Angus & dundee
 Dundee is Scotland's fourth biggest city and is sometimes referred to as the largest village in the world. This title has, no doubt been gained by the friendliness of the natives and the fact that, when you walk down the High Street, everyone seems to know one another. Dundee's river-front situation is noted for its fine views over the Tay to Fife and an exceptionally rich hinterland of mountains, moorland and farms.
Through the past two centuries, Dundee has been a working-class town with large numbers employed in the jute and textile industries. This industrial base has now all but disappeared leaving the town with one of the highest rates of unemployment in Scotland. Despite efforts to brush up its image and attract more inward investment, recent militant action and the departure of several large companies from the industrial scene is about all that has attracted media attention. Despite this, the city retains a certain earthy quality that visitors seem to enjoy.
A walk north along Reform Street brings you to another group of distinctive buildings, the most impressive of which is the Victorian McManus Galleries containing the city's principal museum and art gallery. The museum building, a splendid Gothic showpiece, contains an over-all impression of the area's history from the prehistoric Picts to the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879. There is a re-creation of an old pub with its original mahogany bar as well as insights into the town's social fabric. Upstairs, the Albert Hall contains sculptures, silver and displays of furnishings while paintings from Dutch, Finish, French and British artists as well as frequent contemporary exhibitions are found in the Victoria Gallery. The Gallery Café is found on the lower level and is good for a morning or afternoon snack but be wary at lunch time when, judging by the wait to be served, the staff seem to be taking their lunch break also.
The dark-red sandstone building opposite the gallery is the headquarters of the D.C. Thomson empire, publishers of universally cherished titles such as the Sunday Post, People's Friend, the Scot's Magazine, the Dandy and the Beano comics and many more popular journals. Across the road is Dundee's oldest burial ground, the Howff, a fascinating place to stroll through if you enjoy tombstones from as far back as 1567. The Barrack Street Museum, in sight to the west, specialises in natural history.
One of the most interesting buildings that survived the many conflicts of Dundee's past is the Old Steeple or St Mary's Tower just west of the City Square, reached by following Barrack Street south through the Overgate. This fifteenth-century tower is a fragment of the largest medieval church in Scotland, burnt down in 1841. The City Churches now surrounding the tower, are nineteenth century.
For an overall view of the city and its surrounds, it is possible to drive 571 feet (174m) above sea level to the top of a volcanic plug, the Dundee Law. In 1831, Scotland's first passenger railway, the Dundee to Newtyle line, ran through a tunnel under this hill, now blocked off. Balgay Hill is clearly seen from here and is the site for Britain's only permanently manned public astronomical telescope at Mills Observatory.
The Tay Rail Bridge, which you can clearly appreciate from the Law, was built between 1871 and 1878, designed by Sir Thomas Bouch. The first narrow, poorly designed structure collapsed in 1879 giving rise to the death of 90 passengers on board a train which happened to be crossing at the time. The second and existing construction is 2 miles (3 1/2km) long supported by 86 piers. The stumps of the original bridge can still be seen alongside the present piers.
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