Clock Tower OLD
Clock Tower NEW
The first is 1949 showing the extent of Dubai. Top left of course is Deira, bottom left is Shindagah and the buildings on the right are Bur Dubai. There wasn't much of it was there! Note that the Creek is silted up. Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the then Ruler of Dubai, wisely invested in dredging it as part of his vision to continue developing Dubai as a major trading centre.
The next photo is Shindagah, the area that is now being preserved where possible and with other parts being re-built in the old style. The photo was taken in 1962.
And just one more of these really old photos, this one of Al Fahidi Fort, now the very much worth seeing Dubai Museum. Taken in 1950.
And on to photos I took when I arrived in Dubai in 1977. There were still quite a few of the old traditional houses and buildings, windtowers included.
And plenty of narrow alleyways with sand floors trodden hard over generations between the traditional buildings. There were very few made-up footpaths.
More to come on future postings. I'll give the links to the previous postings too, so anyone who wants to look through all the old photos can do so easily.
I've had some requests to post photos of Dubai when we lived here back in the late seventies. So here are the first ones, from 1977 and 1978. These are Jumeirah Beach, about where the Open Beach is now... that's how it is now in the last photo.
Villas right on the beach, high tides went right up to the walls and often swirled into the lanes between the villas. The beach was only a few metres wide, as you can see.
The next photo is Shindagah, the area that is now being preserved where possible and with other parts being re-built in the old style. The photo was taken in 1962.
And just one more of these really old photos, this one of Al Fahidi Fort, now the very much worth seeing Dubai Museum. Taken in 1950.
And on to photos I took when I arrived in Dubai in 1977. There were still quite a few of the old traditional houses and buildings, windtowers included.
And plenty of narrow alleyways with sand floors trodden hard over generations between the traditional buildings. There were very few made-up footpaths.
More to come on future postings. I'll give the links to the previous postings too, so anyone who wants to look through all the old photos can do so easily.
I've had some requests to post photos of Dubai when we lived here back in the late seventies. So here are the first ones, from 1977 and 1978. These are Jumeirah Beach, about where the Open Beach is now... that's how it is now in the last photo.Villas right on the beach, high tides went right up to the walls and often swirled into the lanes between the villas. The beach was only a few metres wide, as you can see.
They've done a bit around the Creek too:
Apart from the sunshade awning we have now, the abras haven't changed. However, a big and interesting change of attitude which I noticed as soon as we came back is the flags. Even when we left in 1984 there was only a vary rare glimpse of a UAE national flag, the vast majority were the red & white Dubai flag, as on the dhows in this photo:
Something else that's disappeared - the street photographers with their amazing props. They used Polaroid instant cameras and did big business.
At last I've found the time to go through the old slides again and scan a few more.
I took these back in the late seventies on my first life in Dubai and they give some idea of the changes over what is really not a very long period.
Beautiful downtown Deira has changed a bit since 1978 when I took these:
They've done a bit around the Creek too:
Apart from the sunshade awning we have now, the abras haven't changed. However, a big and interesting change of attitude which I noticed as soon as we came back is the flags. Even when we left in 1984 there was only a vary rare glimpse of a UAE national flag, the vast majority were the red & white Dubai flag, as on the dhows in this photo:
Something else that's disappeared - the street photographers with their amazing props. They used Polaroid instant cameras and did big business.
More photos from the late seventies, the first being the apartment block I lived in - luxurious in seventies Dubai! It was in Deira just behind Al Ghurair City, which didn't exist at the time.
I was on the top, sixth, floor so I had pretty good views across into the downtown area of Deira. The next photo shows the kind of buildings that were all over the area - basically private villas. The big building being constructed in the background is Al Ghurair Centre.
And this photo is a bit later when Al Ghurair Centre was finished. It was the largest building in the Middle East and had the most luxurious apartments in Dubai.
A few more photos taken from the window of my apartment. Notice the new road stopping short of the villa - it was soon demolished to allow the road to be completed.
This time, the Creek:
Notice the natural sandy bank on this one, across in Bur Dubai.
Deira, along from the Inter.Continental Hotel - now the Radisson of course.
Deira, down by the spice souk.
We still had plenty of fishermen in the heart of Deira.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment