Forth Bridge

I was in Edinburgh for the first weekend of this April, and with the Sunday free decided to take the short trip out to visit the Forth Bridge. A cooperative effort between local government groups runs a circular walk, the Forth Bridges Trail, between Dalmeny and North Queensferry stations (on either side of the bridge), so I took the train from Edinburgh Waverley to Dalmeny and followed the trail, taking from about 9.30 in the morning to 1.30 in the afternoon (longer than I expected, but then I did dawdle).

Apart from a slight hiccup finding the start of the trail, it's mostly well-signposted throughout, with an online map and closer-scale maps at each point. The weather was warm and sunny almost the whole way, showing off the Firth of Forth gloriously (it is a beautiful body of water), and South Queensferry (the settlement south of the Firth, where Dalmeny station is) in particular is a sweet village, which I greatly enjoyed wandering through and reading the information boards. They mostly relate to the history and construction of the Forth Bridge - the trail includes a memorial to those who died during its construction - with a little entertaining local colour thrown in, and some detail on the other bridges across the Firth (the 20th century Forth Road Bridge and the 21st century Queensferry Crossing - obviously outside of the remit of the WHS). There are plenty of views of the Bridge from various angles along the way, and …

I took a regular 747 stagecoach bus straight from Edinburgh Airport that dropped me at the slip road to the south of old road bridge. I crossed the road under the pedestrian passage and climbed the viewpoint arriving there just after sunset. This is also the site where the Unesco plaque is displayed these days. 

I walked around admiring the bridge from several viewpoints in South Queensferry, then walked accross the old road bridge to the north side. Luckily the railway bridge is illuminated at night so it was still worthwhile to do this in the dark. On the north side one can appreciate the cantilever construction better as on the south side it starts further offshore.

After that, my phone battery died from the January winter cold and I took a train that took me back over the bridge to Edinburgh. 

I enthusiastically agree with Squiffy’s assessment that the best way to view the Forth Bridge is from the water. Both the Maid of the Forth and Forth Tours are operating again in the summer of 2021 after closing during lockdown. Having crossed the bridge many times on various trains in the past, one sunny August day I decided to head up to Edinburgh to get a better look. There are regular trains from Edinburgh Waverley northward that cross the Forth Bridge but typically only local services to Glenrothes with Thornton or Cowdenbeath stop at the two stations on either end of the bridge, Dalmeny and North Queensferry. I disembarked at Dalmeny, the station on the south side before the bridge, and from there followed a narrow path through the woods from the station that passed beneath the beginnings of the rail bridge then descended a steep set of stairs onto the waterfront. Of the two companies operating tours, I had picked the Maid of the Forth for no reason in particular but, as of August 2021, both required pre-booking online due to reduced occupancy on the boats. In future they may return to offering the option to buy tickets on the day, with both having ticket offices next to the pier from which both cruises depart. Reassuringly, the pier also houses an RNLI lifeboat station so, in the unlikely event of trouble on the water, help is not far away.

The Forth Bridge is an impressive sight from any …

I visited this WHS in July 2019 on several occasions before and after the 2019 WH meetup in Scotland. I visited from both sides of the Firth of Forth as well as from different vantage points such as the Forth Bridges Viewpoint (nothing special) and the view from the Forth Road Bridge.

For the latter, you have to sign in as a pedestrian or a cyclist and you can cross the road bridge with great views of the inscribed Forth Bridge. The true reason I visited the Forth Road Bridge was that I had read on the internet that a new UNESCO world heritage inscription plaque had been unveiled here. However, to my dismay, at the visitor centre I was informed that apparently UNESCO was against the plaque being put there and it was removed. Now there is another small UNESCO WHS plaque just behind the North Queensferry South Bay bus stop next to the inscribed bridge.

Designed by Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, construction of the Forth Bridge began in 1882 and it was officially opened in 1890. Creating the bridge consumed 55,000 tonnes of steel, 6.5 million rivets and 640,000 cubic feet of granite. There was also a human cost with at least 73 people known to have died while constructing the bridge and its approaches. When completed, Forth Bridge was the longest single cantilever railway bridge in the world. In 1963 the Forth Road Bridge was opened and it was the longest span …

The spume sprayed high up over the bow of the Maid of the Forth as she cut through the giddy swells of an incoming tide. Ahead, the choppy grey water and the blue cloud-flecked sky were delineated by a false horizon: the spans of the great Forth Bridge. There was a high Victorian arrogance to the way it marched across the firth, undaunted by the waters swirling around its piers. Yet as our boat slid into its shadow there was also beauty revealed in its criss-crossing web of steel girders, the matt red-brown of Morocco leather. I expected the clatter and flare of a surging steam train overhead, sparks flying, Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps leaping for his life. Instead the regular blunt-nosed two-carriage Scotrail commuter trains grumbled above me seemed out of place, unlovely caterpillars on the spreading boughs of a mighty Scottish oak.

I think Frederik Dawson’s comments below noting the journey from the 1781 Iron Bridge in Shropshire to the 1805 Pontycyllte Aqueduct in Wales to the 1890 Forth Bridge is very insightful. As I was born-and-bred in Manchester I have tended to see the so-called ‘Industrial Revolution’ as a story of manufacturing – ingenious solutions to make more stuff, quicker. But it was also a story of communication – ingenious solutions to get more stuff from one place to another, quicker. While the mills may still exist – vide Cromford or New Lanark on the UK’s List – the manufacturing solutions, the looms and …

Having arrived on the overnight train from London, I found myself with a couple of hours before I had to be at a meeting, as such it was time to get a proper tick and travel across the bridge, some seven years after first exploring the structure from South Queensferry. All in all it is an hour return from Waverly station to Inverkeithing Station.

I don’t have much else to add to the reviews already here, on the way north I got the excitement of crossing the bridge for the first time, however you can’t really see much of the bridge itself.

On the way back south I noticed that I was in the last carriage and there was a window facing backwards, as such I was treated to this rather wonderful view, which is probably the best you can get.

Site 6: Experience 5

One of the most outstanding of UK’s long list of World Heritage Site is that the list contained at least 3 bridges that represent the rapid development of technology on bridge construction after the Industrial Revolution, Ironbridge, Pontcysyllte and the Forth Bridge. To be honest when I visited those bridges in England and Wales, I felt a bit underwhelmed and disappointed, but when I saw the Forth Bridge and looked back to Ironbridge, I felt awed and admired how mankind can achieve.

On late afternoon, I drove to Queensferry on the way back from Falkirk, the gigantic bridge could be seen faraway. And when I was in the old city quarter, the bridge was like a giant protecting the whole city. The whole city was really quiet, only few people I saw, I parked my car and took many photos of the bridge. One local woman walked pass me while I set up my tripod and said to me with proud “Such a great sight, isn’t it?” and I wholeheartedly agreed with her.

Even though I spent my time in Queensferry to get the best shot of this iconic bridge for less than 30 minutes, I felt that the Forth Bridge is a worthwhile place to visit as one of Scottish landmarks and mankind engineering great milestones achievement and definitely a really good World Heritage Site.

From Llangollen, Wales, I moved on by train to Chester, England, and then to Edinburgh, Scotland. (I believe Chester should also be nominated for the WH status.)

I had crossed the Forth River by train on this bridge twice before but had not noticed the human creative genius, so I had to go back to check it out.

On a Tuesday I took a train from Edinburgh Waverley to Dalmeny and approached the Forth Bridge WHS on foot.

On High Street in South Queensferry, there was a cozy riverside Italian restaurant with tables by huge clear-glass windows, through which you could enjoy the unobstructed view of the bridge.

But I myself sat on a freezing bench in the photo for admiring the human genius and for trainspotting, too, on the bridge. But for some reason it was Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin that was ringing in my ears. :)

Also on High Street was a little museum called Queensferry Museum with exhibition on the bridge, but it was oddly closed on Tuesday (and Wednesday) when I was there.

There is not much to add to the reviews about the Forth Bridge - it's one of Scotland's most recognizable landmarks, and if you are lucky on your approach to Edinburgh Airport, you can already see it from the air. Many years ago, I took a bus from Edinburgh into the highlands that used the road bridge next to the rail bridge, but I didn't want to count this drive-by as a visited site, so I took the train to North Queensferry (that actually goes across the bridge) and walked down to its northern end to take some more photos. Then I took the next train back (they are very regular) to Dalmeny to view the southern part. On the northern end, you can get basically directly under the bridge and take nice close-up pics, while from the southern end, you have nicer panoramic views. This is an interesting, but not really world-class site that makes an easy excursion from Edinburgh and could also be combined with a boat ride under the bridge.

Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Kidnapped" ends with a daring ferry crossing across the Firth of Forth, allowing the hero, David Balfour, to confront his duplicitous uncle; if the events of the book had taken place 150 years later, David might have had an easier journey via the Forth Bridge. The cantilevered Forth Bridge is indeed an engineering marvel, and when it opened in 1890, provided the first alternative to a ferry crossing. The railway bridge was one of the first major structures in the United Kingdom to be built of steel, and its red-painted spans are well-recognized. I first saw the Forth Bridge during a tour of Scotland in 2009; after it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2015, I made sure to visit again that fall. I drove to downtown South Queensferry, outside Edinburgh, and parked near the water's edge not far from the base of the bridge. This vantage point provided a great view of the bridge, as well as rail traffic transiting the bridge. I'm excited to hear there are plans for a visitor center in North Queensferry with a bridge walk to South Queensferry, and may have to return one day when the project is completed.

Logistics: The Forth Bridge can be transited by rail by taking the train from Edinburgh to North Queensferry. To see the bridge up close, you can also park in either North or South Queensferry.

Before the year 2015 ends, I needed to go on a ‘mileage run’ to secure KLM Elite Status for next year. So I went on the lookout for a cheap return ticket to a nearby destination, including opportunities for an unvisited WHS of course. The choice fell upon Edinburgh – although I had visited the city before in 2001, I had at the time not been to the Forth Bridge. This 2015 addition to the List has many superlatives attached to it in its nomination file, such as “icon of Scotland”, “potent symbol of the Railway Age” and “unique milestone in the evolution of bridge and other steel Construction”.

The Bridge lies just a few km from Edinburgh Airport, and already good views of it can be had from the air. I had especially chosen a window seat, and though it was a bit hazy early morning the three big arches were clearly recognizable on the approach. December is not a particularly good month to plan a visit to the Forth Bridge: the Firth of Forth ‘cruises’, where you can admire the construction from the water, aren’t running past November. And since a few days an extra handicap was added: the Road Bridge next to it had to be closed off till the end of the year to all traffic. Normally you can walk on it or cruise by on a double-decker bus.

So that left me with only one option: take the train across the bridge. This …

I visited the Forth Bridge in 2007. The picturesque monument is stunning. My experience at the bridge was based on an afternoon visit to Queensferry, and travelling across the Firth of Forth itself several times. In addition, there is a pleasant view from Blackness Castle that really showcases the massive scale of the Forth Bridge. During these excursions, I was able to appreciate multiple views of the Forth Bridge, which enriched my appreciation of this iconic Scottish landmark.

I've read there are plans being implemented for a visitor center and platform. I do wish this was available in 2007, but I can't complain. I enjoyed my quite and serene stroll within the waterfront area of Queensferry, with the Forth Bridge towering above me. Perhaps the 2nd best way to visit the Forth Bridge is actually riding the train, since this engineering marvel is still very much in service, though pictures may be difficult!