Jute and the Discovery

Dundee used to be a jute town. I had no idea. There were a lot of factories here processing the jute that was imported mainly from India and we went to see one of the few remaining factories that has been set up as a museum, the Verdant Works. It was excellent. Of course there were the usual stories about children and women being employed and the men out of work because they had to be paid higher wages but it was interesting to see the various processes involved and the areas that jute is used. Jute is still a big industry but in Calcutta where the Dundee jute barons set up factories.

And we also went to see over Scott's ship Discovery and the information centre next door. After years of neglect ship has been returned to Dundee where it was built, restored and the centre built. Mawson, Shackelton and Hurley are all names associated with the ship in the first voyage to the Antarctic or later voyages.