St Mary's is a resendential area of Dundee

Dundee

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

 located in the extreme northwest of the city, to the north of Ardler

Ardler

Ardler is an area in the north-west of Dundee, Scotland, built on land previously owned by Downfield Golf Club. The housing scheme was completed in the late 1960s and was synonymous with the six 17-storey multi-story blocks that formed the northern part of the scheme, and which were demolished...

 and west of Kirkton

Kirkton

Kirkton is the name of a number of places:*Kirkton, Ontario, Canada*Kirkton, Livingston, Scotland, United Kingdom*Kirkton, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom*Kirkton, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom...

. It is also bounded on the east by Downfield Golf Club, to the northwest by Clatto Country Park and to the north by Craigowl View.

The scheme was built on farmland during the late 1940s

1940s

File:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...

, 1950s

1950s

The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...

 and 1960s

1960s

The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...

 as part of the city's attempt to create new council housing for working class Dundonians following the end of the Second World War. All of the scheme's streets, bar two on the periphery (listed below) begin with the prefix 'St'.

The area suffers from the same social and economic problem that plague most of the outer housing schemes of Dundee, however the improvement of housing standards and the demolition of tower blocks in the Ardler/St Mary's region has improved the area.

Education

St Mary's was once served by two primary schools, Macalpine Primary on Macalpine Road, and Brackens Primary on Laird Street (incidentally, the two streets in the scheme without the prefix 'St'). However, Macalpine, the largest primary in the area, was demolished in 2008, Brackens several years earlier, and a new school, Craigowl Primary, has been built on the land once occupied by Brackens.

Transport

St Mary's is served mainly by the 1A, 1B, and 1C bus routes, as well as the 'circular' routes - 26's The terminus for the 1A and 1B routes is located at the north end of Laird Street.

Amenities

The scheme has recently witnessed the construction of a new, purpose built community centre on St Kilda Road (on 'The Green', land once occupied by St Kilda Park), which opened in 2008, costing £660,000. Residents of St Mary's have long complained of a lack of facilities for the area, and it is hoped this new centre will act as the hub of the community.

The Nine Maidens (Laird Street) is the one public house situated in St Mary's, although many of its residents also frequent the Admiral Bar and the Ardler Sports and Recreation Club (both to the south of the scheme on Camperdown Road), and Doc Stewart's (The Downfield Hotel) on Strathmartine Road. De Niro's fish and chip shop is located on St Giles Terrace, as are two convenience stores, a Post Office and a hairdresser. A Co-Op store is found on St Boswells Terrace.

The area is served, along with Ardler, by Dundee West FC, a football club for boys and girls ranging from eight to eighteen years old.

As previously stated, the scheme sits close to Clatto Country Park and Downfield Golf Course, but also Templeton Woods and Camperdown Park, picturesque settings enjoyed by generations of St Mary's residents. Situated on the extreme northwest of Dundee, the area's proximity to the open countryside affords its inhabitants the opportunity to experience a more natural, rural environment.

Famous Sons

Dundonian Author, Mick McCluskey was born in a tenement in St Mary and was schooled and apprenticed in the area. The esteemed poet and winner of the Witbread Prize for Poetry, Don Paterson

Don Paterson

Don Paterson, OBE, FRSL is a Scottish poet, writer and musician.-Background:Paterson was born in Dundee. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 1990 and his poem A Private Bottling won the Arvon Foundation International Poetry Competition in 1993. He was included on the list of 20 poets chosen for the...

 was raised in St Mary's, as was former Dundee footballer and current Dundee United coach Steve Campbell. MP, writer, broadcaster and one time Big Brother occupant George Galloway

George Galloway

George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...

once lived in the area.