Recent reviews Dundee
[magdadh, 27/03/2012] Dundee's Mills Observatory, located on the Balgay Hill, is the only observatory in the United Kingdom to have been built specifically for public use and is free to visit, with various activities and exhibitions on offer.
It was founded with a bequest from John Mills, a Dundee industrialist and a believer in the power of astronomy to inspire the awe and wonder at God's creation, Mills Observatory took many years to be actually built but eventually came into being in in 1935 . It was designed by McLellan Brown in collaboration with Professor Ralph Sampson the Astronomer Royal for Scotland.
I
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[magdadh, 27/03/2012] For the visitor, DCA is interesting in four broad categories.
Firstly, it has a cinema with a less mainstream programme than the usual multiplexes and some innovative ideas (e.g. bring-a-baby sessions, senior club, screenings of recordings of live plays) as well as regular special programmes / festivals, from Italian to Indian to horror to good selection of children's movies as well as a special festival of films for young audience.
Secondly, DCA has an exhibition / gallery space with a varied programme of shows, some local and some travelling. They tend to have a ''contemporary'' character (by
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[magdadh, 24/03/2012] Although called a ''country park'', Camperdown is really a suburban city park, easily accessible from the city and sitting just beyond its main dual-carriageway bypass (Kingsway). In the same area there is a golf course and Dundee's Ice Arena.
It's a good park with plenty of open grass spaces, quite a few magnificent, old trees and areas to run about, walk and exercise dogs. The mansion, called Camperdown House (after which the whole park was named) is a severe Neo-Classical building which houses some displays relating to Dundee's maritime and military history, as well as function rooms.
In
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[magdadh, 24/03/2012] Camperdown Wildlife Centre is a small zoo located in Dundee's Camperdown Country Park, a large park just outside the Dundee core urban area.
It has just acquired a new Visitors' Centre building quite a good looking one, with an education room and a proper café as well as bit more spacious facilities for staff I suppose.
The zoo itself has a small collection of mostly mammal and bird species, largely from temperate climates, and a visit makes for a reasonable hour or so (unless you Hate Zoos on Principle), especially if you have children with you.
The animals mostly live in fairly large
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[magdadh, 23/03/2012] University Of Dundee Botanic Gardens are one of those attractions that locals tend to love while tourists either give a miss or are underwhelmed by: it's not particularly special or unique and yet a very pleasant place to visit. I find that the longer somebody's stay in a location, the more they tend to react like locals and appreciate the ''locals' attractions''.
As a sometimes-local and semi-local in Dundee, I visited the Botanic Gardens a few times in the last six years or so, and it was always with pleasure.
The gardens are not particularly old, dating to 1970 when they were founded t
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[magdadh, 06/03/2011] Dundee's textile heritage is displayed and explored in one of the Discovery City's prime attractions, the Verdant Works. Located in a disused jute mill in the heart of Dundee's old industrial district, a stone's throw from the university and within walking distance of the city centre, Verdant Works presents a fascinating exhibition of the past and tantalizing glimpses of the possible future.
Dundee had developed as a whaling and ship-building centre before the explosion of the jute industry in the early 19th century turned it into an industrial city.
The life of jute workers was unimaginab
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[magdadh, 09/01/2011] I have been to Dundee Rep several times now and every time the visit was a happy one. The level of productions is pretty good, with imaginative sets and good standard of acting , although obviously it does very from play to play, and the building is well designed and serves its purpose well.
For reasons that escape me, and in common with many British venues from restaurants to concert halls, the Rep doesn't have a cloakroom so people need to bundle their coats in unspecified place during the performance, but apart from that, it's a comfortable theatre to visit. The seats are staggered at
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[magdadh, 01/02/2010] This statue of Desperate Dan, clutching a copy of Dandy and thrusting the massive jaw forward followed sneakily by Minnie the MInx with her peashooter graces the very centre of Dundee's City Square. The statue looks good, the characters are instantly recognizable, and the only question I have is - where are Denis and Gnasher?
[magdadh, 01/02/2010] This place is an "attraction" par excellence: designed to provide eduction and fun (or so called edutainment), it really does what is says on the tin.
The theme is senses, and there are models of eye and ear (you can climb inside the ear!) and many interactive exhibits which are truly hands-on. I think most children would have troubles taking it all in, but must should take some things in, and there is enough interest there for adults and smaller children can run around and just enjoy the space, flashing lights, strange structures etc.
Upstairs is the mindball, where you can (apparentl
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[magdadh, 01/02/2010] Tucked away behind the bustling shops of the High Street, the Howff is surprisingly peaceful and attractive. I always had a penchant for old cemeteries, and although this one doesn't come as high on the list as Pere Lachaise or Highgate it is still pretty good and one can easily while away a half an hour or more here.
Surrounded by the high tenament buildings on two sides and wall on two others, the Howff tombstones are pretty simple but show a fascinating insight into the life of old Dundee: we see how old (and how YOUNG!!!) people were when they died, some families have four or five child
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[magdadh, 01/02/2010] The Law is definitely worth the climb - the views over the Tay are brilliant, and it's a lovely place to get yourself out of the Dundee centre, which can be rather grim at times.
The top of the hill is windy, clean, refreshing place, despite the severe, monumental monument that tops the hill in a style that reminds me of Mussollini's Italian architecture of soc-realism in communist countries. There are benches, viewing platforms and you can park very near the top too (but I think climbing from further down is better fun). All in all, really good.
[magdadh, 29/01/2010] Tayside Dundee branded itself as the "city of discovery (or Discovery?)" and the attraction complex called the Discovery Point holds a prime spot on Dundee's riverside, not far from the Tay Bridge, a stone's throw from the train station and just next to the main city Leisure Centre and pool complex.
Discovery" is known as Captain Scott's ship and thus is bound to bring to mind associations with the doomed South Pole expedition, but as this was actually undertaken on a different ship altogether, Terra Nova, a surprisingly small amount of space is devoted to it (and frankly, is all the better
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