31st may 2014 Inchcolm

We arrived at Queensferry with 20 minutes to spare- a 2oclock boat departure- but we couldn’t find a parking space. The streets are narrow with old world shops and a 20 mile an hour speed limit. We decided to park at Dalmeny Station and then took the pretty path down, under the Firth of Forth Rail Bridge to the estuary.

We bought tickets that included the £5 landing charge for Inchcolm. One concession and one adult came to £77(32 and 45). We sat atop the Maid of Forth and it took about an hour to do the 5 miles. I managed to see 2 puffins a species that nest in the area.

We landed and herring gulls were everywhere even on the green paths obviously mowed for visitors.

 A wedding party, kilts, bagpipes and all, were leaving on the Maid, after a ceremony at the ruined abbey. We wondered if they would all fit on the boat as it looked full before they all got on to the sound of bagpipes.

 

We had a good hour and a half to spend exploring the island with its wonderful ruin complete with tower and underground rooms. The warming room with its rounded ceiling had great acoustics and I managed a stanza or two of the Halleluiah from Handel’s Messiah before someone else came within earshot.

 

Beyond the abbey, up and besides the grassy paths, were nesting gulls. The noise they made was deafening and threatening. We covered up with coats and hoods. Occasionally a cluster of brown/grey speckled large eggs were abandoned beside the paths as an adult screeched over our heads. Sometimes a fluffy chick was woefully waiting to be fed right by our feet. We hurried on, marvelling at the spectacle but mindful that we were causing anxiety.

 

We arrived back at the abbey unscathed and set off towards the top of the island with its array of wartime defences. There was a lot of concrete. We walked down a long tunnel, probably used for transporting shells to the guns, and came out at a deep puddle with stepping stones. Unfortunately once up from here we were back with the herring gulls. Bob was quicker up the bank than me and as he emerged he was bombed by an irate parent bird, covering his blue kagool with huge quantities of guano.

 

We turned back to wait for the boat in the sun. I wasn’t keen on the loos on the island which, though clean, had no running water only alcoholic gel for hands.

 

On the way back to shore we saw 4 seals up close on a shipping channel buoy. The captain slowed the boat as we went by.

It had been a great trip and it was hard walking back under the bridge up the steep steps towards the car.

We stayed overnight in a nearby Premier Inn and ate in the evening at The Hawes Inn, Queensferry because it had real ale.

 

Here is bobs video of the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyvDVSrt4M8