My first blog post of 2022 is a reflection of somewhere I visited last year. During 2021 I visited Scotland more times than I have previously, and one place (or piece of architecture) has stood out. The Forth Bridge. The only way I can describe it is simply stunning.
The Forth Bridge crosses the Firth of Forth providing a rail link with Edinburgh and Fife, and further north into Scotland. Before the bridge, the main method of transport to cross the Forth was ferries. Tunnels were considered as a crossing option as early as 1806, however due to the popularity of rail, passengers would use trains to travel to the Forth, board a ferry and then use another train to continue their journey. By 1863 the railway companies launched a project to construct a bridge to cross the Forth.
Construction of the bridge started in 1882 and was completed by the end of the decade, with bridge officially opened on 4 March 1890 by the Duke of Rothesay who would later become King Edward VII in 1901. 73 people lost their lives constructing the bridge and there are memorials on both sides of the bridge to those who lost. The memorials are cast bronze and were unveiled in 2012 by the First Minister of Scotland at the time, Alex Salmond. There is also a memorial by outside a gift shop in Queensferry that was designed and created by Hamish Gilchrist of Edinburgh Telford College in 2007.
Since the construction of the rail bridge two more bridges have been constructed to cross the Forth. The Forth Road Bridge opened in 1964 and at the time was the longest suspension bridge in the world outside of the United States. Structural issues discovered in 2004 and increasing vehicle figures of over 65,000 a day meant a second road bridge was required. The Queensferry Crossing opened in 2017 to carry the M90 motorway. Both bridges were opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 4 September, exactly 53 years apart. The 1964 Forth Road Bridge is still in operation for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. The three bridges crossing the Forth show the best of architecture from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Maintaining the Forth Bridge has an interesting history. "Painting the Forth Bridge" is local term to describe a never ending task as it was believed that it took so long to paint the bridge that it required a repaint as soon as the previous paint was finished. In 2011 the bridge was repainted in a coating designed to last 25 years, thus bringing to the end the need and belief that the bridge required constant painting.
The three bridges are well worth a visit, and North Queensferry and Queensferry are very charming places to visit. To celebrate the centenary of the bridge in 1990, a mosaic created by local residents was unveiled on platform 2 at North Queensferry station depicting the bridge and the local area. The station still retains its original wooden building from 1890. There is a lovely display in the waiting room on platform 1 with memorabilia and a log book that I had to sign. The village of North Queensferry was originally served by the station at North Queensferry Pier as part of the railway roll on/roll off ferry service before the bridge.
I have been fortunate enough to visit some of the country's best railway features, from Ribblehead Viaduct, to the stunning Wemyss Bay and of course the fantastic features of the London Underground. The Forth Bridge is up there as one of THE places anybody interested in transport should visit. I would also like to thank my Girlfriend Emily for kindly accompanying on visiting the bridges, including driving over the Queensferry Crossing.
