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Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and, fully named as Dundee City, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It lies on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea.
Dundee and the surrounding area has been continuously occupied since the Mesolithic. The port developed initially on the back of the wool trade exporting wool from the Angus hinterland. Once it was cheaper to produce linen, which had supplanted the wool trade and was itself under pressure from cotton abroad, the weavers turned their skills to weaving imported jute.
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Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and, fully named as Dundee City, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It lies on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea.
Dundee and the surrounding area has been continuously occupied since the Mesolithic. The port developed initially on the back of the wool trade exporting wool from the Angus hinterland. Once it was cheaper to produce linen, which had supplanted the wool trade and was itself under pressure from cotton abroad, the weavers turned their skills to weaving imported jute. The weaving industry caused the city to grow rapidly with many migrant workers though the town contained very few stone buildings prior to 1860. In this period, Dundee also gained a reputation for its marmalade industry and its journalism, giving Dundee its epithet as the city of "jam, jute and journalism".
According to the latest estimates (2006), the population of Dundee City is around 141,930. Dundee's recorded population reached a peak of 182,204 in the 1971 census, but has since declined due to outward migration.
Today, Dundee is promoted as the City of Discovery, in honour of Dundee's history of scientific activities and of the RRS Discovery, Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic exploration vessel, which was built in Dundee and is now berthed in the city harbour. Biomedical and technological industries have arrived since the 1980s, and the city now accounts for 10% of the United Kingdom's digital-entertainment industry. Dundee has two universities—the University of Abertay Dundee and the University of Dundee.
History
Toponymy
The name "Dundee" is of uncertain etymology. It incorporates the place-name element dùn, fort, present in both Gaelic and in Brythonic languages such as Pictish. The remainder of the name is less obvious. One possibility is that it comes from the gaelic 'Dèagh', meaning 'fire'. Another is that it derives from 'Tay', and it is in this form, 'Duntay' that the town is seen in Pont's map (c1583-1596).
Boece asserts that the name derives from the Latin 'Dei Donum', 'Gift from God', but this should be treated with caution. He also states that the ancient name for the town was 'Alectum'. This name was apparently still in use amongst gaelic speakers in the 18th century.
Medieval history
Much of the early medieval history of the town relies heavily on tradition. Boece places Dundee as the site of a battle in 834 AD between the Scots, led by King Alpin (father of Kenneth MacAlpin), and the Picts, led by King Brude. The battle was allegedly a decisive victory for the Picts, and the head of Alpin taken as a trophy by Brude. This account, while vivid and perhaps appealling, should be treated with extreme caution. Early historians such as Boece were less critical with their sources than their modern-day counterparts, and had a tendency to treat fable as history. Moreover, Boece's account is at odds with other, more reputable sources such as the Pictish Chronicle.
Andrew of Wyntoun (c1420) claims that King Edgar (reigned 1097-1107) spent his latter days there, although others put his place of death at Edinburgh. Whitehall Palace, said to be a court residence of several kings of Scotland including Malcolm Canmore, reputedly stood near the High Street, near the north end of where Whitehall Street now stands, although no physical evidence of it remains.
Boece, states that in the latter part of the 12th century, David, Earl of Huntingdon, returned to Scotland from fighting in the Third Crusade, landing at Dundee following a storm. Thankful for his safe arrival, he founded a church in honour of the Virgin Mary at the site where the Dundee City churches now stand. David's brother, King William, drafted a charter, granting the town and its surroundings to David, conferring Royal Burgh status on the town. No copies of this charter are known to have survived. William's charter was revoked by Edward I during the First War of Independence. It was renewed with a charter from Robert the Bruce in 1327.
Early Modern History
Dundee became a walled city in 1545, owing to a period of hostilities known as the rough wooing. In July 1547, much of the city was destroyed by an English naval bombardment. In 1645, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Dundee was again besieged, this time by the Royalist Marquess of Montrose]].
. In 1651 during the Third English Civil War, it was invaded by General Monck, who was the commander of Oliver Cromwell's forces in Scotland. These English Parliamentarians destroyed much of the city and killed many of its inhabitants. Dundee was later the site of an early Jacobite uprising when John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee raised the Stuart standard on Dundee Law in support of James VII (James II of England) following his overthrow, earning him the nickname Bonnie Dundee.
Modern history
Dundee greatly expanded in size during the Industrial Revolution mainly because of the burgeoning British Empire trade,flax and then latterly the jute industry. By the end of the 19th century, a majority of the city's workers were employed in its many jute mills and in related industries. Dundee's location on a major estuary allowed for the easy importation of jute from the Indian subcontinent as well as whale oil—needed for the processing of the jute—from the city's large whaling industry. A substantial coastal marine trade also developed, with inshore shipping working between the city of Dundee and the port of London. The industry began to decline in the 20th century as it became cheaper to process the cloth on the Indian subcontinent. The city's last jute mill closed in the 1970s.
In addition to jute the city is also known for jam and journalism. The "jam" association refers to marmalade, which was purportedly invented in the city by Janet Keiller in 1797 (although in reality, recipes for marmalade have been found dating back to the 1500s). Keiller's marmalade became a famous brand because of its mass production and its worldwide export. The industry was never a major employer compared with the jute trade. Marmalade has since become the "preserve" of larger businesses, but jars of Keiller's marmalade are still widely available. "Journalism" refers to the publishing firm DC Thomson & Co., which was founded in the city in 1905 and remains the largest employer after the health and leisure industries. The firm publishes a variety of newspapers, children's comics and magazines, including The Sunday Post, The Courier, Shout and children's publications, The Beano and The Dandy.
Dundee also developed a major maritime and shipbuilding industry in the 19th century. 2,000 ships were built in Dundee between 1871 and 1881, including the Antarctic research ship used by Robert Falcon Scott, the RRS Discovery. This ship is now on display at Discovery Point in the city, and the Victorian steel-framed works in which Discovery's engine was built is now home to the city's largest book shop. The need of the local jute industry for whale oil also supported a large whaling industry. Dundee Island in the Antarctic takes its name from the Dundee whaling expedition, which discovered it in 1892. Whaling ceased in 1912 and shipbuilding ceased in 1981. The estuary was the location of the first Tay rail bridge, built by Thomas Bouch and opened in 1879. At the time it was the longest railway bridge in the world.
The bridge fell down in a storm less than a year later under the weight of a train full of passengers in what is known as the Tay Bridge disaster. None of the passengers survived.
Governance
Dundee was first made a royal burgh in 1191 and became a unitary council area in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which gave it a single tier of local government control under the Dundee City Council. The city has two mottos— .
also Prudentia et Candore (With Thought And Purity), although usually only the latter is used for civic purposes. Dundee is represented in both the British House of Commons and in the Scottish Parliament. For elections to the European Parliament, Dundee is within the Scotland constituency.
Local government
Dundee is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, represented by the Dundee City Council, a local authority composed of 29 elected councillors. Previously the city was a county of a city and later a district of the Tayside region. Council meetings take place in the City Chambers, which opened in 1933 and are located in City Square. The civic head and chair of the council is known as the Lord Provost, a position similar to that of mayor in other cities. The council executive is based in Tayside House on the banks of the River Tay, but the council recently announced plans to demolish it in favour of new premises (Dundee House) on North Lindsay Street.
Prior to 1996, Dundee was governed by the City of Dundee District Council. This was formed in 1975, implementing boundaries imposed in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Under these boundaries, the Angus burgh and district of Monifieth, and the Perth electoral division of Longforgan (which included Invergowrie) were annexed to the county of the city of Dundee. In 1996, the Dundee City unitary authority was created following impementation of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. This placed Monifieth and Invergowrie in the unitary authorities of Angus and Perth and Kinross, largely reinstating the pre-1975 county boundaries. Some controversy has ensued as a result of these boundary changes, with Dundee city councillors arguing for the return of Monifieth and Invergowrie in order to subsidise Dundee City Council Tax revenues.
The council was controlled by a minority coalition of Labour and Liberal Democrats of 12 councillors, with the support of the Conservatives who had five. Although the Scottish National Party (SNP) was the largest party on the council, with 11 councillors. Elections to the council are on a four year cycle, the most recent as of 2007 being on 3 May 2007. Previously, Councillors were elected from single-member wards by the first past the post system of election, although this changed in the 2007 election, due to the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Eight new multi-member wards were introduced, each electing three or four councillors by single transferable vote, to produce a form of proportional representation. The 2007 election resulting in no single party having overall control, with 13 Scottish National Party, 10 Labour, 3 Conservatives, 2 Liberal Democrats, and 1 Independent Councillors.
Westminster and Holyrood
For elections to the British House of Commons at Westminster, the city area and portions of the Angus council area are divided in two constituencies. The constituencies of Dundee East and Dundee West are as of 2007 represented by Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party (SNP)) and James McGovern (Labour), respectively. For elections to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, the city area is divided between three constituencies. The Dundee East (Holyrood) constituency and the Dundee West (Holyrood) constituency are entirely within the city area. The Angus (Holyrood) constituency includes north-eastern and north-western portions of the city area. All three constituencies are within the North East Scotland electoral region. as of 2007 Shona Robison (SNP) is the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Dundee East constituency; Joe Fitzpatrick (SNP) is the current MSP for the Dundee West constituency and Andrew Welsh (SNP) is the current MSP for the Angus constituency.
International links
Dundee maintains cultural, economic and educational ties with six twin cities:
– Orleans, France (1946)
– Zadar, Croatia (1959)
– Würzburg, Germany (1962)
– Alexandria, Virginia, USA (1974)
– Nablus, West Bank (1980)
– Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2004)
In addition, the Scottish Episcopalian Diocese of Brechin (centred on St Paul’s Cathedral in Dundee) is twinned with the diocese of Iowa, USA and the diocese of Swaziland.
Geography
Dundee is located on the north bank of the Firth of Tay and near the North Sea. The city surrounds the basalt plug of an extinct volcano, called Dundee Law or simply The Law Hill (174 metres (571 ft)). Dundee is Scotland's only south-facing city, giving it a claim to being Scotland's sunniest and warmest city. Temperatures tend to be a couple of degrees higher than Aberdeen to the north or the coastal areas of Angus. Dundee suffers less severe winters than other parts of Scotland due to the close proximity to the North sea and the salt air and a range of protective hills at the back of the city, which are often snow covered while the city itself remains clear.
The city, being on a relatively small landspace, is the most densely populated area in Scotland after Glasgow and around fifth in the UK overall. It is characterised by tall tenements, mainly four storeys high, Victorian, and built from a honey or brown sandstone. The inner districts of the city, as well as some of the outer estates, are home to a number of multi storey tower blocks from the 1960s, although these have been gradually being demolished in recent years. The outer estates are among some of the poorest urban districts in the United Kingdom. To the east of the city area is the distinct but incorporated suburb of Broughty Ferry.
Dundee lies close to Perth (20 miles) and the southern Highlands to the west. St Andrews (14 miles) and north-east Fife are situated to the south, while the Sidlaw Hills, Angus Glens and the Glamis Castle are located to the north. Two of Scotland's most prestigious links golf courses, St Andrews and Carnoustie are located nearby.
Demography
Natives of Dundee are called Dundonians and are often recognisable by their distinctive dialect of Scots as well as their accent, which most noticeably substitutes the monophthong /e/ in place of the diphthong /ai/.
A significant proportion of the population are on a lower than average income or receive social security benefits. More than half of the city's council wards are among Scotland's most deprived and fewer than half of the homes in Dundee are owner-occupied, a slight majority being owned by housing associations and the council, although it does rank higher than Glasgow. For all its social problems, neither do Dundonians die as early as Glaswegians.
Dundee's population increased substantially with the urbanisation of the Industrial Revolution as did other British cities. The most significant influx occurred in the mid-1800s with the arrival of Irish workers fleeing from the Potato Famine and attracted by industrialisation. Today Dundee has 5,000 Northern Irish born residents in its boundary mostly due to universities and there is a large Northern Irish club which is based at Dundee Union The city also attracted immigrants from Italy, fleeing poverty and famine, and Poland, seeking refuge from the anti-Jewish pogroms in the 19th century, and later, World War II in the 20th. Today, Dundee has a sizeable ethnic minority population, and has the third highest Asian population (~3,500) in Scotland after Glasgow and Edinburgh. Dundee has attracted large numbers of Eastern Europeans and is predicted to expand further due to Bulgarian immigrants. Abertay University and Dundee University draw a large number of students from abroad (mostly Irish and EU but with an increasing number from countries in the Far East), and students account for 14.2% of the population, the highest proportion of the four largest Scottish cities. Dundee is also one of only four local authorities in Scotland to recycle more than 20% of its waste.
Economy
Dundee is a regional employment and education centre, with over 300,000 persons within 30 minutes drive of the city centre and 700,000 people within one hour. Many people from North East Fife, Angus and Perth and Kinross commute to the city. In 2006 the city itself had an economically active population of 76.7% of the working age population, about 20% of the working age population are full time students. The city sustains just under 95,000 jobs in around 4,000 companies. The number of jobs in the city has grown by around 10% since 1996. Recent and current investment levels in the city are at a record level. Since 1997 Dundee has been the focus of investment approaching an estimated £1 billion.
Despite this economic growth the proportion of Dundee’s population whose lives are affected by poverty and who are classed as socially excluded is second only to Glasgow. Median weekly earnings were £409 in February 2006, an increase of 33% since 1998, on a par with the Scottish median. Unemployment in 2006 was around 3.8%, higher than the Scottish average of 2.6%, although the city has “closed the gap” since 1996 when unemployment was 8.6% with the Scottish average at 6.1%. In 2000 the number of unemployed in the city had fallen to below 5,000 for the first time in over 25 years. Average house prices in Dundee have more than doubled since 1990 from an average of £42,475, to £102,025 in 2006. Total house sales in the city have more than tripled since 1990 from £115,915,391 to £376,999,716 in 2004. House prices rose by over 15% between 2001–2002 and 2002–2003 and between 2005 and 2006 by 16.6%.
Modern economic history
The period following World War II was notable for the transformation of the city's economy. While jute still employed one-fifth of the working population, new industries were attracted and encouraged. NCR Corporation selected Dundee as the base of operations for the UK in late 1945, primarily because of the lack of damage the city had sustained in the war, good transport links and high productivity from long hours of sunshine. Production started in the year before the official opening of the plant on 11 June 1947. A fortnight after the 10th anniversary of the plant, the 250,000th cash machine was produced. By the 1960s, NCR had become the principal employer of the city producing cash registers, and later ATMs, at several of its Dundee plants. The firm, developed magnetic-strip readers for cash registers and produced early computers. Astral, a Dundee-based firm that manufactured and sold refrigerators and spin dryers was merged into Morphy Richards and rapidly expanded to employ over 1,000 people. The development in Dundee of a Michelin tyre-production facility helped to absorb the unemployment caused by the decline of the jute industry, particularly with the abolition of the jute control by the Board of Trade on 30 April 1969.
Employment in Dundee changed dramatically during the 1980s with the loss of nearly 10,000 manufacturing jobs due to closure of the shipyards, cessation of carpet manufacturing and the disappearance of the jute trade. To combat growing unemployment and declining economic conditions, Dundee was declared an Enterprise Zone in January 1984. In 1983, the first Sinclair Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computers were produced in Dundee by Timex. In the same year the company broke production records, despite a sit-in by workers protesting job cuts and plans to demolish one of the factory buildings to make way for a supermarket. Timex closed its Dundee plant in 1993 following an acrimonious six month industrial dispute. In January 2007, NCR announced its intention to cut 650 jobs at its Gourdie facility, and to turn the facility over for low volume production. The company has pledged to retain R&D, software, sales and support functions in Dundee.
Modern day
As in the rest of Scotland manufacturing industries are being gradually replaced by a mixed economy, although 13.5% of the workforce still work in the manufacturing sector, higher than the Scottish and UK average, and more than double that of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. The main new growth sectors have been software development and biotechnology along with retail. The city has a small financial, banking and insurance sector, employing 11% of the workforce.
In 2006, 29 companies employed 300 or more staff these include limited and private companies NCR Corporation, Michelin, Tesco, D. C. Thomson & Co, BT, SiTEL, Alliance Trust, Norwich Union, Royal Bank of Scotland, ASDA, Strathtay Scottish, Tayside Contracts, Tokheim, Scottish Citylink, W H Brown Construction, C J Lang & Son, Joinery and Timber Creations, HBOS, Debenhams, Travel Dundee, WL Gore and Associates, In Practice Systems, The Wood Group, Simclar, Millipore Life Sciences, Alchemy (antibody technology), (manufacturers of recombinant drug metabolising enzymes, including cytochrome P450s, and in vitro drug metabolism specialists). Major employers in the public sector and non profit sector are NHS Tayside, the University of Dundee, Tayside Police, Dundee College, Tayside Fire Brigade, HM Revenue and Customs, University of Abertay Dundee and Wellcome Trust.
The largest employers in Dundee are the city council and the Health Service, which make up over 10% of the city's workforce. The biomedical and biotechnology sectors, including start-up biomedical companies arising from university research, employ just under 1,000 people directly and nearly 2,000 indirectly. Information technology and software for computer games have been important industries in the city for more than twenty years. Rockstar North, developer of Lemmings and the Grand Theft Auto series was founded in Dundee as DMA Design by David Jones; an undergraduate of the University of Abertay Dundee. (If you look carefully at the advertising hoardings by the airport in Grand Theft Auto Vice City you will see a sign which says "Come to Dundee we have a ship which belonged to a loser"; a reference to Robert Falcon Scott's RRS Discovery). David Jones is now the CEO of Realtime Worlds, which has recently (2007) released Crackdown for the Xbox 360, and is responsible for employing over 200 people of multi national origin, primarily in Dundee.
Dundee is responsible for 10% of Britain’s digital entertainment industry, with an annual turnover of £100 million. Outside of specialised fields of medicine, science and technology, the proportion of Dundonians employed in the manufacturing sector is higher than that found in the larger Scottish cities; nearly 12% of workers. Manufacturing income per head in Dundee was £19,700 in 1999, compared to £16,700 in Glasgow. The insolvency rate for businesses in Dundee is lower than other Scottish cities, accounting for only 2.3% of all liquidations in Scotland, compared to 22% and 61.4% for Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively.
The surrounding area is home to three major UK military bases, Condor (Royal Marines), Leuchars (RAF) which can cause sudden noise from aircraft exercises, and Barry (army and training).
The city is served by Ninewells Hospital—one of the largest and most up to date in Europe, as well as three other public hospitals: Kings Cross, Victoria, and Ashludie, and one private: Fernbrae. A recent addition to Ninewells Hospital is the Maggie's Centre building, which was designed by Frank Gehry officially opened by Sir Bob Geldof in 2007.
Transport
Dundee is served by the A90 road which connects the city to the M90 and Perth in the west, and Forfar and Aberdeen in the north. The part of the road that is in the city is a dual carriageway and forms the city's main bypass on its north side, known as the Kingsway, which can become very busy at rush hour. To the east, the A92 connects the city to Monifieth and Arbroath. The A92 also connects the city to the county of Fife on the south side of the Tay estuary via the Tay Road Bridge. The main southern route around the city is Riverside Drive and Riverside Avenue (the A991), that runs alongside the Tay from a junction with the A90 in the west, to the city centre where it joins the A92 at the bridge.
Dundee has an extensive public bus transport system, with the Seagate Bus Station serving as the city's main terminus for journeys out of town. Travel Dundee operates most of the intra-city services, with other more rural services operated by Stagecoach Strathtay. The city's two railway stations are the main Dundee (Tay Bridge) Station, which is situated near the waterfront and the much smaller Broughty Ferry Station, which is located to the eastern end of the city. These are complemented by the stations at Invergowrie, Balmossie and Monifieth. Passenger services at Dundee are provided by First ScotRail, CrossCountry and NXEC. There are no freight services that serve the city since the Freightliner terminal in Dundee was closed in the 1980s.
Dundee Airport offers commercial flights to London City Airport, Birmingham International Airport and Belfast City.
The airport is capable of serving small aircraft and is located 3 kilometres west of the city centre, adjacent to the Tay river. The nearest major international airport is Edinburgh Airport, to the south.
The nearest passenger seaport is Rosyth, about to the south on the Firth of Forth, although there are no current services from here.
Education
Schools
Schools in Dundee have a pupil enrollment of over 20,300. There are thirty-seven primary state schools and nine secondary state schools in the city. Of these, eleven primary and two secondary schools serve the city's Catholic population; the remainder are non-denominational. There is also one specialist school that caters for pupils with learning difficulties aged between five and eighteen from Dundee and the surrounding area.
Dundee is home to one independent school, the High School of Dundee, which was founded in the 13th century by the Abbot and monks of Lindores Abbey. The current building was designed by George Angus in a Greek Revival style and built in 1832-34. Early students included William Wallace (according to Blind Harry) and Hector Boece. The brothers James, John and Robert Wedderburn who were the authors of The Gude and Godlie Ballatis, one of the most important literary works of the Scottish Reformation, were also educated there. It was the earliest reformed school in Scotland, having adopted the new religion in 1554.
Colleges and universities
Dundee is home to two universities and a student population of approximately 17,000. The University of Dundee became an independent entity in 1967, after 70 years of being incorporated into the University of St Andrews during which time it was known initially as University College and latterly as Queen's College. Significant research in biomedical fields and oncology is carried out in the "College of Life Sciences". The university also incorporates the Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and Design and the teacher training college. In October 2005, the university became the first UNESCO centre in the UK; the centre will be involved in research regarding the management of the world's water resources on behalf of the United Nations. The University of Dundee was ranked third for social work, seventh for architecture and eighth for biological sciences. It was voted Scottish University of the Year by the Sunday Times 2006
The University of Abertay Dundee is a new university; created in 1994 under legislation granting the status of university to the Dundee Institute of Technology, which had been founded in 1888. The university has a computer games technology and design department that holds an annual computer game production competition called Dare to Be Digital. The university is also home to the Dundee Business School. In May 2002, University of Abertay Dundee was ranked number one in the United Kingdom for its investment in IT facilities by the Financial Times.
Dundee College is the city's umbrella further education college, which was established in 1985 as an institution of higher education and vocational training. The college is noted for its New Media centre and incorporates the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance. In a 2005 HMIE inspection, the college's teaching and learning process were rated "very good" in six of the seven subject areas and overall evaluations.
Religious sites
Christian groups
The Church of Scotland Presbytery of Dundee is responsible for overseeing the worship of 37 congregations in and around the Dundee area, 21 of which are in the city itself, with a further 5 in Broughty Ferry and Barnhill, although dwindling attendences have led to some of the churches becoming linked charges. Due to their city centre location, the City Churches, Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's) and the Steeple Church, are the most prominent Church of Scotland buildings in Dundee. They are on the site of the medieval parish kirk of St Mary, of which only the 15th century west tower survives. The attached church was once the largest parish church in medieval Scotland. Dundee was unusual among Scottish medieval burghs in having two parish kirks; the second, dedicated to St Clement, has disappeared, but its site was approximately that of the present City Square.
In the Middle Ages Dundee was also the site of houses of the Dominicans (Blackfriars), and Franciscans (Greyfriars), and had a number of hospitals and chapels. These establishments were sacked during the Scottish Reformation, in the mid-16th century, and were reduced to burial grounds, now Barrack Street and Howff burial ground respectively.
St. Paul's Cathedral is the seat of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Brechin. It is charged with overseeing the worship of 8 congregations in the city (9, including Broughty Ferry), as well as a further 17 in Angus, the Carse of Gowrie and parts of Aberdeenshire. The diocese is led by Bishop John Mantle.
St. Andrew's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld, led by Bishop Vincent Paul Logan. The diocese is responsible for overseeing 15 congregations in Dundee and 37 in the surrounding area. A recent influx of people from Poland has led to the Pallotines establishing a presence in the community, and they have taken up residence in the parish dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi.
There is a Methodist church in West Marketgait and the Baptists have churches in Ward Road and at Caird Avenue. The Congregationalists have a large Gothic church in Constitution Road, known as the 'Cathedral of Congregationalism'. Pentacostalists are well represented in the city, with the Assembly of God having two churches, one in Taylors Lane and one in Constitution Street, and the Elim Pentecostal Church having a church in Dudhope Crescent Road.
Non-mainstream Christian and Christian-related groups are also well represented in the city. The Salvation Army operate from churches in Marketgait and Menzieshill, and they run two homeless shelters in the city. The Unitarians have a church in Dudhope Street, while the Society of Friends meet at the Quaker Meeting Room in Whitehall Crescent. There is a Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Court Street, off Clepington Road, and the Dundee Christadelphians operate from a Meeting Room in Rattray Street off Ward Road, while the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a chapel in Bingham Terrace, near Arbroath Road, and another at Liff Road near the Kingsway.
Non-Christian groups
Muslims are served by the Dundee Islamic Society Central Mosque, a large mosque in Brown Street, built in 2000 to replace their former premises in Hilltown. There are also smaller mosques at Victoria Road and Dura Street and the Al Maktoum Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies which opened in 2000 in Blackness Road.
A recorded Jewish community has existed in the city since the 19th century. There is a small, inclusive orthodox synagogue at Dudhope Park was built in the 1960s, with the Hebrew Burial Grounds located three miles (5 km) to the east. Samye Dzong Dundee is a Buddhist Temple based in Reform Street. There is also a Hindu mandir and Sikh gurdwara that share a premises in Taylor's Lane situated in the West End of the city, and there is a second gurdwara in Victoria Road.
Culture
Dundee is home to Scotland's only full-time repertory ensemble, established in the 1930s. One of its alumni, Hollywood actor Brian Cox is a native of the city. The Dundee Repertory Theatre, built in 1982 is the base for Scottish Dance Theatre. Dundee's principal concert auditorium, the Caird Hall (named after its benefactor, the jute baron James Key Caird) regularly hosts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Various smaller venues host local and international musicians during Dundee's annual Jazz, Guitar and Blues Festivals. An art gallery and an art house cinema are located in Dundee Contemporary Arts, which opened in 1999 in the city's cultural quarter. McManus Galleries is a Gothic Revival-style building, located in Albert Square. It houses a museum and art gallery; exhibits include a collection of fine and decorative art, items from Dundee's history and natural history artefacts. Britain’s only full-time public observatory, Mills Observatory is located at the summit of the city's Balgay Hill. Sensation Dundee, is a science center with over 80 exhibits based on the five senses.
Dundee has a strong literary heritage, with several authors having been born, lived or studied in the city. These include A. L. Kennedy, Rosamunde Pilcher, Kate Atkinson, Thomas Dick, Mary Shelley, Mick McCluskey and John Burnside. The Dundee International Book Prize is a biennial competition open to new authors, offering a prize of £10,000 and publication by Polygon Books. Past winners have included Andrew Murray Scott, Claire-Marie Watson and Malcolm Archibald. William McGonagall, regularly cited as the "worlds worst poet", worked and wrote in the city, often giving performances of his work in pubs and bars. Many of his poems are about the city and events therein, such as his work The Tay Bridge Disaster.
Music
Popular music groups such as the 1970s soul-funk outfit Average White Band, the Associates, the band Spare Snare, Danny Wilson and the Indie rock band The View hail from Dundee. The View's debut album went to number one in the UK charts in January 2007. Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue and singer-songwriter KT Tunstall are former pupils of the High School of Dundee, although Tunstall is not a native of the city. The Northern Irish indie rock band Snow Patrol was formed by students at the University of Dundee, Brian Molko, lead singer of Placebo, grew up in the city. At the end of June, Dundee hosts an annual blues festival known as the Dundee Blues Bonanza.
Television and radio
Dundee is home to 1 of 11 BBC Scotland centres, located within the Nethergate Centre. The regional studios of STV are also located in Dundee and this is where the local news opt-out is broadcast from, within the North Tonight news bulletins shown on STV.
The city has three local radio stations. Radio Tay was launched on 17 October 1980. Radio Tay Split frequencies in January 1995 launching Tay FM for a younger audience and Tay AM playing classic hits. In 1999 Discovery 102 was launched, later to be renamed Wave 102.
Sports
Dundee has two professional football teams; Dundee and Dundee United who play at Dens Park and Tannadice Park, respectively. Their stadiums are closer together than any senior football club pair in the world. Dundee is one of only three British cities to have produced two European Cup semi-finalists (the others being Glasgow and London). Dundee lost to A.C. Milan in 1963 and Dundee United lost to A.S. Roma in 1984. In addition, Dundee reached the semi-finals of the forerunner to the UEFA Cup in 1968 and Dundee United were runners-up in UEFA Cup in 1987. Since 2004–05 season, Dundee United is the city's only Scottish Premier League (SPL) team. Dundee United are hoping to grab a Europa League spot while Dundee are battling for a SPL spot for next season. There are also six junior football teams in the area: Dundee North End, East Craigie, Lochee Harp, Lochee United, Dundee Violet and Downfield. In May 2005, two local teams—Tayport and Lochee United—qualified for the final of the Scottish Junior Cup at Tannadice Park, which was won by Tayport.
Dundee is home to the Dundee Texol Stars ice hockey team which plays at Dundee Ice Arena. The team participates in the Scottish National League (SNL) with the Dundee Tigers and the Northern League (NL) and in cup competitions. Dundee is home to the Dundee High School Former Pupils rugby club which plays in the First Division of the Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership. Furthermore, Harris Academy F.P.R.F.C, Panmure R.F.C. and Stobswell R.F.C. also operate in the city and participate in the Scottish Hydro Electric Caledonia League Division 2 (Midlands). Menzieshill Hockey Club are one of Scotland's premier field hockey teams and regularly represent Scotland in European competitions. The team plays in the European Indoor Cup A Division and has won the Scottish Indoor National League seven times in the last decade. An outdoor concrete skate park was constructed in Dudhope Park with money from the Scottish Executive’s Quality of Life Fund. Opened in 2006, the park was nominated for the Nancy Ovens Award.
See also
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