Greetings Travelers
I spent most of this weekend down by the seashore on the Forth estuary here in Scotland filming ,photographing and collecting sea shells and sea glass for art projects.
I recently read an article which voted South Queensferry as one of the top "staycation" destinations in Scotland this year.
I believe one of the main reason's this area has been voted so highly as a vacation destination is for the views over the Forth estuary and the bridges that cross it.
Construction of the iconic Forth rail bridge began in 1882 and it was opened on 4 March 1890. This bridge is considered a symbol of Scotland and was voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in 2016. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site.
We started out our day in South Queensferry at a little tea shop called the Honey Pot which is right under the arches of the rail bridge.
I had a pot of tea and a slice of Lemon cake...
while enjoying the view across the estuary.
Listening to the sounds of the waves and the passing ferrys...
..the trains passing over the bridge...
And the sounds of the birds...
The Honey Pot tea room sells some nice drift wood art.
These impressive little pieces of driftwood art have inspired me to start making my own sea themed art.
I made these pieces from the shells and sea glass I collected.
As we leave the Honeypot Cafe I stopped to take a couple of shots of these decorated flower pots.
As we were walking into the town we could hear the sounds of jet skis roaring around on the estuary
In this shot you can see the newest of the 3 bridges that cross the estuary. This bridge was opened in August of 2017.It took 6 years to complete and cost £1.35 billion.
The goal of building the new bridge was to reduce heavy traffic over the existing road bridge.
South Queensferry gets its name from the ferry service that was opened here by Queen Margaret in the 11th century. The passage across the estuary between North and South queens ferry was mostly used by religious pilgrims heading to St Andrews and Dunfermline.
A ferry service operated here right up until 1964 when the first road bridge was opened.
The ferry service that operates here now takes tourists out to Inchcolm Island where there is a 13th centaury monastery and surrounding islands which are home to seal colonies.
As we walk towards the main street of the town we see a beautiful Loch Ness monster inspired Mosaic.
A couple of street artists are busy at work painting a giant chalk design just of the main street.
The cobblestone streets of South Queensferry have many beautiful old photogenic buildings.
This old building is The Tolbooth.The main block was built around 1630. It was in this building that, in December 1643, seven women were incarcerated and tried for witchcraft for which the penalty was execution by strangulation and burning.
It seems every old Tolbooth in the area of The Lothians and Fife have similar story's of women being incarcerated for the crimes of witchcraft in the 1600s.
The town is home to many great restaurants and pubs which have great views across the estuary.
There are some lovely little sweet and Ice cream shops.
There is a shop called "Sea Kist" where you can buy many nautical souvenir's including some impressive bottled ships.
Every where you walk along the main street you see the old Rail bridge sneaking into the background tempting you to take more photographs.
Pretty much every where you look on this street you see unique photography opportunities.
I managed to get a couple of good reflection shots of the rail bridge in these windows.
This impressive little house has a beautiful garden.
And a beautiful little balcony garden.
This church is the oldest building in the area. It was built in the 1450s for the Carmelite order of Friars. It was restored in 1890 and again in the year 2000.
Just of the main street we find a walled garden which is home to a very impressive mosaic. This mosaic was completed in 2019 , it took 100 people 10 years to complete this work of art using items found on the seashore.
The mosaic is made up of 6 main sections.
The mosaic is very impressive , here are some other highlights from the incredibly detailed sections. Keep in mind every piece of this mosaic was found on the nearby shoreline...
A few more shots from the walled garden.
This large mosaic is not the only one in town , here are a few more...
Well ,that's all folks .I hope you enjoyed the photographs and videos from this beautiful , historic costal town here on the Forth estuary.
I will leave you guys with this shot of some lovely chips to be enjoyed while looking over the estuary.
