Forth Bridges, Scotland

The beautiful Forth Rail and Road Bridges span the River Forth, to the north of Edinburgh, the Capital City of Scotland. They are among the most famous bridges in the world. When I started teaching in Dunfermline, Fife, we lived in the very small town of Kinross, which lies on the banks of Loch Leven. It was a gorgeous place to live and because we were only 15 miles (approximately 24 Km) from Edinburgh, we often travelled across both the road and rail bridges to visit the theatre, concerts, art galleries and to go shopping. I have taken many photographs of the bridges over the years, but most of them are on 35mm film, somewhere in my mountain of filmstrips, still to be relocated and scanned! The following photographs are a mix of shots taken with my old Canon EOS 10D and scanned film. I hope you like them!

The Forth Rail Bridge (Cantilever Design) - Completed 4th March 1880!

Forth Rail Bridge Detail!

Forth Rail Bridge behind North Queensferry Houses!

Forth Road Bridge (Suspension Design) - Completed 4th September, 1964!

Forth Road Bridge - Early Winter's Morning!

Although you cannot tell from this set of photographs, the bridges lie side by side between the riverside villages of North and South Queensferry. The Forth Rail Bridge, completed in 1880, is still fully operational to this day, and still has a long future in front of it. The Forth Road Bridge has not been so lucky, and is under such stress because of the gradual increase in road traffic in this country, that the foundations for a new, third, Forth Bridge are being excavated as I write this post!

I hope you like the photographs of the Forth Bridges and thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you will visit again!

Cheers

John

18 thoughts on “Forth Bridges, Scotland”

Todd Materazzi Photography on April 28, 2012 at 9:05 pm said:

John

All of these are gorgeous. How massive this span of bridge is, and the precious cargo it holds and protects. I hope it’s well maintained for sure!

Sincerely
Todd

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- johnstirlingphotography on April 28, 2012 at 9:30 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Todd! Cor..you were quick off the mark! I just published this post and there you were!
  
  Cheers, Todd!
  
  John
  
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Bob Zeller on April 28, 2012 at 10:00 pm said:

Bridges always fascinate me: Great post, John.

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- johnstirlingphotography on April 29, 2012 at 7:00 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Bob! Hey, I got your last competition right! No books either! Just from looking at and reading your posts!
  
  Cheers
  
  John
  
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  - Bob Zeller on April 29, 2012 at 9:59 pm said:
    
    Hey, congrats, John. Great to hear it. Hope you do well on this weeks quiz.
  - johnstirlingphotography on April 30, 2012 at 12:23 pm said:
    
    Haven’t a clue, Bob! Going to have to research it!
    
    Cheers
    
    John
tearoomdelights on April 29, 2012 at 7:12 am said:

I love these bridges, having crossed them both many times. I lived in Dunfermline for a while and commuted on the train across the rail bridge to work in Edinburgh. I always looked forward to the crossing, even though I did it 10 times a week! I’m looking forward to seeing the design of bridge no.3.

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- johnstirlingphotography on April 29, 2012 at 7:02 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Lorna – I worked at McLean Primary School for 4 years and lived in Kinross. Penny’s parents still live in Kingseat, so we are up there quite often! Yes, I have seen the pile drivers at work in the river but no plans as yet!
  
  Cheers
  
  John
  
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Xandré Verkes on April 29, 2012 at 7:30 am said:

LOVE this post!!! I’ve seen many of these bridges (on photo of course!!), and yet, I still can’t get enough of it!!! Thanks for sharing this John!!! 🙂 **

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- johnstirlingphotography on April 29, 2012 at 7:02 pm said:
  
  I hoped you would like them, Xandre, you being a Civil Engineer! Thanks!
  
  Cheers
  
  John
  
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H2O by Joanna on April 29, 2012 at 11:46 am said:

Fantastic shots of a beautiful bridge! your composition is awesome John!

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- johnstirlingphotography on April 29, 2012 at 7:03 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Joanna! I just point and shoot what appeals to me – nothing special!
  
  Take care!
  
  John
  
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zelmare on April 29, 2012 at 9:27 pm said:

Beautiful photos John! 🙂

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- johnstirlingphotography on April 30, 2012 at 12:22 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Zelmare!
  
  Cheers
  
  John
  
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Inspired and pretty on May 1, 2012 at 1:58 am said:

I love bridges, their structures and designs and I have no preferences over the old or new ones, they are all beautiful. I enjoy crossing these giants and I’m not afraid of heights ! Last summer I crossed the Brooklyn bridge on foot and it was magical !
Beautiful shots John, I would love to see these bridges for real !

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- johnstirlingphotography on May 2, 2012 at 7:22 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Jocelyne – I love bridges too!
  
  Cheers
  
  John
  
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firasz on May 5, 2012 at 7:25 am said:

The first photo give me a great impression of something giant and massive robotic animal-like figure walking!

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drawandshoot on May 30, 2012 at 12:26 am said:

Hi John, these bridge images are really beautiful!
Lovely compositions and light. I’m not sure how I missed these? I just subscribed to email updates again, so hopefully I will get your notifications.

Hope all is well! Cheers, Karen

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John Stirling Photography