A daunder round Dundee

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Dundee Law

In November last year, when the world was a different place, John had a Friday meeting at the University of Dundee. I decided to go with him and stay for the weekend. We set off early in the morning and arrived with time for a quick coffee before the meeting began. From the window I could see Dundee Law, which I have never climbed, and decided that would be the first thing I would do once John started work.

Dundee Law selfie
Dundee Law war memorial
Dundee Law war memorial

The 572-foot peak is the city’s most distinctive landmark. It’s a volcanic sill: an underground sideways flow of lava, forced through weaker rock 400 million years ago, which remained under layers of other rock for millions of years before wind, rain and glaciers cleared the softer rock away. At the top is a War Memorial with inscriptions to the memory of Dundee men who fell in the two World Wars, and a bronze brazier as a beacon which is lit on 5 days during the Autumn, marking important dates in the history of the wars. Normally, there are great views over the city but, as you can see, I was there on a rather wet day.

Oh well, never mind. I made my way back down to the university where there was an exhibition on housing I wanted to visit. While there I met these two characters. Oor Wullie is part of a 2016 public art trail. This model, When Wullie met Dr Manhattan by Sarah Coonan, was given to the university by an honorary graduate. The dog, Hope, is part of the mental health charity SANE’s Black Dog campaign to raise funds and awareness.

When Wullie met Dr Manhattan by Sarah Coonan
Black Dog campaign

I visited several other exhibitions that day and, on the Saturday, we both visited Hello Robot at the V&A. Of course, all the exhibitions are now over and all the galleries are closed anyway, so instead of telling you about them I’ll show you some of the other characters I met around the city. These two were instantly recognisable as by street artists whose work I see round Glasgow a lot. Oh Pandah’s “big heids” pop up all over the city and, it seems, other cities too.

Big heid
Dundee street art

I loved these two elegant women at Spex Pistols, possibly the most interesting-looking opticians ever.

Spex Pistols
Spex Pistols

On a previous weekend in Dundee we visited Royal Research Ship Discovery which was built in the city, and in which the British National Antarctic Expedition set sail in 1901. Because of this Antarctic connection, Dundee seems to have an affinity with penguins. I came across a couple of remnants from another public art trail, and this little row, by Angela Hunter, running along the parish church wall. Apparently, they are often dressed up to suit local events, but were stark naked on this occasion.

Dundee penguin
Dundee penguins
Dundee penguin

Not so Oor Wullie, who was already decked out in his Christmas jumper. He comes from a comic strip produced by Dundee publisher D.C. Thomson, and is joined on street by some of their other characters: Desperate Dan and his dog, Dawg, and Minnie the Minx. The dragon is not a Thomson character, but is based on a local legend.

Christmas Oor Wullie
Desperate Dan
Dawg
Minnie the Minx
Dundee dragon

When it comes to statues of real people the choice, as usual, is dominated by men (other than the ubiquitous Queen Victoria). Below are Robert Burns and Adam Duncan (1731-1804), a Dundee born admiral who defeated the Dutch fleet off Camperdown (north of Haarlem) on 11 October 1797. However, I did find this monument to missionary Mary Slessor (1848-1915) who is also commemorated in a stained glass window in the McManus Galleries.

Robert Burns
Adam Duncan
Mary Slessor

The Slessor window is in the gallery café so is hard to photograph without annoying people: however, on the stairs I managed to snap John’s hero, James Watt. And, always one to sniff out a bit of women’s history, I loved this portrait of Agnes Husband (1852-1929) by Alec Grieve. Agnes, a dressmaker by trade, campaigned for women’s suffrage and was active in the Labour Party, becoming one of Dundee’s first women councillors.

James Watt
Agnes Husband by Alec Grieve

By this time it was 3pm, I’d climbed the Law, visited three exhibitions in three different galleries, had lunch and a good old daunder round Dundee, getting wet and cold in the process. Hotel check-in would be open and it was time to retreat from the rain to wait in comfort for John to finish work.

Scotland, UK ,

66 Comments »

  2. Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : a fishy tale! | restlessjo

  3. I’ve been up the Law. Many years ago during a trip for work. I enjoyed looking down over the remains of the old Tay bridge as made famous in verse! Dundee was the start for the Tour of Britain cycle race, which was due to start a few days after my visit. The road had been freshly tarmaced in preparation. If you look up the race on the net you can date my visit!

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  4. I am always amazed at the amount of walking you do, Anabel. And often uphill. A huge WOW on the “Spex Pistols.” A catchy name. I know I would have appreciated our visit to Dunedin, NZ more if I had read some of your posts beforehand. Maybe a return visit one day.

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  5. Hi Anabel – it looked cold and rather mizzly … but lots to see – and learn about … the Spex Pistols are fun … and I’d love to see the V+A in Dundee – it looks a pretty amazing place. It’s fun searching out different bits of history … the James Watts window is very magnificent … while the portrait of Agnes Husband is a good one to find … about a Suffragette in Dundee – she was obviously very influential. Good idea to have the weekend away and let John work, while you explored – bet that hotel was very comforting … take care – Hilary

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  6. This is a varied collection of works and memorials, all very interesting. Those penguins are cute and I’m sure they’re not feeling the cold given they are used to snow and ice. I’m assuming the word “daunder” means to wander. I think I would enjoy daundering around Dundee.

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  8. That university sounds like an interesting place! Wish the weather had been better for your explorations, but it seemed worth the discomfort. Thanks for sharing the pictures!

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  12. I am hopinG not to be gone as I was. I love your walks and everything you show like this walk with those freaky cartoon characters. I love the penguins and the dragon. You were very busy walking up there In, what appears to be, not very kind weather. I love anything stained glass and learning about some of the people.

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  14. Ah November 2019, then Christmas, then into 2020 and the Twilight Zone, from which we have yet to emerge. We can get out and about but there’s really no place much to go – if you have a dog. At Stony Point there is only the lighthouse, cottages and the Cuttlefish Breeding Area – for divers – which, of course, didn’t happen this year..

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  15. I’ve always liked Dundee, even all the outlying districts that make up the city from the 1970s onwards. Cracking place and people.

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  18. I love the penguins and the dragon! Every once in a while, I was able to join my husband on a business trip (and, sometimes he’d join me on one of mine) and it was always so much fun. I got a whole day or two to explore on my own and then we met up for a nice dinner and a lovely hotel stay. I love being retired, but I do miss some of the perks of working.

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  19. I would love to visit Dundee. I did an online futurelearn course run by the university of Dundee forensic department on identifying the dead. Val Macdermid wrote a story for it about a body which was found on the law so it is difficult to see it without thinking of bones.

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  20. I love all the sculpture and artwork you have in Scotland. Thanks for sharing it Anabel because in California we don’t have much. We have a lot of advertising but not much history. And those penguins are adorable!

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  22. You said “Hunter” and I had to read it again. My fam comes from Scotland. They were hunters for the king and denoted the name Hunter. Maybe you’ve found a long lost relative 😉

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  23. “Daunder” – I didn’t know that word. Had to look it up. Thanks for teaching me new words. 😉 And, of course, thanks for taking me around Glasgow and showing me new sights there. 🙂
    Btw, my spell checker doesn’t know that word either!

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  27. I like the elegant woman on the left of the optician’s doorway and the window with James Watt. Not keen on Oor Wullie and his mates but I love the row of cute penguins on the wall 🙂

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