Green Circular: Broughty Ferry - Westfield Road
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The Green Circular is a long established walking and cycling route which circumnavigates Dundee. This 26 mile long leisure route links the city’s parks and places of interest.
The "Dundee Cycle Map" which maps the Green circular is available free from libraries, visitor attractions and council premises.
For a route guide and further information visit www.dundeecity.gov.uk/outaccess
BROUGHTY FERRY
In the 1780's it was recorded that there were three line fishing boats and that the village consisted of only a few fishermen's huts centred on what is now the Gray Street area. By 1855 there were 76 fishermen in the Ferry and by 1880, 180. However this was the peak of the Broughty Ferry fishing industry. Technology brought new changes to which the Broughty fishermen failed to adapt. Steam trawlers swept the sea of fish quantities which the wind driven Broughty boats could not match. Regular train services opened up the market to Dundee and to fishing ports further afield. With a a lost market, the fleet declined drastically until by 1948 there were only four fishermen employed full time in the industry.
It was these very changes in technology, however, that also led to the expansion of Broughty Ferry.
At the beginning of the 19th Century, plans were drawn up by Charles Hunter. These followed the gridiron pattern favoured at the time for a planned settlement to develop Broughty Ferry north and east of the fisher folk area centred on Fort Street and Gray Street. Contemporary events came into play in Hunters design, naming two streets after battles of the Napoleonic Wars- Fort Aboukir Street and St. Vincent Street.
At this point regular communication with Dundee was maintained by coach service which ran between the Dundee P.O. and the Eagle Inn in Broughty Ferry which ran three times a day. There was also a regular steamboat service, with special trips on a Sunday for bathers and day trippers. By 1828 Broughty Ferry was already renowned as a coastal resort, evidence of excellent sea-bathing dating back to the 1790's Old Statistical Account.
However, it was the railway which really caused the expansion and development Broughty Ferry. In 1838 the Dundee and Arbroath Railway opened. Skirting the existing settlement, the railway encouraged those, who could afford it, to leave the grime and dirt of Dundee, for the the clean healthy air of 'the Ferry'. Trains ran every hour and the journey took 15 minutes. Fares were 6d for 1st, 4d for 2nd and 3d for 3rd class. Dundee had its first commuters.
The 1856 Dundee Directory listed Broughty Ferry for the first time. Inhabitants included notaries, flax and jute merchants, fish owners and one house painter. However it wasn't just the well-to-do who lived in the Ferry, for the 1841 census listed fishermen, labourers, gardeners, weavers, servants, shopkeepers etc.
As the railway system expanded, Broughty Ferry's fame as a holiday resort spread and by the end of the Victorian period, visitors flocked to the town from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Dumbarton for their annual holiday.
In the summer of 1912, there were 5,702 visitors in addition to day-trippers. The Dundee, Broughty Ferry and District Tramways Company opened in the area from 1905 thus increasing cheap travel opportunities for the people in Dundee.
Why did they come? Well, there were hackney cabs and pleasure boats, bathing machines, roundabouts and amusements. Brass bands played and Minstrel and Pierrot shows took place. Guide books and newspapers were full of praise for Broughty Ferry, one going so far as to describe it as "The Brighton of the North".
Dundee looked on Broughty Ferry with annoyance. The corporation provided water, tramways, parks, museums, baths, wash-houses, libraries, hospitals, fire brigades, slaughter houses, fish, and meat and fruit markets. The people of Broughty Ferry used them, but it was the people of Dundee who paid for them.
As a result in 1913 Dundee promoted a private Bill in parliament, the Dundee Boundaries Bill- the object being to make Broughty Ferry part of Dundee- so that the Broughty Ferrians could pay Dundee rates. The argument used by Dundee was that the growth of Broughty Ferry had resulted from its closeness to Dundee and to the commercial and industrial growth of the city.
Dundee produced a variety of statistics to back its claim including- on one day, 14th June 1912- 2,200 people out of 2,674 votes travelled to work in Dundee on the train service.
Dundee's claim fitted in with the general political feeling of the period. The last liberal government was in power. It had instituted a variety of social reforms paid for by those who could afford to pay. This was exactly what Dundee was attempting to do.
After two long enquiries in 1913 Dundee took over Broughty Ferry, making her the 3rd largest city in Scotland, with a population of 176,064.
At that point in time it was claimed that Broughty Ferry had more millionaires to the square mile than any town of its size in Britain.
Whilst in the Ferry make sure you also check out Old Ferry Walkway by Spacepunk (GC1PYKG).
The cache is a magnetic film canister.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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