Around Lochee
Lochee
This how the hungry city grows:
by swallowing our suburbs whole,
from Brig to High Street. Stones
dissolve into shadow, shops close
and reopen as memories. Roads
are diverted and everything flows
to outflank us, leaving an ox-bow
of we stranded who come and go
by day, our past like a jag of bone
lodged deep in the city’s throat.
(Poem by Andy Jackson)
Until the 19th century, Lochee was a thriving autonomous town near the estuary of the river Tay, in Scotland. An important centre for jute production, it attracted immigrants from Ireland and Italy. Its gradual absorption by the city of Dundee, with the diversion of the main roads from its High Street, and the decline of the jute industry since the beginning of the last century left it isolated and prey to severe economic and social impoverishment, which, however, has not affected its identity.
I worked and lived in the city of Dundee for over 20 years. The poem ‘Lochee’ by Andy Jackson, an award winning poet living near Dundee, was inspired by these photographs.
Catia Montagna Webpage: https://www.catia3690.com/en_gb/
