McManus Galleries Dundee

Living and working in a city often means you forget to stop and take in the ‘tourist’ amenities on your doorstep. In this case it had been many years since we’d been inside Dundee’s McManus Galleries.

The McManus Galleries is one of Dundee’s most impressive buildings, built in a gothic revival style in the very centre of the town.

The building was shut to the public for 5 years while a multi-million pound redevelopment was undertaken, and it opened last year with a new cafe, creative learning suite etc.

Today we decided that it would be a lovely way to spend Sunday afternoon with Sofia and her Gran and Grandpa.

We had lunch in the cafe which was very pleasant, with a decent menu for a lunchtime snack and then set off around the various exhibits.

In one of the galleries Sofia was able to take part in some craft activities, relating to the current ‘Northern Soul’ exhibition and made a paper record.

This has required a fair amount of explaining in this digital age of mp3s and iPods – and made us feel quite old!

Well done Dundee, with this refurbishment, the new Camperdown Zoo, the new V&A and the longer term plan for the waterfront I expect we will get the title of European City of Culture again in the future.