Cantilever...suspension...cable-stayed...

Those who know me will understand my frustration at not having had a better view of the bridges over the Forth yesterday evening so, early this morning, before our journey home, we took a train in the opposite direction over the magnificent Forth rail bridge (cantilever, opened 1890) then walked back over the road bridge (suspension, opened 1964) all the white gazing at the beautiful Queensferry Crossing (cable-stayed, opened 2017). There are lots of mind-boggling statistics about this newest bridge, but to choose just one: it uses 23,000 miles of cabling, almost the same distance as the circumference of the earth at the equator. I reckon I saw quite a bit if it but I really don't know where they've stashed the rest.

I remember being taken to see the revered 1964 bridge three years after it opened (family holidays with a civil engineer father were idiosyncratic) but now it is by far the least impressive of the ways across the firth so it is the best one to cross, despite the wind, to get views of the other two. Extras, inevitably. On the south side the official viewpoint is underwhelming but it has the bonus of a bus stop that got us back to Waverley and our sad journey southward.

Farewell Scotland and thank you for your kindness. We'll be back.