Gangways up!

House and office boats in Leith. The story goes that in order to get these boats into the harbour the hulls had to be sunk and dragged along the bottom of the harbour in order to fit underneath a low bridge. No idea if this is true, does anyone know?

Dusk on the Firth of Forth

This is the light you sometimes get over the Firth of Forth (the water to the north of Edinburgh) just before sunset. The slight haziness makes Fife - on the other side of the water - completely invisible. The boat on the left is a pilot I think.

Ode to Carrie B

I'm sure I've mentioned before that Newhaven has a very long history as a fishing village. According to tradition, many of the original fisherfolk came from the Netherlands and the north of France. The fishermen of Newhaven were known for their strength and skill, and the fisherwomen for their good looks and their "strong and healthy figures". (I'm not making this up!)

In 1868, no fewer than 113 fishing boats were registered in Newhaven Harbour. Nowadays, the Carrie B is one of the only commercial fishing boats still regularly operating from here. You can read more about the lives of the fisherfolk in the Newhaven chapter in The Story of Leith (1922) by John Russell. The Old Newhaven portal holds lots more information and links to other websites.

Pier Place - Alien Rock

This picture was taken from Newhaven harbour, looking back towards Newhaven and Trinity. The church on the left was originally called Old Newhaven Church, but has since been converted into an indoor climbing centre! It's called Alien Rock and was created in 1994, by two former navy engineers and one of their climbing partners who built the entire climbing structure themselves!

Sunset on Royal Yacht

This is the Royal Yacht Britannia by sunset, in front of Ocean Terminal. This ship was used for business and pleasure by the Queen from 1953 until it was decommissioned in 1997. It is now permanently moored in Leith and you can visit it - not cheap but highly recommended!

Wind on the water

I took this photo a few days ago inNewhaven harbour, on the same night I took the lighthouse picture. Although the light and the clouds were beautiful, still almost, in this picture I tried to capture the cold wind you often get at sunset, coming in over the water of the Firth of Forth.

Gullbatros?!

It's been a while since I last posted a Newhaven picture, so here's a nice one I took a couple of weeks ago. This seagull seems quite comfortable on the stern of the St Rognvald of Newhaven, named after a 12th century Earl from Orkney who ordered the construction of the St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall but was murdered by a Scottish chieftain before its completion.

Low tide

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Scotland and a bank holiday for some. With the benefit of the sunshine I returned to Newhaven Harbour for a few pictures of some of the boats moored there. Apparently it's quite cheap to have a boat at Newhaven because there is only a small window of opportunity at high tide to manoeuvre out of the narrow opening next to the lighthouse (see photo of 13 May). And as you can see, low tide means really low water here!