<<< 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 >>>
Transport - Hansom Cabs in Eagle Inn Close - Ref: WC1016
The Hansom cab was an extremely popular means of transport in Dundee at the turn of the 20th century. Designed by Joseph Hansom, the carriage allowed passangers to see where they were going by positioning the driver high at the rear.
In Dundee, W. P. Robertson, who rose from a worker to the owner of one of the city's most successful coach-hiring companies, was a pioneer of the rubber-tyred version, which offered slightly more comfort, albeit on bumpy cobbled streets.
The location chosen by Alexander Wilson for his photograph is more problematic. Although there was (and still is) a public house in Broughty Ferry called the Eagle Inn, no close of that name has been locatedeither there or in Dundee.