A city man has doffed his cap to an exhibition celebrating the history of Dundee’s iconic Tay Bridge.
The toll booth collector hat formed part of the uniform for bridge employees when a small charge was levied from drivers crossing between the city and Fife.
And the cap was only discovered last year when the owner, Harry Byers senior, died at the age of 83.
© DC Thomson
His son, Harry jr, decided to hand over the hat, which is in pristine condition, to the Wellgate Library for its collections.
The 60-year-old said: “My dad worked as a toll booth collector from about 1986 until he retired in 2001.
“He loved his job and would love meeting people and having a blether and would often chat away while a queue was building up.
“Dad thoroughly enjoyed working on the bridge and also wearing the uniform and was very proud. Back then he was working for the joint board which was made up from Tayside Regional Council and Fife Council.
“My mother Mary died aged 85 just after she had made up a memory box about my dad.
“So when we were clearing out the loft and their house in Monifieth I found the hat and it brought back a lot of memories. It was in such pristine condition that I didn’t want to throw it out.
“So I spoke with my nephew, who is Councillor Steven Rome, about what I could do with it and he told me about the collection of memorabilia at Wellgate Library as part of the reminisce exhibition.
“So I contacted them and they were delighted to accept the hat.”
Working on the bridge became something of a family affair for the Byers, with Harry jr also employed there.
He added: “I used to cross the bridge every day as a civil engineer with Tayside Regional Council and in a strange quirk I actually worked on repairs on the Tay Bridge.
“I spent two summers between 1985 and 1987 working on the bridge so that was quite strange in a way.
“But this hat is now really a piece of history and it has the council joint board badge on the front.
“I remember my dad telling me that whenever there was a problem on the bridge with traffic that he would urge other work mates to put their hat on because it gave that air of authority.
“And it is true whenever he went out to stop traffic because of any kind of incident on the bridge people would recognise that and acknowledge it.
“I am sure my dad would have been delighted to know that his hat is carrying on and bringing a lot of entertainment to people and even children when the collection is taken around the various schools in the area.”
