Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth from Edinburgh Castle

The Forth Bridges across the Firth

The Forth Bridge (photograph 1972)

Satellite photo of the Firth and the surrounding area

Map of the Firth

The Fife-Edinburgh hovercraft service

The Ro-Pax ferry Blue Star 1 passing under the Forth Bridge in the Firth, en route from Rosyth to Zeebrugge.

The Firth of Forth (Scottish Gaelic: Linne Foirthe) is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north and Lothian to the south. It was known as Bodotria in Roman times.

Geography and economy

Geologically, the Firth of Forth is a fjord, formed by the Forth Glacier in the last glacial period.

Many towns line the shores, as well as the petrochemical complexes at Grangemouth, commercial docks at Leith, former oil rig construction yards at Methil, the ship-breaking facility at Inverkeithing and the naval dockyard at Rosyth, along with numerous other industrial areas, including the Forth Bridgehead area, encompassing Rosyth, Inverkeithing and the southern edge of Dunfermline, Burntisland, Kirkcaldy, Bo'ness and Leven.

The Kincardine Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge carry traffic across the firth. A fourth crossing, located next to the Kincardine Bridge, opened in 2008. On 1 October, 2008, it was announced that the new bridge would be called the Clackmannanshire Bridge. Queensferry Crossing, another new road bridge, alongside the Forth Road Bridge, was initially expected to open in 2016 but has since been delayed until May 2017.

From 1964 to 1982, a tunnel existed under the Firth of Forth, dug by coal miners to link the Kinneil colliery on the south side of the Forth with the Valleyfield colliery on the north side. The shafts leading into the tunnel were filled and capped with concrete when the tunnel was closed, and it is believed to have filled with water or collapsed in places.

In July, 2007, a hovercraft passenger service completed a two-week trial between Portobello, Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy, Fife. The trial of the service (marketed as "Forthfast") was hailed as a major operational success, with an average passenger load of 85 percent. It was estimated the service would decrease congestion for commuters on the Forth road and rail bridges by carrying about 870,000 passengers each year. Despite the initial success, the project was cancelled in December, 2011.

The inner firth, located between the Kincardine and Forth bridges, has lost about half of its former intertidal area as a result of land reclaimation, partly for agriculture, but mainly for industry and the large ash lagoons built to deposit spoil from the coal-fired Longannet Power Station near Kincardine. Historic villages line the Fife shoreline; Limekilns, Charlestown and Culross, established in the 6th century, where Saint Kentigern was born.

The firth is important for nature conservation and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Firth of Forth Islands SPA (Special Protection Area) is home to more than 90,000 breeding seabirds every year. There is a bird observatory on the Isle of May.

The youngest person to swim across the Firth of Forth was 13-year-old Joseph Feeney, who accomplished the feat in 1933.

In 2008, a controversial bid to allow oil transfer between ships in the firth was refused by Forth Ports. SPT Marine Services had asked permission to transfer 7.8 million tonnes of crude oil per year between tankers, but the proposals were met with determined opposition from conservation groups.

Firth of Forth islands

Main article: Islands of the Forth

• Bass Rock
• Craigleith
• Cramond
• Eyebroughy
• Fidra
• Inchcolm
• Inchgarvie
• Inchkeith
• Inchmickery with Cow and Calf
• The Lamb
• Isle of May

Settlements on the shoreline

• North Shore
  • Aberdour, Anstruther
  • Buckhaven, Burntisland
  • Caves of Caiplie, Cellardyke, Crail
  • Culross
  • Charlestown, Limekilns
  • Dalgety Bay, Dysart
  • Earlsferry, East Wemyss, Elie
  • Inverkeithing
  • Kincardine, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy
  • Leven, Lower Largo
  • Methil
  • North Queensferry
  • Pittenweem
  • Rosyth
  • St Monans
• South Shore
  • Aberlady, Athelstaneford
  • Blackness, Bo'ness
  • Cockenzie, Cramond
  • Dirleton, Dunbar, Dunglass
  • Edinburgh
  • Fisherrow
  • Grangemouth, Granton, Gullane
  • Inveresk
  • Leith, Longniddry
  • Musselburgh
  • North Berwick
  • Port Edgar, Portobello, Port Seton
  • Prestonpans
  • South Queensferry
  • Whitekirk

Places of interest

• Aberlady Bay, Archerfield Links
• Barns Ness Lighthouse, Belhaven, Berwick Law, Blackness Castle
• Bass Island and St Baldred's chapel
• Cockenzie Power Station, Culross
• Dalmeny House, Dirleton Castle
• Fa'side Castle
• Gullane Bents
• Hopetoun House, Hopetoun Monument
• John Muir Country Park, John Muir Way
• Longniddry Bents
• Musselburgh Racecourse
• North Berwick Golf Club
• Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum, Preston Tower
• Ravenscraig Castle
• Scottish Fisheries Museum, Scottish Seabird Centre
• Seton Sands
• St. Fillan's Cave
• St. Monans Windmill
• Tantallon Castle, Torness Nuclear Power Station
• The Royal Yacht Britannia
• The Royal Racing Yacht Bloodhound
• Waterston House
• John Muir Way
• Yellowcraigs

External links

• Isle of May bird observatory
• Forthfast experimental hovercraft service, 16–28 July 2007
• Inchcolm Virtual Tour Take a virtual tour around some of the Inchcolm's military defences
• [1] fdsa