An appeal to pay for a memorial to the Tay Bridge disaster will be formally launched on Tuesday 131 years to the day since the bridge collapsed, plunging a train and its passengers into the estuary.
It is reckoned that 75 people died, although not all the bodies were found.
Descendants of some of the victims will be present at the launch, to be held in The McManus art gallery and museum in Dundee, along with civic representatives of Angus, Dundee and Fife.
Fraser Macpherson, a councillor for Dundee’s West End ward, is one of the appeal’s backers.
He said, “There has been substantial interest in finally having a monument to the people who died when the bridge collapsed during a winter storm in 1879. Over the past year a trust has been established to move this project forward, under the enthusiastic chairmanship of Stuart Morris, son of the Laird of Balgonie.
“The trust has had great support from both the Fife and Dundee sides of the Tay and is now in a position to launch the public appeal for funds to create a lasting and fitting monument as a proper memorial to the victims. We know it will require a significant amount of funding, which is why we are launching the public appeal.
“The exact form of the memorial is under discussion and we are keen to hear the views of the public.”
The bridge, designed by Thomas Bouch, took six years to build and was officially opened in September 1877. It stood for little more than two years before its destruction, which was immortalised in verse by Dundee poet William McGonagall.