The Forth Road Bridge

We are getting a new bridge. Hurrah! The old one is reaching the end of its life, and so a shiny new one is opening next year. I believe there are a lot of people who don't know much about the bridges across the Forth, so I thought I'd give you a little teach-in.

This one is the famous one. It's the Forth RAIL Bridge. It's the one that people refer to when they say that a project is "like painting the Forth Bridge", meaning that as soon as you've finished, you have to start again. Except in recent years, they've painted the whole thing using a very durable paint, and now they won't have to start again for forty years. I wonder if the expression will be as durable as the new paint, even though it's now not technically correct. I imagine so, as it's such a useful expression, and I can't think of one with a similar meaning that would do instead.

The Forth Rail Bridge was opened in 1890, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It wasn't designed by Brunel, though I expect a lot of people think it was (including me, probably, before I started writing this blog post). It has that 19th century big metal engineering structure look about it. Looking at it makes me want to use the word "cantilever", though I have no idea at all what one is.

This is the existing Forth ROAD Bridge, which doesn't have the majestic stature of the rail bridge (I'm trying to avoid the use of the word "iconic" here), but I do think it has a certain chunky dignity. When the new one is open, the old one will stay, for use by buses, taxis, cyclists and pedestrians.




Here is what the new Forth Road Bridge is going to look like. I like its svelte elegance.

There was a competition in 2012/13 to name the new bridge. Anyone could send in a suggestion, and then there was a vote on the top five. I was going to send in the suggestion "The Third Forth Bridge" (geddit?), and didn't, because I assumed a load of other people would, and then I would just be able to vote for it. But I was wrong in my assumption. I happened to cross the new Severn bridge in the summer of 2013, and I was delighted to see that it's called "The Second Severn Crossing". Well done, the Welsh. That's my kind of humour.

So not enough people suggested "The Third Forth Bridge" to get it into the top five, but apparently there was a popular suggestion to call the bridge "Kevin". There's a Scottish comedian called Kevin Bridges, which may help you to understand this seemingly odd idea. Though there is a blogger who calls her book club Kevin, so I guess you can call anything Kevin if you want to.

In fact, the five names that were shortlisted were rather unimaginative. They were:

• Caledonia Crossing
• Firth of Forth Crossing
• Queensferry Crossing
• Saltire Crossing
• St Margaret's Crossing. 

Over 35,000 people voted (not including me - I thought the suggestions were too boring), and the name "Queensferry Crossing" was the winner.

A lot of English people think that the bridges are a crossing between England and Scotland. They're not. The Firth of Forth is to the north side of Edinburgh, so if that were the case, Edinburgh would be in England. Which it isn't. The border between England and Scotland is a landmark that is much less conspicuous. In fact, it isn't a landmark at all. It's a sign on the A1, with a small layby. It would be nice to have a fancy bridge as the border, wouldn't it? It would make arriving in one country from the other feel a bit more special. I suppose we'll either have to move the border up to the Firth of Forth and then either relocate Edinburgh in its entirety, or let Edinburgh be in England. Alternatively, we could dig a huge channel across the Scottish Borders, and then build a bridge over it. The easiest solution, actually, would be to move the border a bit. It follows the River Tweed for miles and miles, and then just as it gets towards Britain's eastern edge, it jinks north and hits the coast about eight miles north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. This is somewhat perverse and rather a shame, because otherwise, these splendid bridges (road and rail) could be a rather satisfying border crossing.

And that little detour to Berwick-upon-Tweed,  my friends, concludes my lesson on the Forth Bridges.

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The Blue Goose

Disclaimer: Those nice people at Groupon gave me £40 to buy myself a Groupon and review the goods or service.

Now, I do like a Groupon. I've had good Groupon experiences and bad Groupon experiences. In America, I discovered my nearest restaurant with a Groupon, which I'd never have thought of going to otherwise, and which became a favourite. I also discovered a sad, empty restaurant which served not very nice food, an over-priced and inflexible hairdressing salon, and a bit of a mediocre massage therapist. What I like about Groupon, is that it makes you try new things. It's the nearest thing to adventure that I get - or want (I'm quite boring, really). I enjoy the randomness of it. You pick one, you buy it, and sometimes it's great, sometimes it's not. I guess that's the essence of a bargain. Sometimes that sweater that was a steal in the shop becomes your favourite go-to wardrobe item. Sometimes it spends its life accusingly sitting on the shelf, saying "you bought me, now you must darn well wear me, even though I'm really not very nice to look at after all".

When you've moved to a new city, Groupon seems a great way of exploring. Especially if it's a freebie. Thus it was that I purchased "Tapas for Two" at the Blue Goose Country Pub. The description sounded as if the experience contained all I would need for a cosy night out with Husband. It was by the Water of Leith, and the words "Country Pub" always warm the cockles of the heart, especially the heart that has been living in America, thousands of miles away from the nearest country pub. We'd been told that Leith is full of nice eateries and drinkeries, and it's not far from where we are, so I thought it would be an easy night out.

Thing is, no-one told me that the Water of Leith is the name of the river that flows through the city of Edinburgh. So just because an establishment is "by the Water of Leith", it doesn't mean that it's anywhere near Leith. Stop laughing at me. It was an easy mistake. It did mean that the evening didn't get off to a flying start. First, I must have asked Husband about half a dozen times if it really was ok to leave the children with the new puppy on their own, even though the puppy would be asleep all evening (oh... and there's a blog post I haven't written yet... the puppy...). Second, I had the traditional argument with Emily, our GPS voice. She does insist on taking us through the city centre, even though half the roads are closed where they are laying tramlines. Third, we realised pretty soon that we weren't headed for Leith, five minutes away, but for three-quarters of the way down the Lanark Road, about twenty minutes away (or more, if you're relying on Emily).

The Blue Goose is, indeed, right by the Water of Leith, and there is a small outdoor area where you could sit and have a pint (though not on a rainy, cold, dark September evening). But even with as many provisos as I could muster, the words "country pub" seemed... well, perhaps I just have an over-romanticised mental image of a country pub. Call me picky, but the words don't somehow conjure up a building on a major arterial road. The atmosphere as we walked into The Blue Goose wasn't so much open fire, horse brasses and low beams, as brightly lit restaurant area, and bar area with Nutbush City Limits blaring loudly from speakers. We've all had those "this is not what I had in mind" moments, and this was one of mine.

But all's well that ends well. I dropped my pre-conceptions, and decided we were going to have a nice evening anyway. We found a quietish corner, and I think they must have turned the music down. Either that, or Husband's conversation was so scintillating that I filtered out any other decibels. The tapas were delicious. The staff were helpful and when we said we wanted something else to eat, but not a whole course, the waitress suggested the cheeseboard from the dessert menu. She said it was really nice, and she was right. Just the perfect suggestion.

So will I go to The Blue Goose again? In all honesty, I probably won't make a special trip. We are in central Edinburgh, and therefore very spoilt for choice with places to eat and drink without driving for 20-30 minutes with the irritating Emily. But if I happened to be in a traffic jam on the Lanark Road, on my way back from... Lanark, perhaps?... and wanted somewhere for a break, it would be good to know of The Blue Goose, with its easy parking, flexible menu, friendly staff, and memorable name. It might be a balmy summer evening, and I'd order the cheeseboard and a glass of wine, take a table outside, and sit by the Water of Leith. Not very near Leith.

Iota and Husband enjoyed a glass of wine each and six tapas for two, at The Blue Goose, 27 Lanark Road, Edinburgh EH14 1TG.  Normal price £32 pounds, covered  by a £12 Groupon, representing a £20 saving. And we didn't pay the £12 anyway - thank you, Groupon.

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