The Forth Bridge

On the back cover of the soon to be released Dolphin Girl novel is this artistic image of the Forth Bridge created by book cover artist Kit Foster.

Dolphin Girl is set almost entirely in and around Edinburgh, so it is perhaps not surprising that the nearby iconic landmark features throughout the novel. Indeed, there is a short chapter entitled Forth Bridge, a passage from which appears at the bottom of this blog post.

You don't need to have visited Edinburgh, or Scotland, to be familiar with the steel bridge that spans the Firth of Forth within sight of the capital city. The cantilever bridge is one of the most enduring and picturesque representations of the country; a tin of Scottish shortbread would not be complete without an image of the bridge's three great cantilever structures.

Having spent a number of childhood years in Edinburgh, I know how this imposing marvel of the Victorian age sears itself into the mind and conscience of anyone who has viewed it from near or afar. It is anchored like an steadfast old friend in my recollections of youth.

Built between 1882 and 1890, it is 1.6 miles long and is a rail-only crossing (the nearby Forth Road Bridge for motor vehicles opened in the 1970s).

When people talk about 'painting the Forth Bridge' they are using a phrase that is shorthand for any seemingly never-ending task. This is rooted in the belief that when the bridge is repainted it is such a major and lengthy undertaking that once complete a new repaint job must commence immediately. A myth, but a well-worn one.

In recent years, when flying to Glasgow I have scanned the horizon below to pick out the distant 'humps' of the bridge which are visible from the air even from a distance of 30 or 40 miles away. There is something reassuring and timeless about the bridge.

And so, just as it proved to be for me in my younger years, the Forth Bridge is a constant background presence in the lives of the characters in Dolphin Girl. The novel is currently undergoing final readings and adjustments and is scheduled for release in April.

As an advance taster, here is a brief section from the start of the Forth Bridge chapter.

Katrina lowered her eyes and contemplated the choppy waves a hundred feet below in the river that thought it was a sea. Even at such a distance the cold water reached up with invisible hands chilling her face. She looked away and up towards the soaring magnificence of the Forth Bridge, a marvel of the Victorian age. Its rugged splendor matched the wilderness it adorned. It belonged and it was hard to imagine a time before, or to come, when the railway bridge would not stand sentinel over the Forth’s murky waters.
Standing inside the belly of the three-humped red monster she was a lost ant buffeted by the incessant wind whistling and swirling through this steel behemoth.