HBM from Broughty Ferry

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.