Carefully Selected Scottish Holiday Homes in Beautiful Locations
Forth bridges and the coast
Cowering beneath the Forth bridges is NORTH QUEENSFERRY, a small fishing village, which, until the opening of the road bridge, was the northern landing point of the ferry from South Queensferry and a nineteenth-century bathing resort. The cantilevered Forth Rail Bridge, built from 1883 to 1890 by Sir John Fowler and Benjamin Baker, ranks among the supreme achievements of Victorian engineering. Some 50,000 tons of steel were used in the construction of a design that manages to express grace as well as might. Derived from American models, the suspension format chosen for the Forth Road Bridge alongside makes an interesting modern complement to the older structure. Erected between 1958 and 1964, it finally killed off the 900-year-old ferry, and now attracts a heavy volume of traffic.
While the geometric girders of the rail bridge are one of the most spectacular sights in Scotland, particularly after dark now that they are floodlit, the road bridge which parallels it is grand but comparatively dull. The only way to cross the rail bridge is aboard a train heading to or from Edinburgh, though inevitably this doesn't allow much of a perspective of the spectacle itself. For the best panorama of the rail bridge, make use of the pedestrian and cycle lane on the east side of the parallel road bridge. For some background to the construction of the bridges, head to the Forth Bridges Exhibition (daily 9am-9pm; free), occupying a couple of rooms tacked onto the modern Queensferry Lodge Hotel, which has a series of storyboards, photographs, models and displays.
Tucked underneath the mighty geometry of the rail bridge is Deep-Sea World (July & Aug daily 10am-6.30pm; April-June, Sept & Oct daily 10am-6pm; Nov-March Mon-Fri 11am-5pm; £6.50), one of Scotland's most popular family attractions. Full of weird and wonderful creatures from sea horses to piranhas, the highlight is a huge aquarium that boasts the world's largest underwater viewing tunnel, through which you glide on a moving walkway while sharks, conger eels and all manner of fish from the deep swim nonchalantly past.
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