Firth of Forth

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Firth of Forth
The Forth bridges from the air (geograph 5835049).jpg
The Forth bridges looking northeast
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Firth of Forth
Fife UK relief location map.jpg
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Firth of Forth
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Firth of Forth
Clackmannanshire UK relief location map.jpg
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Firth of Forth
LocationScotland, United Kingdom
Coordinates 56°04′30″N3°45′00″W / 56.075°N 3.750°W / 56.075; -3.750
Basin  countriesScotland, United Kingdom
Designated30 October 2001
Reference no.1111 [1]

The Firth of Forth (Scottish Gaelic : Linne Foirthe) is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. [2]

Contents

Name

Firth is a cognate of fjord , a Norse word meaning a narrow inlet.

Forth stems from the name of the river; this is *Vo-rit-ia (slow running) in Proto-Celtic, yielding Foirthe in Old Gaelic and Gweryd in Welsh. [3]

It was known as Bodotria in Roman times. In the Norse sagas it was known as the Myrkvifiörd. [4] An early Welsh name is Merin Iodeo, or the "Sea of Iudeu". [5]

Geography and economy

Geologically, the Firth of Forth is a fjord, formed by the Forth Glacier in the last glacial period. [6] The drainage basin for the Firth of Forth covers a wide geographic area including places as far from the shore as Ben Lomond, Cumbernauld, Harthill, Penicuik and the edges of Gleneagles Golf Course. [7]

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 former 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.

From left to right: The Queensferry Crossing, the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge from the South Queensferry side The Firth of Forth and its bridges (geograph 5831088).jpg
From left to right: The Queensferry Crossing, the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge from the South Queensferry side

The firth is bridged in two places. The Kincardine Bridge and the Clackmannanshire Bridge cross it at Kincardine, while further east the Forth Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing cross from North Queensferry to South Queensferry. The Romans reportedly made a bridge of around 900 boats, probably at South Queensferry. [8]

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. This is shown in the 1968 educational film Forth – Powerhouse for Industry. [9] 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. [10]

The Fife-Edinburgh hovercraft service Portobello Solent Express1 2007-07-28-cropped.jpg
The Fife–Edinburgh hovercraft service

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 per cent. [11] 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. [12] Despite its initial success, the project was cancelled in December, 2011. [13]

The inner firth, located between the Kincardine and Forth bridges, has lost about half of its former intertidal area as a result of land reclamation, 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 Ro-Pax ferry Blue Star 1 passing under the Forth Bridge in the Firth, en route from Rosyth to Zeebrugge Blue Star 1 Firth of Forth.JPG
The Ro-Pax ferry Blue Star 1 passing under the Forth Bridge in the Firth, en route from Rosyth to Zeebrugge

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. [14] A series of sand and gravel banks in the approaches to the firth have since 2014 been designated as a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area under the name Firth of Forth Banks Complex. [15] [16]

The youngest person to swim across the Firth of Forth was 13-year-old Joseph Feeney, who accomplished the feat in 1933. [17]

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. [18]

Two of the three bridges across the Firth, viewed from Dalmeny, Photo taken before construction began on the Queensferry Crossing. Theforthbridges fromdalmeny.jpg
Two of the three bridges across the Firth, viewed from Dalmeny, Photo taken before construction began on the Queensferry Crossing.

Islands

Satellite photo of the Firth and the surrounding area Wfm firth of forth.jpg
Satellite photo of the Firth and the surrounding area

Shoreline settlements

North shore

South shore

Map of the Firth FirthofForthmap.png
Map of the Firth

Places of interest

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife</span> Council area of Scotland

Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.

Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more often refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to fjord, which has a more constrained sense in English. Bodies of water named "firths" tend to be more common on the Scottish east coast, or in the southwest of the country, although the Firth of Clyde is an exception to this. The Highland coast contains numerous estuaries, straits, and inlets of a similar kind, but not called "firth" ; instead, these are often called sea lochs. Before about 1850, the spelling "Frith" was more common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Queensferry</span> Human settlement in Scotland

North Queensferry is a village in Fife, Scotland, situated on the Firth of Forth where the Forth Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge, and the Queensferry Crossing all meet the Fife coast, 9 miles from the centre of Edinburgh. It is the southernmost settlement in Fife. The prefix North serves to distinguish it from South Queensferry, on the opposite shore of the Forth. Both towns derive their name from the ferry service established by Queen Margaret in the 11th century, which continued to operate at the town until 1964, when the Road Bridge was opened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Forth</span> River in central Scotland

The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, 47 km (29 mi) long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of the river, above Stirling, is Abhainn Dubh, meaning "black river". The name for the river below the tidal reach is Uisge For.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Dunfermline and West Fife is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies. The current MP is Douglas Chapman of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife Circle Line</span> Railway line in Scotland, UK

The Fife Circle Line is the local rail service north from Edinburgh. It links towns of south Fife and the coastal towns along the Firth of Forth before heading to Edinburgh. Operationally, the service is not strictly a circle route, but, rather, a point to point service that reverses at the Edinburgh end, and has a large bi-directional balloon loop at the Fife end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cramond Island</span> Tidal island in the Firth of Forth in eastern Scotland

Cramond Island is one of several islands in the Firth of Forth in eastern Scotland, near Edinburgh. It lies off the foreshore at Cramond. It is 13 mile (0.54 km) long and covers 19.03 acres (7.70 ha). The island is part of the Dalmeny Estate, owned by the Rosebery Estates Partnership.

Kincardine or Kincardine-on-Forth is a small town on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, in Fife, Scotland. The town was given the status of a burgh of barony in 1663. It was at one time a reasonably prosperous minor port. The townscape retains many good examples of Scottish vernacular buildings from the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, although it was greatly altered during the construction of Kincardine Bridge in 1932–1936. It is in the civil parish of Tulliallan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife Coastal Path</span> Great Trail in Fife, Scotland, UK

The Fife Coastal Path is a Scottish long distance footpath that runs from Kincardine to Newburgh along the coastline of Fife. The path was created in 2002, originally running from North Queensferry to Tayport. It was extended in 2011 with a new section running from Kincardine to North Queensferry, then again in 2012 from Tayport to Newburgh. The path, which usually takes between one week and 10 days to walk in full, now runs for 187 kilometres (116 mi). The Fife Coastal Path is managed and maintained by Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, a registered environmental charity, and is designated as one of Scotland's Great Trails by NatureScot. About 500,000 people use the path every year, of whom about 35,000 walk the entire route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longniddry Bents</span>

The area is popular, mostly in the summer months, with local families, holidaymakers, picnickers, horseriders, ramblers, metal detectors, dogwalkers and the occasional kite buggy. The shallow bay is a popular watersports location for windsurfers, kitesurfers and sea kayaks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islands of the Forth</span> Group of islands in the Firth of Forth, Scotland

The Islands of the Forth are a group of small islands located in the Firth of Forth and in the estuary of the River Forth on the east coast of Scotland. Most of the group lie in the open waters of the firth, between the Lothians and Fife, with the majority to the east of the city of Edinburgh. Two islands lie further west in the river estuary.

The Edinburgh and Northern Railway was a railway company authorised in 1845 to connect Edinburgh to both Perth and Dundee. It relied on ferry crossings of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay, but despite those disadvantages it proved extremely successful. It took over a short railway on the southern shore of the Forth giving a direct connection to Edinburgh, and it changed its name to the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Cycle Route 76</span> Cycle route in the United Kingdom

National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 76 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Kirkcaldy. The route is 168 miles (270 km) in length and is fully open and signed in both directions. Between Dunbar and Kirkcaldy the route is known as the Round the Forth.

The Firth of Forth was historically crossed by ferry until the opening of the Forth Road Bridge in 1964.

The Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway was a railway company founded to form part of a rail and ferry route between Dunfermline and Edinburgh, in Scotland. It was authorised in 1873 and its promoters had obtained informal promises from the larger North British Railway that the NBR would provide financial help, and also operate the ferry and the necessary railway on the southern side of the Firth of Forth.

The Forth Bridge approach railways were railway lines constructed in the period 1887 to 1890 to form new main lines on the opening of the Forth Bridge at the Queensferry crossing. Until then, only local branch lines approached the location. The North British Railway built new main lines and upgraded some existing lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loony Dook</span>

The Loony Dook is an annual event held on New Year's Day in which people dive into the freezing waters of the Firth of Forth at South Queensferry, often in fancy dress.

References

  1. "Firth of Forth". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. "Forth area management plan 2010 – 2015" (PDF). SEPA. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  3. Field, John. Place Names of Great Britain and Ireland, p. 74. London, England, David & Charles, 1980.
  4. Anderson, Joseph; Hjaltalín, Jón A.; Goudie, Gilbert (3 January 1873). "The Orkneyinga saga". Edinburgh, Scotland: Edmonston and Douglas. Retrieved 3 January 2018 via Internet Archive.
  5. Fraser, James E. (2009). From Caledonia to Pictland: Scotland to 795. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press. p. 171.
  6. "Firth of Forth". landforms.eu. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019.
  7. "No. 87 – The Firth of Forth" (PDF). Scottish Natural Heritage. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  8. Harrison, Jody (26 March 2018). "Secrets of the Romans' forgotten war against Scotland revealed". The Herald. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  9. Cooper, Henry (director). "Forth – Powerhouse for Industry". Moving Image Archive. Campbell Harper Films Ltd. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  10. Fraser MacDonald, "Scotland's secret tunnel under the Forth", The Guardian, 30 April 2014.
  11. "Kirkcaldy-Edinburgh hovercraft trial". The Scottish Executive. 13 July 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  12. "Plans lodged for Forth hovercraft". Edinburgh Evening News. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  13. "Council 'killed off' hovercraft". 9 December 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  14. "Birding the Isle of May by Darren Hemsley". Scottish Ornithologists' Club. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  15. "Firth of Forth Banks Complex Marine Protected Area (MPA)" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  16. "SiteLink: Firth of Forth Banks Complex MPA(NC)". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  17. "Emma, 10, aims to break 84-year-old Forth swimming record". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  18. "Forth oil transfer plan ruled out". BBC News. 1 February 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2008.