Description: Tayside Dundee branded itself as the "city of discovery (or Discovery?)" and the attraction complex called the Discovery Point holds a prime spot on Dundee's riverside, not far from the Tay Bridge, a stone's throw from the train station and just next to the main city Leisure Centre and pool complex.
The Discovery Point consists of the modern (but built with turn-of-the last century references) rotunda of the Point and the RRS Discovery itself, moored just by the side of the building and covered by the same entrance ticket. "Discovery" is known as Captain Scott's ship and thus is bound to bring to mind associations with the doomed South Pole expedition, but as this was actually undertaken on a different ship altogether, Terra Nova, a surprisingly small amount of space is devoted to it (and frankly, is all the better for it).
The vast bulk of the Discovery Point displays are concerned with the vessel itself and with the British National Antarctic Expedition for which Discovery was built and which took place between 1901 and 1904.
Organised under the auspices of RGS and the Royal Society, the expedition set out to conduct scientific research and geographical exploration in what was then uncharted area. It was certainly a landmark in the history of British exploration of the Antarctic. The expedition was hailed as an immense success, despite the fact that a relief mission was needed to free Discovery from the ice and it started the heroic age of polar exploration, in many ways embodying all that was best and worst about the British approach to such ventures.
The exhibition in the rotunda is excellent: one can sometime doubt the number of stars awarded to attractions by Visit Scotland, but in this case the five-star rating is very justified. The displays combine modern multimedia and hands-on displays with more old-fashioned display-case-based parts as well as life-size-models of people and objects.
The history of the Discovery is told on a broad background of the Dundee's shipping and whaling industry, and the realities of the existence on-board are brought to life by displays that show and describe the food, the lodgings, the clothes and similar.
There is a rather revisionist attitude to Captain Scott nowadays, and his people-management and leadership skills have been frequently questioned. The Discovery Point displays manage to track a middle route, without making a particular judgement: areas of conflict and Scott's pig-headedness are shown, but not particularly stressed and one gets a feeling that both the man himself and his opponents get a fair hearing.
A lot of space is devoted to scientific research that was raison d'etre for the Discovery expedition, and the individual scientists as well as their observation results are presented, with additional displays devoted to the current state of the knowledge about the Antarctic.
The history of the Discovery post-Scott expedition is also covered (she served as a cargo ship and then returned to her role as a research ship in the Antarctic until the 1930's).
The ship itself is moored in a purpose-built dock and is very worth visiting: gleaming brass and wonderful wood outside, interiors from the engine room to the galley, mess and the quarters of the crew and the expedition members: in fact you can still dine in the officers mess on Discovery and buy ship-branded port - it's available for private hire, though I am not sure whether seal steak or ptarmigan roasts feature on the menu).
In addition to the main museum, there is a gift shop (OK-ish) and a cafe (quite good actually, with great photos on the walls).
All in all, a very good attraction indeed, and much more engaging than somebody not particularly interested in Captain Scott would find interesting. Small children should probably skip the audio-visual (especially the 20 minutes long film), but otherwise anybody from 3 year olds to grandparents should be educated and entertained.
Opening Times
April – October Mon – Sat - 10am-6pm (Sun 11am)
November – March
Mon – Sat - 10am – 5pm (Sun 11am)
Closed 25th & 26th December and 1st & 2nd January
last admission 1 hour prior to closing
Ticket Pricing
Adult GBP 7.50
Concession/OAP GBP 5.75
Child GBP 4.50
Family (2 adults and 2 children) GBP 20
under fives free
Every visitor who buys a ticket can get a free annual pass - handy if you live locally.
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