A bridge

Bright and sunny for most of the day in Leith until late afternoon where it clouded over and rained for about 20 seconds, elsewhere in Edinburgh the internet reported torrential downpours and hail storms (yes hail mid-May). A few minutes later the clouds had cleared over Leith and I headed to The Shore to let everyone see the lovely blue skies and sunshine.

The Victoria Swing Bridge was built over the Water of Leith in 1874. It was then the largest bridge of its type in Britain. At the mouth of The Water of Leith (where it flows into Leith docks) you can find this bridge, it used to carry a road and railway from one side of the docks to the other and probably followed the old shore line, it was hydraulically driven and used to be capable of swinging open to allow shipping into the inner harbour.

Today it has been replaced by an ugly modern road bridge and the swing bridge is closed to traffic. Today it can still be crossed on foot taking you from The Shore to Rennies Isle or more commonly by me from my flat to Teuchters Landing pub :-)