Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
industrial museums in Europe, the Verdant Works explores the history of Dundee's jute in-
dustry. Housed in a restored jute mill, complete with original machinery still in working
condition, the museum's interactive exhibits and computer displays follow the raw materi-
al from its origins in India through to the manufacture of a wide range of finished
products, from sacking to rope to wagon covers for the pioneers of the American West.
The mill is 250m west of the city centre.
MUSEUM
McManus Galleries
(
www.mcmanus.co.uk
;
Albert Sq; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 12.30-4.30pm Sun)
Housed in a
solid Victorian Gothic building designed by Gilbert Scott in 1867, the McManus Galleries
is a city museum on a human scale - you can see everything there is to see, without feel-
ing rushed or overwhelmed. The exhibits cover the history of the city from the Iron Age to
the present day, including relics of the Tay Bridge Disaster and the Dundee whaling in-
dustry. Computer geeks will enjoy the Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum (pioneering personal
computers with a whole 16K of memory!) which were made in Dundee in the early 1980s.
HM Frigate Unicorn
(
www.frigateunicorn.org
;
Victoria Dock; adult/child £5.25/3.25; 10am-5pm Apr-Oct;
noon-4pm Wed-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun Nov-Mar)
Unlike the polished and much-re-
stored
Discovery,
Dundee's other floating tourist attraction retains the authentic atmo-
sphere of a salty old sailing ship. Built in 1824, the 46-gun
Unicorn
is the oldest British-
built ship still afloat - she was mothballed soon after launching and never saw action. By
the mid-19th century sailing ships were outclassed by steam and the
Unicorn
served as a
gunpowder store, then later as a training vessel. When it was proposed to break up the
ship for scrap in the 1960s, a preservation society was formed. Wandering around the deck
gives you an excellent impression of what it must have been like for the crew forced to
live in such cramped conditions.
The
Unicorn
is berthed in Victoria Dock, just northeast of the Tay Road Bridge. The
entry price includes a self-guided tour (also available in French and German).
MUSEUM
ARTS CENTRE
Dundee Contemporary Arts
(
www.dca.org.uk
;
Nethergate; 11am-6pm Tue, Wed, Fri & Sat, 11am-8pm Thu,
noon-6pm Sun)
The focus for the city's emerging Cultural Quarter is Dundee Contempor-
