Location:
Queensferry is located 9 miles west of Edinburgh and is the location of the former ferry crossings of the Firth of Forth. The original docking points of the ferries can still be seen today, although a rail crossing was established in 1890 and the first road crossing in 1964. The Forth Bridge tag applies to the Rail Bridge only, followed by the Forth Road Bridge (1964) and finally the Queensferry Crossing (2017), also a road bridge.
Although the northern end of the road and rail bridges is at North Queensferry, the southern side is generally called Queensferry, only, probably as this is the larger community. While Queensferry is a vibrant community with many visitor attractions, North Queensferry is more prosaic with little by way of amenities or catering outlets. However, the access to the Forth Bridge proper is much better at the northern end and much more detail of the complex steelwork can be viewed from below.
Queensferry never fails to captivate, from heavy engineering to activities on water, from history to people watching, there is always something to take your attention. To top it all, the overall repertoire of Queensferry makes for memorable leisure time, along with countless photo opportunities. What more could you ask for?
Context:
The Firth of Forth is the estuary of the River Forth as it flows eastwards into the North Sea. The final crossings of the River by bridge comprise the three Forth bridges intrinsically associated with Queensferry. Between Queensferry and Queensferry North there are now three crossings:
The Forth Bridge (1890) for Rail traffic, followed by The Forth Road Bridge (1964) and the Queensferry Crossing (2017).
At the location of these crossings, the Firth of Forth is close to 2 miles wide and historically ferries operated between north and South Queensferry to enable transport of passengers and goods to cross. Due to the strength of the river’s currents and the susceptibility of the safety of the crossing to high winds, there were often delays in making the crossing. The only alternative crossing was by way of Stirling, some 36 miles upstream from Edinburgh.
If a journey from Edinburgh to Dunfermline is considered the overall distance via Stirling is 61miles. The same journey by means of the Forth Road Bridge (or by railway) is 17 miles. However, the Forth Road Bridge was not completed until 1964, some 28 years after the Kincardine Bridge, which was the 1st road crossing of the Firth of Forth, albeit 32 miles upstream of Edinburgh.
Before the opening of the Forth Bridge the only route to from London to Aberdeen was using the west coast line and travelling via Glasgow, with an overall journey time of 13 hours. From the outset, the new Forth Bridge at Queensferry carried the main line route from London to Aberdeen using the East Coast route.
The London & North Western / Caledonian Railway partnership, continued to operate out of London Euston, using the West Coast route. The new East Coast route was operated by the Great Northern, North Eastern and Northern British Railways Group, operating from London Kings Cross. The competitive situation can be imagined and soon daily newspaper articles covering the best journey times were being reported. The “Great North Race” stimulated improved times for the London to Aberdeen journey, which were finally reduced to 8.5 hrs at night and 10.5 hrs in the daytime, using the Forth Bridge.
In 2006 the Forth Road Bridge was beginning to have serious structural problems, related to excess traffic loading (rated at 30,000, the actual figure was often 60,000 vehicles per day). The operating life of the bridge was set at 120 years and this was being compromised, which led to the construction of the Queensferry Crossing, started in 2010 and brought into operation in 2017. The original Forth Road Bridge has been repaired and is now allocated to Public Transport crossings of the estuary. (There is no “Forth Rail Bridge”, the official titles are the Forth Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing, ask a local!)
For visitors, Queensferry is a captivating place with the three bridges, restaurants, shops, museums and accommodation. Being 9 miles from Edinburgh, there are many local visitors, as well as others travelling from further afield, often enticed by the images of the Forth Bridge, which is used as a tourist icon by VisitScotland Tracer.
Rick Spurgeon, 10-Jan-2021
Queensferry Contact Sheet for Reference:
