It's not very often that I cross the border into Scotland and fine bright sunshine. More often than not I'm met with dull skies and more than a fair share of rain and wind, but not today, as conditions were ideal as we arrived in South Queensferry, which is 11 miles north-west of Edinburgh. This was our second stop-off en route to Livingston - our first being a lunch break in Eyemouth, slightly north of Berwick-Upon-Tweed. South Queensferry isn't a place I'm very familiar with, although I have visited this small town once before, a couple of years back, to meet up with Derek Forbes, former bass player with Simple Minds. A drum kit and money exchanged hands on that day - not bought by myself though, I was merely along for the ride. On that day the weather was miserable, which wasn't that important as we were only in South Queensferry for a matter of minutes before we headed south, back down the A1(M). South Queensferry, sometimes also called
Queensferry, sits on the south shore of the narrowest part of the Forth
Estuary east of Grangemouth, looking across to North Queensferry,
its twin on the Fife shore. As an
obvious place to cross the river when heading into Fife from Edinburgh it
is likely that settlements either side of the river here, and ferries between
them, date back to ancient times. Queensferry is defined by the road and rail bridges that lie either side of it.
But it is so much more as well. At times it has been an important trading and
fishing port in its own right and the town still offers an environment that can
transport you back to an earlier time more readily than most places in Scotland.
If, that is, you can catch it in a rare traffic-free moment: cars are
constrained by the narrowness and twisting of Queensferry's High Street, and
as a result intrude far more than elsewhere. 
Strangely enough, despite the nice weather, which is always a plus when photographing the landscape, I left my Canon 7D at home, which was not a good idea at all. The weather forecast on the previous day was nowt to get excited about so I took a risk by leaving the camera behind - something I'd probably regret further down the line. The photo's shown here were taken on my smart phone, which has a nice little panoramic facility on it, allowing stitches of over 6 images at a time. A couple of 'Stitches' are shown here, just for the record. There's a very small beach at Queensferry, which is accessible at low tide and is a great vantage point when looking north. If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, check out the restaurants along the main street - one in particular offers excellent panoramic views across the river through its huge windows, although its name escapes me right now.Next stop Linlithgow...
Ash
