Mull and whose services are much sought after on the Scottish traditional music scene. Matheson handled all the vocals while Shaw switched between piano and accordion. The absence of drums meant Maclean had to play driving rhythm parts on his acoustic guitar. Joining me for the evening were my mother Anne and sister Linda. We found three seats in the second row and had a great view of the stage. None of us had seen either Capercaillie or Karen Matheson before but we all enjoy folk/Celtic music. The set was split equally between English and Gaelic songs. The proceedings began with a Rabbie Burns number and Matheson drew upon her recent solo album, as well as performing a handful of Capercaillie tunes. One ditty about the Highland clearances was very mournful indeed. The ever-popular Ae Fond Kiss was delivered as an encore and the crowd went home happy. Karen had talked about her family connections to Barra and how her future existence was determined when one of her ancestors remained on the island while his siblings departed for Cape Breton, Canada.

There is a similar tale in my genetic background. My triple great grandfather set sail for Quebec but a grown-up son - David Howatson - stayed in Scotland and this line led to my mother, whose maiden name is (the slightly altered) Howieson. Karen posts regularly on Facebook about her family story and it's obviously her great passion, besides the music. The concert must have been a success for the Kinross-shire festival organisers and there was a healthy queue at the bar beforehand! A superb night out!

Hippodrome Cinema

The Scottish cinema with the longest period of continuous operation is the Cameo in Edinburgh. Opened in 1914, the historic picture house survived a conversion attempt in the early part of the 21st century. Thankfully, the Cameo's listed-building status was upgraded to ensure the vultures were deterred from regrouping. Over in Bo'ness, West Lothian, the Hippodrome was reopened as a community cinema in 2009. Dating from 1912, the fully restored arena is the oldest purpose-built movie theatre in the country and is now owned by the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust. Falkirk Council took over the lease and committed to installing modern sound and vision equipment in addition to funding a refurbishment project to mirror the classic interior from the 1926 upgrade - when the spectacular domed ceiling was constructed.

Nicole and I had visited the Hippodrome once before. We had gone to see a live recording of a play from the National Theatre in London. These broadcasting events generate vital income for cinemas across the land and give the general population a glimpse into a cultural scene that would be expensive (and possibly logistically difficult) to attend in person. My mother and sister regularly watch opera and West End productions at the Kino project in Fife that has set up community cinemas in Glenrothes and Leven. A major selling point for the Bo'ness Hippodrome is the chance to view the historic interior architecture, which I admired just as much as the happenings on screen. The trip back in time begins as soon as you arrive at the on-street entrance. Modern film-going entails strolling into a large foyer with café, bar and other leisure facilities often available outwith the auditoria. In the old days, crowds queued on the pavement outside and paid the admission money at the tiny vestibule by the front door. You then passed a refreshment kiosk as you proceeded towards the seats. The Hippodrome maintains this vintage set-up and we paid a very reasonable £7.20 per head to step inside, with a small student discount for Nicole. Unlike the rip-off rates levied by chain cinemas for drinks and snacks, we managed to procure a pile of goodies for little more than a fiver, which meant we were about to enjoy a movie in comfortable surroundings for £20, all in. Can't argue with that! The film in question was Emily - telling the imagined life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Bronte. Nicole is a long-time fan of the 19th-century literary sisters and we once visited their home town of Haworth in Yorkshire. I never made it to the Bronte Museum as I discovered a steam train gala was taking place at the heritage station on the same afternoon. I climbed aboard and headed up the line to Keighley.

The Hippodrome had closed as a cinema back in 1975 and was converted to a bingo hall - a fate that befell many provincial picture houses around this time. The cinema in my home town of Lochgelly clung on until 1983 and I just caught the tail end of the local moviegoing era. The affordability of home video hammered the final nail into the coffin. Bingo at the Hippodrome lasted just five years and the building was left to decay. After the turn of the century, feasibility studies were launched with the hope of finding a use for the historic place. An initial proposal involved conversion to a gym, but gradually the public mood swung towards bringing movies back to the town. Following grants from various organisations amounting to £1.8 million, the cinema underwent renovation from the middle of 2006. The restoration work saved original features such as cast iron radiators, oak panelling and art deco toilet signs. The final old-style High Street picture houses were closing around the country at this time, being usurped by the extra legroom, increased film choice and ample free parking offered by the modern multiplex facilities on the edge of town, usually in conjunction with other options such as bowling alleys, health clubs and restaurants (also purpose-built bingo halls!) This development had re-ignited cinema as a leisure pursuit but the industry now faces tough challenges in the post-pandemic age where streaming services proliferate. A commercial operation in Bo'ness would most likely have been a non-starter but I imagine the Hippodrome operates as a trust. The admission prices are hiked for the on-stage broadcasts but that will reflect reflect the cost of sourcing the material. You have to accept the film programme often lags behind the multiplex scene but a night at the Hippodrome is a wonderful experience and a chance to appreciate our cultural heritage.