SCOTLAND

Landform creates a visual link between the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art's Modern One building and Modern Two, which is situated directly across the road. The work is a combination of sculpture, garden and land art: a striking backdrop to events at the Gallery and a platform for viewing the gallery's outdoor sculpture collection. The shapes of Landform are inspired by nature, where they can be seen in waves, clouds and geological formations. The work also has a social function, as visitors can walk and sit on the terraced paths. Landform won the Gulbenkian Prize for Museum of the Year, 2004. Artist: Charles Jencks (American) Title: Landform Date created: 2001 Object type: Sculpture Commissioned 2001 I loved this living sculpture, and would have stayed and explored a lot longer, but I had two other people and a dog to consider. Must visit again in better weather and not on a weekend when there were lots of families with children enjoying the area.

Master of the Universe is based on a famous drawing by William Blake, which shows the scientist Isaac Newton. Paolozzi used the same pose as in the Blake drawing, but has mechanised the figure. The sculpture was made by cutting up and reassembling a plaster model, as the artist frequently does in his later work. A similar but much larger sculpture can be seen in the courtyard of the British Library in London. However while the figure in this sculpture is blind, the London version was given the same eyes as Michelangelo's David. Artist: Eduardo PaolozziScottish (1924 - 2005) Title: Master of the Universe Date created: 1989 Materials: Bronze The final PiP is 'Reclining Figure' by the iconic Henry Moore

Master of the Universe is based on a famous drawing by William Blake, which shows the scientist Isaac Newton. Paolozzi used the same pose as in the Blake drawing, but has mechanised the figure. The sculpture was made by cutting up and reassembling a plaster model, as the artist frequently does in his later work. A similar but much larger sculpture can be seen in the courtyard of the British Library in London. However while the figure in this sculpture is blind, the London version was given the same eyes as Michelangelo's David.

In the background is the V&A art gallery Dundee, and the Tay Road bridge over to the Kingdom of Fife. Over to the right is the recently opened Urban Beach which is a glorified sandpit in my opinion. There were a couple of children playing in it, but most were playing in the fountains behind the 'beach'. www.dundee.com/news/urban-beach-opens

The Tay Road Bridge crosses the Firth of Tay, linking Newport in NE Fife with the City of Dundee. At 2250m (1.4 miles) in length, this was the longest road bridge in the UK when it was opened on 18th August 1966 by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900 - 2002). It carries the A92 Trunk Road into the heart of Dundee, replacing a ferry service affectionately known as the Fifies. The bridge consists of 42 spans with a navigation channel located closer to the Fife side. During the construction of the bridge, 140,000 tons of concrete, 4,600 tons of mild steel and 8,150 tons of structural steel was used. The bridge has a gradient of 1:81 running from 9.75 m (32.0 ft) above sea-level in Dundee to 38.1 m (125.0 ft) above sea-level in Fife. The bridge took 3½ years to build at a cost of approximately £6 million. When I was a child living in St.Andrews (Fife) in the 1940s and early 50s, we used to travel by bus to Newport and then cross on the ferry into Dundee, either to visit relatives or to attend the dental hospital there. The biggest excitement was when the paddle steamer was working and my Dad used to take me into the engine room to watch the massive pistons working the ferry. Three vessels operated the service, namely the B. L. Nairn (a paddle steamer built in 1929); the Abercraig and the Scotscraig (diesel powered, fitted with Voith Schneider propellers and built in the Caledon Shipyard in Dundee). The paddle steamer was only used when the other ferries needed maintenance. www.britishpathe.com/video/tay-bridge-has-royal-opening en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_Road_Bridge When the road bridge was opened the paddle steamer was scrapped while the Scotscraig and Abercraig ended their days in Malta. The road bridge is convenient but the magic is lost. These days we still visit Dundee as one of my granddaughters is now working as a dentist there, having studied at the aforementioned Dental hospital.

www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=150043477328800 Slowly growing the forest with a 171 trees donated . Thank you for all you support for STORM "Vision Mechanics created the STORM grove to mark the amazing journey of a 10m Sea Goddess who walked across Scotland. Thousands of families came to see her, many more watched her journey online. Every tree planted holds a promise to tackle climate change and re-wild Scotland. Join this project to plant trees and watch them grow into a beautiful forest. Let's grow a future for our children ."

www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=150043477328800 Slowly growing the forest with a 171 trees donated . Thank you for all you support for STORM "Vision Mechanics created the STORM grove to mark the amazing journey of a 10m Sea Goddess who walked across Scotland. Thousands of families came to see her, many more watched her journey online. Every tree planted holds a promise to tackle climate change and re-wild Scotland. Join this project to plant trees and watch them grow into a beautiful forest. Let's grow a future for our children ."

From here one gets a view of the Tay Road Bridge in the distance. When I was a child living in Fife in the 1940s and early 50s, and requiring dental treatment in Dundee at the Dental Hospital, I had to catch a bus from St.Andrews to Newport Fife, then take the ferry over the river. I then walked to the Dental Hospital, all by myself from the age of eight years old. One would never allow this in this day and age. The Tay Ferries, known locally as the "Fifies" they were the main means of crossing the Tay with a vehicle until the opening of the Tay Road Bridge. The first regular scheduled steam powered ferry was the "Union" which started service in 1821 and ran six days a week with up to 11 crossings per day. Only a short while later in 1839 pleasure trips over the river became available and were an affordable day out for many Dundonians working in the City industries. The ferries could typically take around 10 vehicles at a time. Today the Tay Road Bridge is crossed by 26,000 vehicles per day. The same day as the Tay Road Bridge was opened on August 18th 1966, the Ferry "Scotscraig" made it's final crossing.

Sculpted by Angela Hunter these five penguins, located on the wall of the Steeple Church, have become a firm favourite with the Dundee public and are Dundee’s answer to Glasgow’s Duke of Wellington statue. I hardly think that this is a fair comparison. ;-) The penguins are regularly dressed to join in city occasions from graduation to charity fundraising events and from Christmas celebrations to Royal visits. Dundee has actually been associated with penguins for a long time – hence the group of them getting some exercise in the city centre. www.facebook.com/DundeePenguins You’ll perhaps know a bit about the RRS Discovery, the beautiful ship now located at Dundee’s waterfront. Its first ever mission was to the British National Antarctica – which just happens to be, the home of the penguin.

Looking over the Firth of Forth towards the Kingdom of Fife. I'm out all day today, but will visit this evening,

Robert Burns’s The Twa Dogs is a tale of those who have and those who have not. The sculptor is Sally Matthews. In Burns’s poem, Luath, his beloved collie, has a conversation with a Newfoundland, Caesar, in which they discuss their owners. A social satire on wealth, poverty and class, Burns uses Caesar and Luath to pointedly examine society’s inequalities. Caesar the gentleman’s dog is going to be sat on the bench looking down at Luath, even though “nae pride had he”. He has a brass collar with a lock and his name engraved on it. Luath is on the ground beneath him, looking keen and faithful.

There were two herons on the weir. This photo shows the one that seemed to be more determined to catch a fish.