Every Dundonian Home Should Have One

Dundee has won a nationwide contest to become the latest place in Scotland to be celebrated in a special edition of one of the world's most popular family boar games.

It is to get its own official Monopoly board after beating ten other Scottish cities and towns, including Stirling, Perth and St Andrews.

The company which manufacture the game will be consulting Dundonians as to which city property landmarks should be selected to swap places with the famous London sights and sites.

Deep in a cupboard lies the Monopoly board of my childhood and it hasn't seen the light of day for many years. I remember as a child playing Monopoly on alternate Sunday evenings. The other family game we played was Canasta, but I preferred Monopoly because I found it difficult to comprehend card games.  I still do even though, at times, I can play a decent game of bridge these days.

My choices of landmarks would be the soon to be built Victoria and Albert museum, along with the Discovery and the Caird Hall, but it will be interesting to see the end result. Must write an early letter to Santa.

Well done Dundee.

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Why I Hate The Sixties

A guest post from Edward Spalton.



I rather share this jaundiced view of the Sixties- a trashy decade. It was a time of full employment yet I can remember Roy Jenkins praising the contribution which the "voluntary unemployed" were making to society!


Editor's contribution: Now that I have the magical talent of hindsight,ably expanded by age, the 60s was a time when the population started consumerism training, ably encouraged by politicians.Those same politicians were responsible for destroying our heritage. Dundee is a good example of zealous 60s town councillors whose poor judgement contributed to the loss of much of the city centre, in which today the 'outstanding' feature is the north egress and access to a road bridge over the Tay. 

In the next few years the V & A will be built within yards of the roadbridge. At last Dundee will have a positive claim to fame.

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Go For It Dundee!

The photograph is of the Dundee Highland Games; Dundee New York State that is not Dundee, Scotland where the games were abandoned in 1998 because the local burghers decided a turnout of 1,500 showed a lack of public interest.

Dundee USA has a population of 1,700 and 1,200 of them turned out to support their first games and many more were expected to attend this year.  What lesson can Bonnie Dundee learn from their US namesakes?

The obvious one is that Scottish culture is appreciated worldwide and those of us who live here have forgotten we must continue our traditions or they will be lost. That's what happened in Dundee in 1998.

However, Dundee's Lord Provost, John Letford, wants to resurrect Dundee's Highland Games and would be interested to hear from people involved with pipe bands, sports clubs and organising beauty pageants (I jest).

Participants don't need to live in Dundee to take part in the fun.  The Braemar Gathering attracts participants and many thousands of spectators from all over the world and Braemar's situated in the middle of the Grampians.  So if you think you can wield a caber, bang a drum or have a dog which hasn't quite made the grade at Crufts but could aspire to greatness at the 'Best In Show' event, give Mr Letford your support.  He has mine.

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Now You See Them...

Yesterday, in an area of Dundee called the Hilltown, four multi-storey blocks were demolished in a series of controlled explosions.  The demolition is particularly amazing because these blocks were in a residential/business area which gave no leeway for the demolition company.  As you can see, all was well.

I remember the area back in the 50s when it was a bustling community with housing desperately in need of maintenance and many of the tenements still shared toilet facilities.  My school friend's mother had a draper's shop - which would be called a women's boutique today - and we both helped out on Saturdays.  She would offer tea and biscuits at 4pm and women from the surrounding homes would squeeze into the shop for the last two hours of the week, not to drink tea, but to catch up on local affairs in a warm environment. Often we would be there washing up until at least 7pm while Mrs Clarke counted her takings.  Being an astute business woman I'm sure she made a few pounds from her Saturday soirees.

When I returned to visit my school friend in the 60s, she had been allocated a house in one of these multis.  Not being a lover of lifts, I trudged to the 11th floor to visit her brand-new daughter and gaze at the exceptional view she had over the junction of the Tay and the North Sea. A year or so later my friend and her husband had saved enough to buy their own small home and I was never subjected to the climb of a multi again.

Were these concrete blocks built to give local people a better home or were they built for financial gain?  Probably a bit of both. The old homes could have been modernised but that would have been an expensive project, so the city fathers saw these concrete towers as a way to resolve the housing issue and make money at the same time.  Sadly, much of old Dundee's Hilltown community vanished when these towering structures rose out of the ground.

Will they be missed?  Perhaps by some but not by me. Dundee's council leaders have been fond of destroying the heritage of the city over the years and the 60s produced some monstrous architecture, most of which has already been demolished and replaced by more aesthetically pleasing buildings. Yesterday the landscape was enhanced by their disappearance.

video via Tris

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Global Warming Strikes Dundee

Yesterday afternoon Dundee was the recipient of a thunder and lightning hail storm which resulted in the streets flowing with ice cold water.

Yet the warmists insist the onset of a mini Ice Age "... will be disguised by global warming." I'll wait until around March before I comment.

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A New Charity

Coldside Library, Dundee (pictured), with its long single storey curved frontage and elaborate ends - which still today remind me of bookends - is where I discovered my love for books.  To a young child it was an imposing building designed in 1904 by the City Architect of the time James Thomson.  He thought that neo-classicism was the correct style to maintain civic dignity and he had particularly idealistic views about leaving beautifully planned cities for future generations.  Such a shame his successors weren't of like minds, but that's another story.

I can recall my first visit in the 50s.  My father suggested I may like to go with him on his fortnightly visit and I jumped at the opportunity, because I was also told I just may be able to borrow a book if I behaved.  In those days children didn't have library tickets and books had to be borrowed on a parent's ticket.

En route my father must have told me several times that I should not say one word while we were in the building or we would be asked to leave.  The place sounded like something between a school classroom and prison but I was still anxious to see inside. The interior was breathtaking; what seemed miles of shelves decorated the walls with the exception of a corner which was equipped with what appeared to be back to back rows of school desks on stilts.  Running down the middle of the desks were lamps from which light arched precisely to the lower edges of the desks. Only later did I discover this was the 'reading section' where the public came to read newspapers and an international selection of professional journals.

For years I used this library and became a trusted book borrower; so much so that I was able to visit unaccompanied by a parent, although I had to produce one of their cards.

However, much as I treasure these nostalgic memories, there are changes afoot to libraries and other public buildings in Dundee. The city burghers are to set up a charity, to be named Leisure & Culture Dundee, to take them over.  The plan is to go before councillors next week and if the go-ahead is given, and I'm told it's already rubber stamped, the Office for the Scottish Charity (OSCR) will be asked to confirm the proposals.

Some of my Dundonian friends suspect this new charity is purely another quango and abuses the term charity, because all funding will come from public funds.  It would seem the main difference between it (the Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations) and non-incorporate charities is that it is a legal form which offers some protection to charity trustees from personal liability.

My gripe is the use of the word 'charity' in connection with taxpayer-funded public services.  I consider charity to mean a particular type of voluntary organisation which has a distinctive legal form and a special tax status.  This new charity doesn't meet that definition so I expect it can be added to the list of Fake Charities. There must be some benefit to local authorities but I haven't found out what it is as yet. Only time will tell, but the burghers should be aware that Dundonians will be keeping a close eye on this development to ensure it involves no extra outlay.

Glasgow 'out sourced' their public services a few years ago.  It hasn't been much of a success.  I wish Dundee would explain why they're doing something similar but under a new label.


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The Result Is In

It may not have won the people's vote but the design by one of Japan's leading architects is the unanimous winner of an international competition for a building to house a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum in Dundee.

The design panel claim the building has the potential to become one of the top dozen iconic structures in the world and they are convinced that the 'exciting and dynamic' £45 million building will have the same impact on Dundee as Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum had on Bilbao.

What is disappointing is that Dundee University is reputed to offer one of the best architecture courses in the UK, yet we don't seem to find homegrown architects to design modern buildings. Do they emigrate once they graduate I wonder.

Somehow I feel the design panel's conviction that millions of foreign tourists will be descending on Dundee to glimpse this dod of stone and glass, balancing on the waterfront, is just a dream. The city deserves a boost like this because, since the heart of it was torn out in the 60s to make way for the road bridge, it had never really recovered its vibrancy.

Once the building is complete and stocked with the the delights the London Victoria and Albert offer, I will be in the queue to pay my, possibly exorbitant, entrance fee. It certainly be the talk of the Dundee tearooms for a long time to come.

One final point. Whoever is managing the project must ensure it doesn't become a fiasco like the Scottish Parliament or the continuing farce of a tramline in Edinburgh.

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Dundee's V & A

click to enlarge

The above are the six final designs on the shortlist for the new branch of the V & A to be built at Dundee's waterfront.  I visited the exhibition and found none complimented the beautiful Tay estuary and the designs felt alien to my native city.

You can view them here and make up your own mind.

The public exhibition has now closed but there is one contribution which the panel should respect.  Dundee Civic Trust wants three of the designs to be rejected and has cast doubt on whether the blueprint by Kengo Kuma can be delivered within the agreed budget.

Dundee Civic Trust's planning group chairman, Jack Searle, wrote:

"The trust has, on a number of occasions, been asked by the press and others as to our position on the shortlisted schemes. We still feel that the V&A building should have been sited at the end of the open space at the heart of the new Waterfront but recognise that a different decision has now been reached.

"As our membership encompasses a wide range of opinions the trust does not wish to indicate a clear preference for one particular scheme.

"However there are some general points which the trust feels are worth making and which in our view significantly narrows the number of acceptable schemes. The first is that whatever the design selected, it must have an external form which will register strongly from both of the principal approaches to the city from the south, namely the Tay Road Bridge and the Tay Rail Bridge.

"It also seems essential that final design looks radically different from any of the other buildings on the Waterfront. All would need to go through the complicated process of development of a project from a design model to a completed building.

"This can result in greatly increased costs and in a loss of the clarity of the design due to structural requirements.

Durability problems

"Problems of maintenance and durability do not affect models but they do affect buildings. For all these reasons the trust would expect that the panel judging the schemes will have architectural, costing and engineering advice within its ranks which would enable it to foresee such problems."

On the siting and designs, Mr Searle added, "The need to provide some form of sheltered access from the shore to the selected building is particularly important, whichever design is selected.

"Three of the designs have buildings which go straight into the river, and hence will have a band around them which will lie between high and low water marks.

"Given the usual consequences of staining and weed growth, how this is dealt with will be crucial to the image of the building in use. The exposed nature of the building, not just to a river environment but to a marine environment, will have real implications for the choice of materials employed on the exterior of the building.

"In particular the use of concrete can be guaranteed to result in the visual deterioration of the building in a short period of time. Whilst the long views across the Tay are magnificent, the tidal and muddy nature of the river at its edge is not particularly attractive.

"Accordingly there would seem to be some question as to why access decks for some of the schemes feature holes in them looking down into the river.

"It is important that any elements above the general roof line are designed to contribute to the overall design and not to detract from it as the top of any selected design will be visible not only from the level of the High Street but also from the Tay road and rail bridges. Many otherwise attractive buildings are ruined by the addition of various boxes to accommodate everything from lift motors to water tanks to access stairs to cleaning facilities."

"On the basis of these points and a general evaluation of the schemes the trust is of the opinion that the Sutherland Hussey, Steven Holl and Snohetta designs should be rejected at this stage.

Other doubt

"We also have some doubts as to whether the very much larger building designed by Kengo Kuma could be delivered within the agreed budget. Finally, whatever scheme is selected it is important that the Discovery is provided with an attractive setting in its own right and not just left in a residual corner."

We can hope the DCT's concerns are taken seriously and Dundee doesn't end up with a building like the Scottish Parliament which is already looking down at heel and it's just over ten years old.  When I went to view the designs I heard the words 'The Guggenheim' mentioned often by staff.  I doubt if any of them has visited the Guggenheim because if they had they would know a busy elevated road ran right over the top of the famous building and the approach from the back of it shows none of it's gleaming splendour.  That can only be found viewing it from the front.

Dundee's V & A will only be accessible from the waterfront and as the DCT mentions, the building needs to look welcoming on a wet and windy winter's day. Let's hope, in their desperation to have an 'in vogue' architect design this building, the decision makers get it right.  DCT has only left two designs they think are worth considering.  Would you think they're suitable?

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How To Lose Voters in One Letter

The SNP plans to contact one million potential voters in the next week as it launches its campaign to win a second term in office.  Moray MP Angus Robertson will be leading the campaign for a second time, after successfully steering the Nationalists to victory at Holyrood in 2007.

However the SNP intends to loose the support of Dundee East voters.  Stewart Hosie (pictured) is the MP for Dundee East and his wife, Shona Robison is the MSP, and minister for Public Health and Sport in the Scottish government, for the same area.  Therefore the Dundee East constituency is well covered by Mr and Mrs Hosie.

Mr Hosie has irritated Dundonians.  Not so long ago there was much controversy about the installation of two giant turbines for Dundee harbour.  More recent is the debate out Forth Energy wishing to build a renewable energy plant, which includes a 300ft chimney, at the Port of Dundee.

A Courier reader, a John J Marshall, sent a letter to the paper, at the end of September, complaining about the building of this biomass plant - unfortunately that letter is not online - and Mr Hosie responded.  A couple of quotes from his letter:

'It is the same regurgitation of claims and assertions of those who have always been vociferously opposed to the plant and the same attack on politicians who have dared not to automatically accept these as fact.'


'That decision will be based on impartial evidence by those qualified to provide it independent of any vested interests.'

The tone of his letter (if you read all of it) is scathing and somewhat patronising.  However Dundonians don't take insults lying down and the following are just a few quotes from readers' letters in response to Mr Hosie's missive.

'The debate now should surely be about how we develop renewable energy and what locations are suitable for different types of production. For example, the biomass proposal for Dundee port does not sound like a good sustainable proposal — apart from anything else, it involves importing the raw materials.'

'I have voted SNP for many years now but feel let down by those chosen to represent the council and therefore the people of Dundee. The biomass plant and turbines being mooted as a valuable addition to our city is laughable if it wasn't so threatening.'

'Nowhere in the letter does he mention the wishes of his constituents. Do we only matter to him, his wife Shona Robson and the SNP councillors when they are standing for re-election? There is considerable opposition among the public.'

'Sir, — Once again we witness the unedifying words and behaviour of a politician, this time an SNP MP, Stewart Hosie with his patronising and personal attack on your columnist, John J. Marshall, simply because he has no substantive and fact-based counter-arguments of his own.'

'Mr Marshall's column last week presented a logical, defensible and fact-led argument against the proposed biomass plant at Stannergate and yet Mr Hosie resorts to personal vilification as his sole means of counter-argument.

Shame on you, Mr Hosie — surely our MPs are not all that shallow?'

I would suggest Mr Hosie isn't doing much for his wife's chances of being re-elected next year for the Scottish Parliament and Mr Robertson should hot foot it to Old Glamis Road, (where the SNP constituency office is situated and which was my local sweetie shop as a teenager), to have a quiet word in the ears of both Mr and Mrs Hosie.  I could never imagine my own MSP writing in such a tone to my local paper.  He's far too respectful of his constituents' concerns.

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Calling All Dundonians

I was sent this link yesterday and really have to share it with fellow Dundonians. Some of the photographs brought back happy childhood memories but there are far too many (and videos) to view in one day, so I'll be a regular visitor for some weeks to come.

The site has been compiled by the efforts of one man who deserves great credit, not least for his humour. One tip: when viewing the photographs use full screen for a better effect.

Below is the site owner, in one of his guises, out and about in Dundee with his video camera. He's decided to 'invade' one of Dundee's top hair styling salons...

Ok, I know it's childish, but it made me laugh.

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Dundee Goes for the Triple

Image from Flickr

There is all to play for in the Scottish seat of Dundee West. Labour has held the seat for years and the present incumbent, Jim McGovern, said:"Sometimes people forget about what went on before and say it's time we had a change".

Dearie me. Mr McGovern, it's because people remember what went on before than the SNP now have the Holyrood seats, the council and the other Westminster seat.

The SNP candidate is city councillor Jim Barrie who requires a swing of just over 7% to win. Mr Barrie, a radio officer who worked with GCHQ for more than 20 years said: "I became a Nationalist after Maggie Thatcher took away my union rights on Burns Day in 1984." That was the day when unions were banned at the GCHQ monitoring centre.

The SNP only took over the council last year so there is little, as yet, to see as a result in the change of the political atmosphere. If they pull off the planned waterfront (so long awaited) and the building of a V & A Museum then they deserve to be the first city in Scotland to be SNP at every level of government.

I'm sure Mr Barrie will oblige.

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Turbines in the Tay

Dundee Road Bridge from Fife

Dundee has one of the most attractive city scapes in the country. As a child I used to marvel at the view across the river Tay to Fife from many city streets but the town councillors were never talented enough to pass the better plans to develop the waterfront into one of Scotland's finest. Long before the 1960s some town architects and planners had spectacular ideas which never gained planning approval and instead, in the 1960s, it was decided to demolish the waterfront and bring the road bridge right into the city centre, accompanied by monstrous buildings such as Tayside House.

In recent years the town council have acknowledged the waterfront area is a disaster and buildings such as Tayside House are to be demolished to make way for the 'Dundee Waterfront Vision' which hopefully will include a branch of the V & A. The whole project will be exceptionally expensive but Dundee deserves some tender loving care. In days gone by it contributed greatly to the Scottish economy with little reward.

However, now the Port of Dundee (owned by Forth Ports PLC) want to place two giant wind turbines in the river. The plan for the 127 metre high structures at Stannergate (not far from the city centre) will ruin the city's skyline angry residents have claimed. Forth Ports and Scottish & Southern Energy have claimed Dundee could become a 'powerhouse' of renewable energy if the turbines are given the go-ahead.

Placing two windmills in the middle of one of the most lovely estuaries in the UK is certainly not going to enhance the view from either side of the river. These monstrosities are completely inappropriate for the city's new waterfront.

It's nothing to do with Dundee being a 'powerhouse' for renewables either and I agree with residents that this plan is all to do with Forth Ports wanting to make money and nothing to do with Dundee. If renewable energy was the reason why haven't tidal and wave power been considered?

A spokesman for Forth Energy said: "At this stage of the project we are keen to hear from local residents and stakeholders to get their view on our proposals." You will, believe me, you will hear from those interested. Why this project has reached this stage defeats me. Once again, Dundee town councillors have let the people down by allowing this project to reach this stage.

Have a look at the animation video and imagine two 127 foot wind turbines just yards from the shore. It's enough to make even the toughest Dundonian weep.

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Dundee Sees The Light

Several days ago I posted this and am now delighted to report Dundee has seen the light and is now to include the Christmas message in the Winter Light Night event. Representatives from the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church will join the procession and be allowed to address the crowds gathered for the celebrations.

Mr Letford, the Lord Provost said: "There has been great disappointment with the way {this issue} has been handled. It was a vague policy document that seems to have caught us on the hop. It is very disappointing the city's reputation has been tarnished."

He vowed the situation. "will all be sorted out for next year and we will not allow this to happen again."

Well done Dundee, it would have been quite easy to ignore the public protests and I commend that fact that an error was admitted and is now corrected.

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Dundee Cancels Christmas

'I never thought I'd live to see the day', how often do we say that? Early on Thursday morning, because I was completely weary watching the Jim Murphy Show on the BBC, I decided to browse the papers for some light-hearted relief.

Imagine my surprise when, in the Scotland section of the Times, a header 'We wish you a merry Christmas (but not in Dundee)'. Yes, I did have to read it twice.

Dundee, the place of my birth, the once thriving centre of industries such as ship building, jute making, Smedleys, Timex, NCR, has finally been consumed by the Righteous brigade and in the first year of an SNP council to boot. I've heard of labour councils playing this silly game but it never crossed my mind an SNP council would be so accommodating to the Righteous.

All references to Christmas have been dropped from the switching-on ceremony, on 27 November, for the city's festive lights and the occasion will be now known as "Dundee Winter Light Night." Council officials have also decided that rather than a retelling of the Nativity story there will be a disco, a contemporary circus, a continental market and a 7 foot fairy on stilts.

Members of the Presbytery of Dundee are up in arms. Too right and good for them. I would have thought most of the population would disagree with this move.

The council really should do their homework rather better before including Winter in their title. Winter is usually defined here as starting on the winter solstice which is 21 December therefore, to be truly politically correct the title should be Dundee Autumnal Light Night.

Come on Dundee council, stop the nonsense and give Dundee's Christmas lights their proper label. There's nothing politically correct about this change. The message I get from it is you're still a bunch of numpties, even though you've changed colour.

I never thought I'd live to see the day Dundee purposely ignored the celebration of Christmas.

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"Biggles Saved My Life"

Dundonians who enjoy a four mile stroll occasionally hitting a wee white ball with a stick, had their peace interrupted yesterday when a two-seat microlight became lodged in tree branches 40ft above the ground.

The pilot, Mr Hagedorn (63) of Chelmsford in Essex, escaped after his plane crashed on a Dundee golf course.

“Captain W.E. Johns saved my life. As a boy, I remember reading a Biggles story where he was shot down over enemy lines and was flying over a wooded area. He managed to “pancake” the plane sideways into a tree, which minimised the impact and he walked away unscathed.

"In the moment before impact, I was doing about 70 knots and still managed to think, ‘What would Biggles do?

Mr Hagedorn quipped to his rescuers, "I'm your new branch manager," before being helped down a ladder by members of the Tayside Fire and Rescue service.

Boys will be boys and it's good to know their childhood reading has some usefulness. I wonder if Oor Willie has ever inspired enough to save someone's life?

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Dundee Hosts the Cabinet

History was made yesterday when the Scottish cabinet met for the first time in Dundee.

First Minister Alex Salmond and education secretary Fiona Hyslop were at Dundee College to announce a £3 million package to support 100 new life sciences modern apprenticeships.

Finance secretary John Swinney visited Alliance Trust and later, with Mike Russell, saw Dundee's thriving computer games success at first hand on a visit to Realtime Worlds.

Kenny MacAskill met staff at Castle Huntly open prison and agricultural secretary Richard Lochhead was at a deer centre near Auchtermuchty. This was followed by last night's Homecoming event at the DCA.

Today deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon hosted a National Conversation event at Abertay University, during which members of the public had a chance to grill the ministers.

I hope a good time was had by all.

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The Last of the Line

The last ATM run off at the NCR factory took place in Dundee this week with a hand-written epitaph stating 'End of 63 years of manufacturing in NCR Dundee.  Last ARM built 20/5/09'.

The first ATM rolled off the production line in the year I was born but in those days NCR was still thought of as a major producer of cash registers.  Like Timex, it had a world-wide reputation and employed generations of Dundonians.

The decision to stop production was taken two years ago and the factory has been slowly run down.  NCR still has several hundred employees working in research and development in the city but there has also been a question mark over the security of those jobs in recent weeks.

NCR will now be consigned to the history books along with Keillors, the jute mills and the like. Sometimes I wonder if such closures are absolutely necessary, but we live in a world where chasing the money is paramount.

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