Bonnie Dundee
Where it all began
I suppose I should tell you a bit about
myself to give you an insight into the stuff on here. It might be
ten years late but better late than never, eh?
The picture above was taken from the Kingdom
of Fife showing the Tay road bridge leading to Scotland's best city - my city -
Dundee. That hill, all 571 feet of it, is a volcanic plug - an extinct volcano.
There, that's your first odd fact.
I was born there some time before that road
bridge was built (Jeez, I sound old) when the only way over to the other side
of the river was a long car drive, the railway bridge (the one over the Silvery
Tay) or the "Fifies" - the paddle steam boats. The Silvery Tay - the
river of McGonagall infamy. You want bad poetry, go and read this.
Dundee is a coastal city on
the Firth of Tay. It is a long and thin city stretching along the coast and
back to the hills. If Facebook is to be believed, Dundee is making the
news as a great place to be, a great place to visit. The waterfront is being
regenerated and boasts some class sites: 2 nautical museums: RRS Discovery,
Captain Scott’s Antarctic expedition ship, and a 19th-century warship, HM
Frigate Unicorn. North of the water, Verdant Works is a museum celebrating the
city’s jute-manufacturing heritage. The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery &
Museum displays art and archaeological finds. I wonder if the skeleton of the
Tay Whale is still there? Then there is the brand new V&A museum,
Scotland's first design museum. Check out our old friend YouTube
Behind the strange dialect (Eh, eh hae a fleh
in meh eh), Dundee is a truly inspiring city - just have a gander over to
Wikipedia for a rundown. You can also check out Trip Advisor and the
like with the caveat - read with a large dose of salt. Some people will pick
holes in anything for their five minutes of fame.
Back to me. I'm a schemie - born on a housing
estate and spent most of my early years on one or other. All my school mates
were the same.
I was a child in the 60s so spent my time
outside playing in the back green, or down by the burn, or out by the gas tank.
No 24 hr TV, no computers, no consoles.
I studied at the best secondary school in the
city and the teachers there played a great part in where I am today, but the
school is no more. Like lots of the city, those in charge decided to pull it
down as it served no useful purpose.
I wasted a couple of years in Glasgow before
heading back east to commute from Carnoustie.
I settled in a tower block before travelling
all the way to the south of England for employent and that is where this story
finds itself now
Do have a look at the Wikipedia site, it's
well worth it.
Well, there you go. Thanks for taking the
time to have a read/listen to my warblings. Feel free to like, comment or share
(as they always say on YouTube). If you have any questions about Dundee or
Scotland, drop me a message and I'll see what I can do.
