Q is for...

... Queensferry

Settlement

City of Edinburgh

94

Pop: 8887

Like many of the sea lochs on the west coast of Scotland, the river Forth cuts deep into the land and for many travellers the quickest route north was to cross via ferry. There were lots of settlements which grew around these services and Queensferry was one of these. Bridges however have replaced many crossings by boat and so today under the shadow of the famous Forth Railway and Road Bridges, Queensferry is a divided community with no longer a common purpose. On the South side is the famous Hawes Inn, mentioned in Sir Walter Scott's The Antiquary, and where Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have began Kidnapped in room 13. A recently opened aquarium also attracts visitors. However it is the view of the rail bridge from both North and South which most people stop to gaze at.