For anyone going to the V&A in Dundee, this could be something to see:
www.yahoo.com/news/striped-fabric-found-40-years-210659258.html
I wonder whether it was part of a plaid, or some other article of clothing. Note the author's incorrect use of the word "plaid" in the first sentence.
Mike (Auchterless)
Wow, that's really interesting - and wonder of wonders, I will be passing right by there on my way to Edinburgh! I am so excited and will definitely stop here - I love the V&A and totally forgot that it has a museum in Dundee.
Thanks so much for this information, Mike!
I'll also be in Dundee in May and looking forward to my visit to the V&A there.
Hi, Mardee and Lane,
The best place to park for the V&A and the RRS Discovery is the car park next to the Discovery Centre and in front of the Premier Inn. It's four pounds ten for four hours. If you think that you'll be there longer than four hours, it goes up to eight pounds ten. If you're staying at the Premier Inn, I think that there is still a reduced rate, something like three or four pounds until noon the next day.
The car park for the Discovery Centre/V&A is still cheaper than parking uptown. It's right off Riverside Drive (A85). You can also park free at the Tesco across the street, but you'd only be good for two hours, and they have CCTV carefully monitoring their car park. :(
Enjoy!
Mike (Auchterless)
Thanks, Mike – that’s very helpful.
Thank you for the alert. Most interesting. We will be in Scotland in a couple of weeks and good friends are visiting Dundee in September.
This forum is helpful and entertaining. For me, it is a treat every day.
The V&A and Discovery Centre are not far from the ruins of the old Tay Railway Bridge. It is near the Tesco. The tragedy of that bridge inspired one of the best poems in the English language, the Tay Bridge Disaster by William McGonnagall. It is so bad it is is good.
Okay, someone had to do it. Here it is, in all its glory:
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45828/the-tay-bridge-disaster
by the Great McGonagall.
Enjoy!
Mike (Auchterless)
p.s.: It must have been quite a scramble trying to find a word to rhyme with "buttresses"!
I don't quite know what to say about that poem. I'm struggling to find the good, although I'm not quite sure I have the stomach to read it again.
Mike, I would thank you for sharing this but I am still overwhelmed with how bad this poem is. Does it get better over time (or alcohol)?
Hi, Mardee,
Definitely alcohol! That is actually one of McGonagall's best poems. The others have to be seen to be believed! As the TLS said many years ago, "A real genius, for he is the only truly memorable bad poet in our language".
I have to admit that I own a copy of his collected works. Here's another gem:
www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/gems/the-death-of-fred-marsden-the-american-playwright
That McGonagall online website has tons of information about him.
I hope that you have an opportunity to enjoy more of McGonagall's works. You should be able to order one of his books of "Gems" through ILL.
Happy reading!
Mike (Auchterless)
The stumps of the old bridge are still there (a strangely sobering reminder) and there are memorials on either side. When crossing the new bridge I always say a quiet prayer for those who were lost. I'm not sure why- it just feels right.
I do the same thing at Quintinshill near Gretna- the WW1 troop train disaster- the worst accident in British railways history- so bad that there has never been agreement on how many died in the ensuing inferno.
isn31c, I can see where you are coming from. The built landscape of most countries has the reminders of the past strewn across it, and I always have a slight chill on the A74(M) as I pass Lockerbie.
I feel it is good the remains of the old Tay Bridge could not be removed and are left, an unintentional reminder of that tragedy. Also that a similar design was being drawn up for the Forth Railway Bridge. The events of that night meant a completely new design from new engineers was needed.
Talking of the bridges, I do find crossing the Tay Road Bridge from Fife to Dundee is a very interesting vista because Dundee looms on the horizon. Sometimes it is difficult to remember that Fife, like the Black Isle north of Inverness, were effectively islands until relatively recently in how to get there. There is still the feeling both outwith and within Fife that Fife is somehow different to the rest of Scotland in a way the island areas are.
I recently read that 55% of kilt wearers have nothing on underneath. Just throwing that out there.
Mike ( auchterless ) , Looking at the map of Discovery Point , it indicates what appears to be a small carpark by the visitors center . When I open a picture of the area on Google maps , it appears that the parking area is much bigger , extending past the Premier Inn to the west . Since I'll be coming down from Pitlochry on my upcoming trip , am I correctly assuming that there is adequate parking available there ?
Ok, so I have heard of William McGonagall and his worst poet status….. and seen his grave in Edinburgh. But had not ever actually read one of his poems. I don’t want to be hasty but he may deserve his title. But the last 2 lines are pretty great.
Hi, Steven,
I'd say your best chance of getting a parking space in the Premier Inn/Discovery Point car park would be early afternoon, after the PI guests have departed. It's a very short walk from the car park to the Discovery, and the V&A is practically next door to the musuem and ship. If you're driving over from Pitlochry that day, you probably wouldn't be there until early afternoon anyway. As you noted, it's a big car park!
From what I remember, when we stayed at that particular PI, you need to pay in advance at the car park. Best to check at the front desk if you have any questions.
Best wishes for a safe and enjoyable trip.
Mike (Auchterless)
Hi, TexasTravelMom,
Were you referring to the last two lines of the Tay Bridge poem or the Fred Marsden poem?
Mike (Auchterless)
Mike , Many Thanks , I'm really looking forward to seeing The Discovery . As I'm. headed for London eventually. I'll be in Cambridge for a week and going back to The Scott Polar Research Institute for a second visit .
Lol, Mike! I hadn’t read the Fred Marsden one yet so I was referring to the Tay Bridge poem. But I just took a look at Fred and maybe it applies there, too. 🤣🤣
TexasTravemom, I had to go back and read the last 2 lines and I think you're right, although it gave me a chuckle. I wonder if his work is taught in any university classes. :)
Hi again, Steven,
As you appear to have a great interest in the history of Captain Scott, you may be interested in visiting Burnside Cottage in Glen Prosen, where Scott and Dr. Edwards met to hash out the plans for the 1912 expedition. Supposedly they spent several months at Burnside Cottage. There is a memorial cairn nearby. The cottage and cairn are just off the B955, near the village of Dykehead.
Safe travels,
Mike (Auchterless)
@Bigmike. What is worn under the kilt? Nothing it is all in working order. It is 55% who wear, 38% don't according to YouGov, and even among those who don't there have always been exceptions. Bandsmen and dancers have always been required to wear something under the kilt, and hire companies tend to put it into the contract that you have to wear something.
Due to the nature of the kilt, and the way as a heavy woollen garment it needs to be dry cleaned, this makes sense.
Mike , Thank You !! I looked this up . While its a bit off the path to visit , I found this article ( with pictures ) which went into detail about the place . I seem to recall there were some shots of it in the 1948 film with John Mills " Scott of the Antarctic " and that beautiful music by Vaughan Williams . I was about sixteen when I saw the film for the first time ( sixty years ago ) and reduced to tears at its end. One of the great shots in the article is the one of Scott and Wilson together . Since the place is on the market , my wife and I were looking at the pictures ( of course an impossible and unrealistic dream ) but she did turn green with envy when we saw the AGA cooker in one of the kitchen photos . https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5763671/Scottish-house-Captain-Scott-planned-ill-fated-expedition-South-Pole-sale.html
Hi again, Steven,
That is a beautiful house! What stories it could tell! Makes me want to buy a Powerball ticket. :)
Mike (Auchterless)
I found myself with an unscheduled spare hour in Dundee on Friday due to a bus breakdown, galling after a breathless 3 minute transfer from train (the furthest away platform at Waverley, #8) to long distance bus in Edinburgh, which I emphatically do not recommend as a way to improve blood pressure. I was not amused to find on last minute googling that this exhibition was a £14 entry charge in what is otherwise a free museum, on this modern curse of pre booked tickets.
So I instead went down to see Smeaton's Tower, got into the Cathedral ( on the 3rd time of trying) and saw an unexpected pipe band at the Caird Hall - playing for the University graduation ceremony.
A far more productive way to me of spending the hour. If it had been free and walk up I'd have done the V and A instead. But too many places needlessly find walk up too hard to do - I doubt that 3pm on a Friday is hectic.
Before the usual chorus of change at Haymarket, the bus I was catching doesn't stop there.
