Tuesday, March 25th, 2025
Today we were traveling to St. Andrews, Scotland. It was sunny but quite windy. We made a stop at The Forth Bridges. There were three famous bridges that we saw. The bridges crossed the River Forth which was a major river in central Scotland. The river drained into the North Sea.
The oldest bridge was The Forth Bridge which became an UNESCO World Heritage site in July of 2015. It opened in 1890 and was only open to trains. It was the world’s first major steel structure. It under went a complete restoration that was completed in 2012. It was constructed of 53,000 tons of steel, 6.5 million rivets and 73 lives were lost during its construction.
The Queensferry Crossing (the bridge in the back in the photo below) opened in 2017. It was the longest 3-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world. It spanned 1.7 miles. Its bridge towers were the highest in the United Kingdom.
The Forth Road Bridge (the bridge in the front in the photo below) was a long span suspension bridge. It was the 4th longest bridge in the world and the largest outside the United States when it opened in 1964. It was 1 1/2 miles in length and was built using 39,000 tons of steel!
When we arrived at the historic town of St. Andrews we had a self-guided tour of the R&A Golf Museum. It was located opposite The Royal and Ancient Clubhouse.
The museum explored the past, present and future of golf. There was a large collection of golf memorabilia from around the world. We were able to explore over 400 years of golf history in the museum.
When we finished the museum, we walked beside the 18th hole of the Old Course. It was created in 1754 and the Royal and Ancient Club headquarters of golf ever since. Our purpose was to take pictures on the famous Swilcan Bridge. It was located on the 18th hole and the bridge was originally built 700 years ago. The Swilcan Bridge was 8 feet wide and 30 feet long and spans the Swilcan Burn (stream). It was one of the most photographed bridges in the world.
We waited until the foursome on the 18th hole passed and we walked out quickly for our pictures.
More shots from around the course are below. Please click through. It was such a gorgeous day.
The clubhouse of the Royal and Ancient Golf Course 
Be aware! 
The course was by the North Sea 
Statue of Old Tom Morris by sculptor David Annand. 
Martyrs’ Monument- commemorates protestants that were executed. 
The Old Course filled with golfers 
It was a great day if you were a golfer. 
The 18th hole was behind us!
The 2027 British Open will be played at the Old Course at St. Andrews. What a beautiful setting for the tournament. The beach and the bay by the course!
What a great way to forecast the weather at St. Andrews. Make sure you read the sign below.
Along the sidewalk across from the course were plaques of the British Open. Jack Nicklaus who was from our area won in 1970 and 1978!
Besides St. Andrews being known as the birthplace of golf, it had a university which was the oldest in Scotland. The University of St. Andrews was founded in 1412. Prince William was the most recent and famous alumnus. We could also see the ruins of the St. Andrews castle. When we visited here in 2003 we visited the castle and walked through the university. Today we had time to eat lunch and then meet our group. We asked a couple of University students where would be a good place to eat and they gave a few suggestions. We found a pub, Central Bar, that had been around for over 100 years! Many of us had their Grilled Cheese Toastie which was a grilled cheese sandwich.
As we headed back toward Edinburgh, we followed along the scenic coastline of Fife. We had a quick stop at Cellardyke, a village in Scotland. The Cellardyke Harbour had stunning views of the fishing village. Our next stop was the coastal town of Anstruther. It was another fishing village.
Along the road we saw farmland and we all commented on how fertile the soil looked. The soil didn’t have clay like our gardens at home.
This evening we were tired and went to dinner a block from our hotel. We had dinner at the No1 High Street on the Royal Mile. They were able to accomodate our group and our food was tasty. Another great day!
