CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

The Oxcars lighthouse in the Firth of Forth is situated in the shipping channel between the islands of Inchcolm  and Inchmickery to guide ships safely up the Forth river towards Rosyth, Grangemouth and the oil and gas terminals closer to the islands. The lighthouse was built in 1886 by Thomas and David Stevenson and became the first automated lighthouse in Scotland when the two lighthouse keepers were withdrawn in 1894.   The light was operated using gas delivered weekly from Granton Gasworks on the mainland and controlled by a clockwork timer to turn the light as required. An attending boatman delivered the gas and wound up the timer each week. The images here were taken from the Maid of the Forth during the trip to Inchcolm last Saturday.  The shot at the top of the page was taken during the trip to the island and is looking east down the coast towards East Lothian. The second shot was taken on the trip back and shows the Port of Leith in the background...

On Saturday we headed to Inchcolm island to visit the Abbey and the WWII ruins. However the trip on the Maid of the Forth started from  Hawes Pier in South Queensferry, which is in the shadow of the magnificent Forth Rail Bridge, which towers 110 metres (361ft) over the mooring.  The route of the Maid of the Forth out to Inchcolm is under the bridge so you can get some unrivalled views of the 126 year old structure. The Forth Rail Bridge is a cantilever bridge spanning the Firth of Forth from South and North Queensferry to the east of Edinburgh.  The bridge is considered an iconic structure and a symbol of Scotland, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2015.  Designed by the English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker construction of the bridge began in 1882 and it was opened on 4 March 1890 by the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII on the death of his mother Queen Victoria in 1901. The bridge has a tota...