Re: Dundee
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:09 pm
Incidentally, the McManus Galleries used to be known (including to me as a sprog) as the Albert Institute, its name being changed in honour of a sometime Lord Provost of the city largely responsible for wiping out what was left of the medieval core of the city. Then, uh, getting caught up in a huge corruption scandal to do with redevelopment contracts. I forget the details my father told me, but a guy over on SSC's fine Dundee thread reckons he owned the demolition company that got most of the business. Anyway...
Having said that, the Council seems to have had a long talent for demolition. In the Albert Institute ( ), this caught my eye, being a cheerful memento of the 1930s destruction of William Adams' outstandingly graceful 18th century Town House, incorporating a chunk of its stone and proudly listing the Council members and other officials responsible (plus some of the demolition men):
More cheerfully, uh, a bit of a first class carriage from the train that fell with the first Tay Bridge:
Elsewhere, dusk falling on the Nethergate:
And a bit of Dundee Uni:
Down by the Tay again, much redeveloped in recent years with flats etc; I can remember being taken to the wharf just past where it juts out, to see the SS Canberra, when I was about 11 or so. It was, uh, big:
Nice bridge, but arguably another fuck up - the city engineer of the time was keen to have the road bridge's northern landfall a mile or two west of the city centre, but the Council disagreed, arguably cutting off the city from the shore for the last few decades and making the Inner Ring Road inevitable:
A bit they forgot to demolish though - now a pub at the junction of the Cowgate and King Street (ignore the blue roofs in the background, ta):
Further along the Cowgate, the sole remnant of the late 16th century city wall, being the East Port or Wishart Arch. The crenellation isn't original, George Wishart had damn all to do with it, and it's apparently not quite in its original spot, but hey. I could swear it was a complete street when I was last here quite a few years ago, the south side having disappeared since, but I might be wrong:
Uh, aye:
Finally, honest, a nice wee memorial to the old Town House, on the side of what is now the city's oldest house, on the High Street:
RCHAMS has a wee bit more about the Town House along with some photos, should ye care:
http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/18 ... own+house/
Having said that, the Council seems to have had a long talent for demolition. In the Albert Institute ( ), this caught my eye, being a cheerful memento of the 1930s destruction of William Adams' outstandingly graceful 18th century Town House, incorporating a chunk of its stone and proudly listing the Council members and other officials responsible (plus some of the demolition men):
More cheerfully, uh, a bit of a first class carriage from the train that fell with the first Tay Bridge:
Elsewhere, dusk falling on the Nethergate:
And a bit of Dundee Uni:
Down by the Tay again, much redeveloped in recent years with flats etc; I can remember being taken to the wharf just past where it juts out, to see the SS Canberra, when I was about 11 or so. It was, uh, big:
Nice bridge, but arguably another fuck up - the city engineer of the time was keen to have the road bridge's northern landfall a mile or two west of the city centre, but the Council disagreed, arguably cutting off the city from the shore for the last few decades and making the Inner Ring Road inevitable:
A bit they forgot to demolish though - now a pub at the junction of the Cowgate and King Street (ignore the blue roofs in the background, ta):
Further along the Cowgate, the sole remnant of the late 16th century city wall, being the East Port or Wishart Arch. The crenellation isn't original, George Wishart had damn all to do with it, and it's apparently not quite in its original spot, but hey. I could swear it was a complete street when I was last here quite a few years ago, the south side having disappeared since, but I might be wrong:
Uh, aye:
Finally, honest, a nice wee memorial to the old Town House, on the side of what is now the city's oldest house, on the High Street:
RCHAMS has a wee bit more about the Town House along with some photos, should ye care:
http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/18 ... own+house/