Hunters Quay: A Journey

Welcome to Dundee...

Dundee should embrace its heritage as an industry in itself, its odd historical mix of whaling, textiles, jam-making and journalism will necessarily fire the imagination.

 Author: Bill Mneimneh ... Tell us your views.

Dundee.. The puzzle city.

Dundee is a puzzle. It sits on slopes facing south over the estuary of the River Tay, which is spanned by road and rail bridges. The city centre is an mix of Victorian edifices, slashed by new roads and partly overshadowed by a covered shopping mall. It is nearly as big as Aberdeen, but without the granite personality that makes Abrdeen instantly identifiable.

Dundee is Scotland’s fourth city, within the endless coastal suburbia that ends at the golf courses at Carnoustie to the east is Broughty Castle Museum.

Broughty Castle Museum, built in 1496, with more tales to tell about whales and other local historical matters.

                                    Claypotts Castle

Claypotts Castle is located 1 mile north-west of Broughty Ferry, near Dundee. Claypotts Castle is one of the most complete examples of a 16th-century Z-plan tower house.

 St Mary’s Tower

Affectionately known to generations of Dundonians as the Old Steeple, the Tower of St. Mary’s Church has stood watch over Dundee for over 500 years. Despite its ecclesiastical purpose as a bell-tower this venerable construction has been used as a fortress, a prison and a tourist attraction. As the burgh expanded over the centuries the surroundings for the tower changed from a rural to increasingly urban setting. Originally sited at the west end of the burgh amongst farming land the tower was still the major landmark during the 19^th century when the entrance had boundary railings and was surrounded by a tenement filled street with gas lamps and horse drawn carriages. Today, it is set in landscape grounds within a pedestrian zone where retail outlets dominate. Due to repeated attacks by troops between the 15^th and 17^th centuries many written records were destroyed that it is now next to impossible to define a precise date of construction for the tower. In 2000, a partnership of Dundee heritage bodies enabled the tower to be opened fully to the public with guided tours taking visitors into all the rooms and to the exhibition within the cap-house. Unfortunately this facility was only available for less than two years but the tower stills functions as a clock tower, with a recently renewed Westminster chime, and regularly resounds to the sound of ringing bells.