Sunday 16th September 2018, Carnoustie, near Dundee
Scotland is very keen on its golf! There are always people to be seen facing the gales and the rain as they stride manfully (and it does seem to be mainly men) across the links as the wind and rain hurtle in from the North Sea. Who was it called golf "a good walk spoiled"?
Yesterday we rode on the local bus in to Dundee. The ride took us through little towns and beside golf courses, past static caravan parks caught between the sea and the links. Carnoustie is typical of the coastal settlements here on the East Coast. There are several links here and if you are a Golf officianado you will already know far more about the area than we can possible mention here.
We moved on from Mary Culter and Aberdeen on Friday following the coastal road down towards St. Andrews where we hope to call on some friends of Ian from his library school days. We caught up with them recently in Sheffield at their reunion to celebrate fifty years since they first met there as students when they had all become life-long friends.
Stopping at Montrose around lunch time we parked outside the town and walked the half mile into the centre. The streets looked pleasant with nice gardens so when we reached the centre it was a shock to discover how run down, neglected and dilapidated it was! The High Street, indeed pretty well the only street, was wide and had once seen better days. Now though it is grubby and neglected. There are a few desultory monuments to local worthies and philanthropists from the mid 19th century but little else of any real merit. Most shop premises in the centre were occupied by charity shops. They were collecting for causes completely unknown to us and they gave off a smell of stale clothing. There were several chip shops, a Greggs bakery but nowhere with any appeal for a coffee and lunchtime snack. It was a sadly neglected little town. The town library was a gem however. Built for the people of Melrose by Andrew Carnegie, nothing seems to have been done since to improve the lot of local people. Inside, the library is dark, polished wood, with a turned staircase and there has been lavish use of marble decoration. It is of its age but in almost new condition! The book stock is for entertainment rather than research but it is a bright spot in an otherwise neglected town.
Town house. Montrose. Scotland.
Hume, Joseph. Statue. Montrose. Scotland.
Seeing a statue of Robert Peel I crossed the road to discover what his connection with Montrose might be.
Robert Peel, Montrose. Scotland.
I failed to notice a traffic hump and the sudden unevenness caused me to fall headlong. This is becoming a serious problem for me these days. Since my shingles I have become prone to tumble. I spend my life gazing at the ground three feet ahead of me, afraid to look up at what surrounds me. This time I fell on my still damaged wrist from my Brittany fall last year. Happily nothing was broken but I was extremely shaken and sat in the road gasping for breath and suffering from shock. People stopped to offer help. Eventually, embarrassed, I regained my feet and people wandered off.
I never did find any definite connection between Robert Peel and Montrose.
The local chip shop seemed to be the only place we could sit with a hot drink while I recovered. The customers were a very bedraggled lot who stared curiously as we went in. They are all obviously unemployed and were lunching on chips, burgers, blood pudding or haggis. At the counter was a £4 menu for the teenage school children who seem to be turned out of school at lunch time and left to their own devices. They were queuing for a burger with chips and a fizzy drink. Outside they stood around eating together in the street, simply waiting for afternoon school to begin! They all looked unhealthy and on the podgy side. How can young people achieve their potential when this is their life style and daily diet? We felt very sorry that so little is done to help them to achieve their best at school. Life in Britain seems no better, and probably worse for many, than it was over a century ago.
Arnica is magic! I still had most of the tube I'd purchased for my bruising in Brittany and it worked immediately to help relieve the swelling and soreness of my shoulder and fingers. I also took a strong dose of Ibuprofen and have avoided much of the pain and stiffness. This was as well as obviously I am the only driver. Emotionally I was still shaken and did not relish driving so we made our way to nearby Arbroath where we hoped to camp. On arriving we found the two sites were equally horrible. They are massive static caravan parks on the sea shore with a small area for campervans to park. It was pouring with rain and the town seemed sadly lacking in charm. Even the thought of an Arbroath Smokey could not stir up our enthusiasm. So we drove on to Carnoustie where we found a small, very pleasant park within a short walk of the town centre and the sea shore but set in woodland where there are no static caravans and only tents and campervans are staying. There are around 20 vehicles and it is quiet, friendly with a bus into Dundee that stops at the gate. It is also cheaper than anywhere else we've found in Scotland and offers good free wifi!
So yesterday morning we were at the gate for the hourly bus into Dundee. A fellow traveller told us how much Carnoustie has changed and complained about all the new housing that is appearing without any infrastructure to support it. No schools, libraries, council services etc. The same sad story everywhere in Scotland it seems. Overall however, compared to England I'm not sure it is quite as bad. The streets of Dundee where dirtier than they should be but they were broad and bright in the sunshine on this special day for the city.
Caird Hall. Dundee. Scotland.
Burns statue. Dundee. Scotland.
Penguin sculptures. Dundee. Scotland.
Desperate Dan sculpture. Dundee. Scotland.
Oor Wullie sculpture. Dundee. Scotland
V&A Dundee. Dundee. Scotland.
Tay Rail Bridge. Dundee. Scotland.
We saw marches in the city centre organised by protesters, the homeless and disenfranchised with banners asking what practical benefit there might be to them from the smart, lavish outpost of the V&A opening in the city today?
V&A Dundee. Protest. Dundee. Scotland.
However, it is good that our national culture is not all housed down in London and hopefully the impressive new centre will bring a new lease of life to the city. Free events were happening throughout the day but only to those lucky enough to have been allotted tickets. So we went off to explore the free city museum, known as the "McManus", re-branded for the current special exhibition as the "McMenace" with its special exhibition of comics, in particular the Beano which has been published in Dundee for over eighty years.
McManus. Dundee. Scotland.
McManus. Victorian gallery. Dundee. Scotland.
Neither Ian nor I were allowed to read the Beano regularly as children so had to scrounge back issues from school friends with more enlightened parents. Oh the delight of rediscovering the Bash Street Kids along with Lord Snooty, Dennis the Menace, Mini the Minx, Gnasher the dog and all the whole, wonderfully wicked gang of eternally young comic kids! We spent a glorious morning and watched as kids dressed up as the characters. If only those red and black stripy tops came in bigger sizes!
McManus. Bash Street exhibition. Dundee. Scotland.
McManus. Bash Street exhibition. Dundee. Scotland.
McManus. Intertype machine. Dundee. Scotland.
McManus. Beano artwork. Dundee. Scotland.
McManus. DC Thomson & Co. directors. Dundee. Scotland.
McManus. Dennis fanclub. Dundee. Scotland.
McManus. Bash Street library. Dundee. Scotland.
Nearby we discovered the town actually has a street called Bash Street and the street sign even has graffiti on it! The street though does not do justice to the characters or the fame it has brought to the town. It is no more than a side entrance into a block of flats and the parking lot for Dundee's Premier Inn.
Bash Street. Street sign. Dundee. Scotland.
The economic prosperity for Dundee is founded on the three Js. Jute, Jam, and Journalism. The cartoon success of the Beano and Dandy; Keiller's Butterscotch and Dundee Marmalade; and the Jute industry. At one time around half the workforce in the city worked in the jute mills. Jute was used primarily for sacking and to produce sailcloth for the local shipping industry. It was also used in carpet making. Women in particular were employed in the industry as it was a labour more suited to them.
McManus. Keiller jams. Dundee. Scotland.
McManus. Tay whale. Dundee. Scotland.
McManus. Wreck of Forfarshire. Dundee. Scotland.
Dundee is also the home of the Antarctic research ship Discovery built in 1901. Built in Dundee this three masted ship was the last of its kind to be built in Britain. It carried Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their triumphant Antarctic (1901-1904) survey. It has now returned to Dundee where it was constructed and it is a major tourist attraction in the city.
Discovery. Dundee. Scotland.
Penguin sculpture. Dundee. Scotland.
Discovery. With V&A. Dundee. Scotland.
As a post war child when sweets were still on ration my favourite was Keiller's butterscotch. The name of Keiller is still important in Dundee today, as a company and also as local philanthropists, though I don't think they are still active. In the city centre we saw Keiller's shopping arcade. It was a shock to discover that inside almost all the individual shops are boarded up and deserted or used as unofficial shelter for the homeless.
Keiller Centre. Dundee. Scotland. (2018-09-15y)
Unfortunately, scratch Dundee and the dross shows through. Magnificent buildings there are, mainly home to branches of Royal Bank of Scotland and the ubiquitous Wetherspoons, but many of the the buildings are empty façades. The huge Post Office building is now redundant, boarded up while weeds begin to grow. We walked out from the centre to investigate one of the old jute works and found ourselves crossing weed strewn car parks and pavements covered in broken glass. In such an area we discovered the museum, set amidst all the poor standard, unsightly housing, charging £11.50 for tourists to see how the local residents once lived. Could it be so very much worse than they currently contend with?
Verdant Works Jute Museum. Dundee. Scotland.
So it was with mixed feelings about the city that we returned on the bus to Carnoustie. Here they actually still have bus conductors! He came to our seat to issue our bus ticket and even went to the trouble of scanning our English bus passes in case they might work. They don’t. Everybody is wonderfully helpful and when we got off the conductor issued us with detailed instructions as to how to find our correct way back to the campsite! People can be so kind and helpful!
War memorial. Carnoustie. Scotland.
