Ivan Hound Point.

Ivan inspects a small tidel island off hound point in the Forth river Estuary.

Upstream he can see the three Forth bridges, all over 1.5 miles long, built in 1890s, 1960s and 2000s. Just beyond the bridges is Rosyth Navel Yard, one home of homes of the British North Sea fleet in WW1 and WW2.  (Hound Point was the location of a major anti-ship battery in the wars, to defend this strategic location.)



Behind him is an oil tanker transfer platform, which is used to transfer oil from smaller tankers to the larger intercontinental oil tankers.





He now looks back towards the mainland and thinks what it must have been like to be stationed here at high tide in rough weather. The island is completely submerged by the sea and only the 3 foot high concrete foundations are above sea level. There is evidence of a gun emplacement and a wooden structure that forms a 10ft square shed. There was also a causeway out to the island. The Firth Estuary opens onto the North Sea, which in the winter can be very cold and rough, so this would have been a very tough location to man.



Walking back through the Dalmeny Estate, there’s fields of Highland Cattle and there young. Although they look quite fierce they are quite docile.



This is a map of the area and where we walked (the boot is my house where we started). The Dalmeny Estate is owned by the 7th Earl and Countess of Rosebery, who encourage people to walk across their land. In the past i’ve met and chatted to him and he’s very friendly. He’s quite high up in the pecking order of British nobility, and is required at the Coronation of the king to legitimise it.


Behind the scene pictures.




Pictures taken by Ivan and dad. Text by dad.

Great photos, and a really great description of the area and history.

A really cool post, great pictures!