We’re a bit late to the party, but on the day that the press reported the £75 million impact of the new V&A Museum in Dundee on the Scottish economy last year there we were standing at its front door, admiring the beautiful architecture set against a backdrop of clear blue skies and the silvery Tay.
The only time I’d been to Dundee before this was on a field trip in 1989. I’d be hard pressed to tell you much about the city from that trip. If you think 30 years is a long time between visits, I’ve been trumped by Greg who, until this year, had never been. Hard to understand for a man who was born and brought up fewer than 70 miles to the north in Aberdeen – something to do with the old rivalry between the two cities, perhaps!
Having seen precious little sunshine for weeks there was only one way we were going to spend our first afternoon in sunny Dundee. Sunglasses on, getting (re)acquainted with the city by wandering its streets from the now “classic” view of Discovery Point, home to the Royal Research Ship Discovery and its new neighbour the V&A Museum, all the way up to the city-wide panoramas at the top of Dundee Law 174 metres above the Firth of Tay.
The rest of our brief weekend visit was spent visiting other local attractions, such as the civic gallery/museum of the McManus Centre and the very interesting Verdant Works, which deals with Dundee’s historic jute industry. It may be a sign of getting older, but as the years go by industrial machinery and architecture are becoming ever more fascinating to us.
Throw in some good restaurants and cafes and the whole trip was a revelation. Hopefully it won’t be thirty years till we’re back again!
