Two days in Dundee

Our plans saw us swap the natural wonders of North Berwick for a bit of city life with a trip north to Dundee for a couple of days. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but found myself astonished at the striking buildings across the city, culminating in our arrival at the McManus Art Gallery and Museum (1867). It’s a great place to understand the story of the city and its many surprising claims to fame.

The McManus (originally named the Albert Institute) was created by Sir George Gilbert Scott, probably best known for his work at St Pancras Station and the Albert Memorial. The exterior has a real wow factor, as does the vaulted entrance space and the Albert Hall, on the first floor. The design shows the influences of the Cloth Hall in Ypres and French renaissance châteaux. In a neat touch, one of the angels on the west spire carries a model of the building.

The McManus Art Gallery and Museum

It was not hard to see that quite a bit of money had been splashed across the city in its industrial heyday, with a surplus of grand buildings now adapted for more mundane use. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the neo-classical building topped with a statue of Britannia… which is now an Optical Express… or the victorian gothic marvel topped with a tower… which is now a Brewdog pub.

There is an architectural trail that highlights a small selection of the many remarkable buildings across the city. However, beyond these landmark buildings there is an equally fascinating story of industrial architecture driven by the city’s expanding Jute industry. This saw an incredible number of mills constructed across the city, many of which still exist today. We visited one survivor – Verdant Mills – which really helped put this historical jigsaw together.

Besides the McManus Art Gallery and Museum, the other highlights of our stay in Dundee included:

RRS Discovery

I last saw the RRS Discovery, the steamship built for the British Antarctic research expedition of 1901–1904, on a class outing to St Katharine Docks in 1982/83. I have no absolutely no memory of whether we were able to go board, but I am quite sure that it was no match for the brilliant experience on offer today. The Discovery was re-located to Dundee, where it was built, in 1986.

On board the Discovery

The construction of large wooden ships had largely stopped at the time the Discovery was built, but the conditions of the Antarctic and the survey work they were undertaking made that preferable to a ship built of iron and steel. The Dundee Shipbuilders Company was one of a handful of places that could take on this work. Today, you tour a smashing exhibition about the ship and the expedition before going on board to get a better appreciation of the more unusual aspects of its construction up close, such as the extraordinary hull built to withstand crushing by the ice.

To sum it up, at first glance I saw an old wooden ship, but came away with a better understanding that I was actually looking at a cutting edge vessel using all the latest technology of the time. The ship is obviously a big draw, but there are also some fascinating exhibits on display, such as Scott’s wooden snow goggles. I was far more impressed than I expected to be by the whole visit.

HMS Unicorn

After underestimating the Discovery you might have thought I would know better, but HMS Unicorn (1824) provided another ship visit that I found far more interesting than I expected.

HMS Unicorn

HMS Unicorn cuts an odd sight in the Victoria Docks with no masts and an odd roof covering the entire ship. I assumed this was some kind of preservation method but it turns out that this was a new ship that went straight into the reserve (or ‘in ordinary’), that left the ship intentionally unrigged and required her hull to be covered by a protective roof. If war flared up in Europe she could quickly be readied to serve, but that call never came. This was far from unusual – in 1838, some 80 of the 106 frigates in the Royal Navy were ‘in ordinary’. For a ship that never saw active service there is a surprising amount of history to discover on board.

V&A Dundee
The V&A experience was a curious one – a massive building but a relatively small permanent display of Scottish design. There were some fantastic exhibits, such as the Oak Room, a restored interior designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for Mrs Cranston’s Ingram Street Tearooms in Glasgow (1907-8); a spectacular diamond-winged Valkyrie tiara commissioned by the Duchess of Roxburghe (1935); and the maquettes for door panels at the Hunterian Gallery by Paolozzi (1976-7).

It’s worth seeking out Jannetta’s Gelateria on the waterfront not too far away with super flavours like Pineapple cheesecake; Pecan, maple and ginger; and Scottish tablet.

The Bach

There was only one choice that we could make for eating out – The Bach. Although our stay was relatively short we managed to squeeze in breakfast and lunch at this fantastic Kiwi-style cafe/restaurant. I was really surprised to see just how spacious it was inside with tables set over three levels, including a balcony seating area looking across the whole place. Everyone was really friendly and the place just had a terrific vibe about it.

The Bach, Dundee

The menu was filled with Kiwi treats like mince on toast; french toast with bacon, banana and maple syrup; and kiwi burgers. These delighted my better half, but not as much as seeing the display case filled with NZ treats like Afghan biscuits and Ginger crunch – or the mini-shop with chocolate bars from home (someone was clearly missing their cherry ripe bars from the little stash added to our bill!).

On top of that the tasty options on the menu there were a selection of kiwi craft beers, brews and soft drinks, but it was the milkshakes that caught the eye with their recreation of classic NZ confectionery. My better half confirmed that the Pineapple Lump milkshake really did taste like the much loved NZ chocolates.

Dundee Law

The weather forecast was really jumping around, with what seemed like a nailed on sunset now looking rather unlikely. Figuring that I would never know unless I made the walk I followed the handy Town to Top map published on the Dundee Law website. The view across Dundee is incredible and it was great to see the War Memorial close up. I got really lucky with the city illuminated by a burst of sun against a dark sky – lovely.

Verdant Works

I had my doubts about how interesting I would find a textile mill from the 1830s but soon found myself drawn into the story of the rise and fall of the Jute industry. It was fascinating to see the array of machinery that has been gathered here and to learn what part each played in the manufacturing process. It is astonishing to see how many mills existed at the peak of the industry, of which around half survive today – many converted for new purposes.

The Jute Barons amassed huge fortunes, some of which was used on the most impressive buildings in the city including Caird Hall (currently in use as a vaccination centre), the Tay Bridge and the McManus Art Gallery and Museum which brings us neatly back to where we started this blog post.

The view from Dundee Law

To sum up, we had a great time in Dundee. Our plans were not too disrupted by Covid-19 restrictions, though we did have to drop plans to visit the museum at Broughty Ferry Castle as this has not re-opened yet. We had hoped to stay a little longer in the city but the ongoing Sunday strikes on ScotRail services put paid to that. Hopefully, we’ll be back someday to see Broughty Ferry, Glamis Castle and get another sample of the delights on offer at The Bach.

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