Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The days of our lives: Are you in these old school photos from Bridge of Don Academy?

Bridge of Don academy photos
Are you in these old school snaps which span the decades at the Aberdeen school?

Some say our school days are the best of our lives.

When we are studying, many of us hate the very mention of school but, once we leave, you can’t help but feel nostalgic and rekindle special memories.

We have been searching high and low in the DC Thomson archives to find retro pictures of classes, school trips and sports teams from Bridge of Don Academy in Aberdeen.

These striking old photos span five decades – from the 1970s to the noughties – and they are sure to stir some fond memories for former pupils.

So let’s go back to school for a trip down memory lane!


1970s

Bridge of Don academy photos

Welcome to 1977!

Our first picture shows pupils alongside their lollipop lady Mary Robertson who they nominated for a competition to find Britain’s top school crossing patroller.

Pupils from Aberdeen’s Bridge of Don Academy staged a production of The Boyfriend in the school in June 1977 which was only the second show they had attempted.

Can you spot any of the stars that were treading the boards?

Bridge of Don academy photos

Away from the rush of the traffic on the old bridge over the River Dee above them, these youngsters were enjoying the adventure of canoeing on the river in September 1978.

Colin Farquharson, Evan Watson, James Burgess, Charles Milne, Alan Law, Simon Walker and Ian Barclay were taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.


1980s

A party of 18 pupils swapped the staid history of books for some real Flanders fieldwork with a visit to Belgium and France in March 1983.

They went to a battlefield they had been reading about in their O-grade history course.

Bridge of Don academy photos

This looks interesting!

These Bridge of Don Academy students were studying a botany experiment at Aberdeen University’s science and technology exhibition in September 1983.

Fast-forward to December 1984 where we find the Christmas spirit alive and well.

Pupils donated 1,200 cans of food and grocery items which were distributed to elderly and housebound residents in the area.

Bridge of Don academy photos

Pupils Paint Power (PPP) was the name given to this initiative in July 1985.

These youngsters joined art teacher Karen Corbett after brightening up the underpass at Bridge of Don by painting over some of the graffiti being left by vandals.

These pupils were putting their best foot forward for school funds in 1987!

Lynn Morrison, Kelly Reid and Wendy Duguid stopped to give their feet a welcome airing on Balmedie Beach whilst halfway through an 18K sponsored walk.

Bridge of Don academy photos

For hands that do dishes…

These fourth-year pupils Marc McKenzie, Christopher Goar and Kerry Mitchell get stuck into the washing after serving up tea at Hame with retirement home in 1987.

One left over from last year?

A pair of feet (owned by Bridge of Don Academy third-year pupil Wendy Rae) made an interesting item for other pupils on a sponsored walk from the Bridge of Don to Balmedie Beach back in September 1989.


1990s

Bridge of Don academy photos

Aberdeen FC players Scott Booth and Malcolm Thomson get some stick from pupils in August 1990 during a visit to the school.

Can anyone tell us what was the purpose of the visit from the players?

Up next is this snap of the senior netball team showing off their trophies in 1994.

They all look mighty pleased with themselves and rightly so!

Bridge of Don academy photos

These pupils were heading in the right direction.

They were members of the winning team at the first Scottish schools’ orienteering festival at Carmichael Estate in July 1995.

2000s

David Hepburn appeared to be in Tin Can Alley in this picture from January 2003.

He was marking the pupils having collected more than 1,000 tins for VSA Aberdeen and raising £500 for the Archie Foundation over the festive period.

Bridge of Don academy photos

The hills were alive with the sound of fundraising in September 2003.

These pupils posed for a snap during a well-earned break as they walked from the Gordon Barracks to Balmedie Beach and back again to raise money for charity.

Pupils were getting creative in 2003 with the help of artist Sarah Keay.

Emma Miller, Laura Bisset, Jacqueline Taylor, Neil Muir, Rebecca Smith, Steven Leslie and Paula Buchan are pictured with the jewellery they had been making.

Bridge of Don academy photos

Stephen Kershaw brought home a souvenir in September 2004 after returning from a trip to visit the Scottish Space School in Texas.

He was one of 25 young people from Scotland chosen to attend the autumn Space School after successfully completing a programme of distance learning developed by NASA and the Scottish Space School Foundation.

These pupils were taking part in a ‘Fit for Success’ project in February 2007.

Jordan Simpson, Robyn Flett and Ryan Flett were learning to make healthy meals.

Bridge of Don academy photos

These pupils were heading off to San Diego in 2008.

They travelled to California to showcase their award-winning remotely operated vehicle (ROV) at the 2008 MATE International ROV Competition.

Sixth-year pupils Molly Shewan and Paulina Prorok pledged to spread a message of tolerance after an emotional visit to a concentration camp in 2018.

Molly and Paulina had been selected for the trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland along with teacher Jess Beattie by the Holocaust Educational Trust.

More like this:

The days of our lives: Are you in these old school photos from Northfield Academy?

Conversation