Today’s Skulkferatu ended up somewhere a little bit different, on a structure from the industrial past of Leith – the Victoria Swing Bridge. This crosses the water of Leith just down from the popular area of The Shore, where there are many restaurants and eateries.
View down Water of Leith
Victoria Swing Bridge, Leith
The bridge was built between 1871 and
1874 and is constructed of wrought iron.
It is a swing bridge, meaning it could swing open to allow passing boats
through. It was hydraulically operated
and the power for this was supplied from a small power station building that
sits nearby. Originally a railway track
and a private road ran down the middle of the structure and there was a walkway
on both sides. The bridge no longer
swings open and is nowadays solely for pedestrian use.
Victoria Swing Bridge and old Whaling Harpoon
View down Victoria Swing Bridge
Unfortunately, the bridge is now in a
state of disrepair and though there have been various campaigns to have it
restored, nothing has yet been done. It
is currently on the Buildings at Risk register.
I left a Skulferatu balanced on a rivet in
one the beams of the bridge.
Skulferatu #13
Skulferatu #13 on Victoria Swing Bridge, Leith
Google Map showing location of Skulferatu #13
The coordinates for the
location of the Skulferatu are:
Latitude 55.978708
Longitude -3.170241
