Home Report Tayport

Tayport is a town in Fife of some 3,800 residents. While the town comes under the Fife council area, it is primarily a commuter town for Dundee, from which it is about 4 miles from. Tayport lies almost on the most northeastern tip of Fife. To the north, it looks across the River Tay to Broughty Ferry and Broughty Castle. The town was originally called Ferry Port na Creige as there was some kind of ferry service established for travel across the Tay, believed to be in prior to the 12th century. The original name persisted until the 1850s when the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway Company established a railway service running from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. This passed through the then named Ferry Port na Creige. They used the simpler name of Tayport for the town. This less cumbersome name soon caught to become the official one of the town.

As mentioned, most residents in Tayport commute to work in Dundee given how close the city is. There is no railway line for the town, but it is not crucial at present. The proximity of the town to the B946 road and then Tay Road Bridge makes travel to Dundee possible in less than 10 minutes by car. Bus services are well established for public transport users and travel time isn’t much longer.

Residents in Tayport benefit from their proximity to Dundee and all the amenities therein. However, the town has some notable things of its own to mention. There are several cafes and pubs, local shops, a caravan park, tennis club, bowling club, and an 18-hole golf course – Scotscraig Golf Club – which is the 13th oldest golf club in the world. Tayport while being so close to Dundee has a countryside feel with large areas of parkland like the East and West Common. The fantastic Tentsmuir Forest and nature reserve is nearby and is a haven for wildlife and ideal for outdoor pursuits like walking and cycling. Inside the nature reserve is an area of forested dunes measuring about 3 km east to west and 6 km north to south, edged by wide sands that continue all the way round to the mouth of the River Eden. Bottlenosed dolphins can be seen here and in the Tay from March to September, and can even be observed up close in the local harbour. Many a visitor has come to the town just for this alone as it is quite a sight and wonderful experience.

In terms of local schooling then, Tayport has just one primary school; Tayport Primary School. Tayport comes under the catchment area of the High School of Dundee which is just over the Tay Road Bridge.