Hillend Fort on skyline, with the T-wood just below, and Dalmeny Kirk mid photo, and Hawes Pier area, taken from the midpoint of the Forth Road Bridge, May, 2009.
When I started to investigate the landscape of Lothian for geometry similar to what Henry Lincoln had described around Rennes Le Chateau some 15 years back, I came across a bare system in Andrew Sinclair's: Sword and the Grail, but which I no longer have to hand. One line I did find intriguing, as I had found the same line, but with somewhat different marker points!
Where-as Sinclair had noted the points: Hawes Pier, at South Queensferry, the T-Wood, or Cross Wood, above Swanston Village, Rosslyn Chapel, and Temple Kirk; I had: Dalmeny Kirk, T-Wood, Hillend Fort, Rosslyn Chapel and Temple Kirk.
Those who have followed this blog will be aware, Hillend Fort is one of the main points in the landscape, not least as the G.P apex point in the (3 by 1) diagonal Reshel system, and one of the best vantage points for the whole of the Lothian landscape, and can be seen from Roslin village, looking along Main Street.
I eventually noted that this line extended to the exact mid-point of the Forth Road Bridge, surely coincidence, but intriguing none-the-less!(?)
While living in Selkirk(1999-2001) I would quite often drive up to Edinburgh via Innerleithen, quite deliberately to the point where the road came out of the Moorfoot Hills to a superb vantage point on the other side of the Esk Valley from Hillend, before turning sharply right, (north-east), and try to see the points Temple and Rosslyn in the direct line that the map showed them to be. The exact point is about 200 yards down this road. Rosslyn Chapel is identifiable, now with the white coloured canopy, but Temple is not visible as it sits by the river in the steep sided valley.
I also extended this line on the map not so surprisingly came to the Eildon Hills, by way of Carcant Hill, the slope of which this vantage point is on.
Three years ago when I moved to Inverkeithing came the opportunity to check this line often from the midpoint of the Road Bridge. I managed to identify Dalmeny Kirk, and tried whilst a passenger in a friends car to take a decent photo. This proved awkward in that the main cable at the centre obscures the view, and being on the move was a bit troublesome also. I knew I would have to walk to the middle of the Bridge sometime, but it took me till May this year to get round to it!
This is a recent shot taken from South Queensferry at Hawes Pier to the mid-point of the Forth Road Bridge. The hills below allow a visual guide for the extended line to the north-west. A rough check in Google Earth leads across Loch Tay, just west of Ben Lawers, and directly in line is Maggernie Castle in Glen Lyon. This shall be checked later.
The Eildon Hills, from the north-west. The two used in this report are left and centre.
