River Tay - History

History

In the 19th century the Tay Rail Bridge was built by across the firth at Dundee as part of the East Coast Main Line, which linked Aberdeen in the north with Edinburgh and London to the south. The bridge, designed by Sir Thomas Bouch, officially opened in May 1878. On 28 December 1879 the bridge collapsed as a train passed over. The entire train fell into the firth, with the loss of 75 passengers and train crew. The event was commemorated in a poem, The Tay Bridge Disaster, written by William McGonagall, a notoriously unskilled Scottish poet. The critical response to his article was enhanced as he had previously written two poems celebrating the strength and certain immortality of the Tay Rail Bridge. A. J. Cronin's first novel, Hatter's Castle (1931), includes a scene involving the Tay Bridge Disaster, and the 1942 filmed version of the book recreates the bridge's catastrophic collapse.

The rail bridge was rebuilt, and in the 1960s the Tay Road Bridge was built.

During the winters of 2009-10 and 2010-11, the Tay froze over as far as the Tay Road Bridge, and icebergs remained for weeks despite a thaw.

Several places along the Tay take their names from it, or are believed to have done so:

  • Broughty - Bruach Tatha, Bank of the Tay
  • Taymouth - Near the mouth of Loch Tay.
  • Tayside - A former Scottish Government region

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