Monday September 4 2017
Here some 500 members and friends of the churches in North and South Queensferry took part in a service of worship to mark the double event – the closing of the centuries-old ferry service and the opening of the new bridge. The service was the idea of Captain R. A. Mason of the Queen Margaret.
Praise was led by the band of H.M.S. Caledonia, and the service was conducted by the Rev. A. D. Stirling, South Queensferry, and the Rev. A . J. Rhodes, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, South Queensferry, took part.
In his address, the Rev. H. J. G. Troup, North Queensferry, took a three-fold theme: :They that go down to the sea in ships”, “It was founded upon a rock: and ‘Each man’s work will one day be shown for what it is”.
The lessons were read by two fo the ferry captains, Mr Hugh McPherson and Mr R. A. Mason.
An interested spectator was Mr. Robert Carmichael who captained the Queen Margaret some years ago and was an elder of North Queensferry Church. He had come up from Preston specially for the event.
The service was favoured with sunshine, and a stiff breeze whipped up the waters of the Forth around the ferry and the countless yachts in attendance. Later, the ferry cruised upstream under the new bridge and then down to the railway bridge which was also lined with spectators.
Said a spectator: “It was a particularly poignant moment for many of us. The chapter that had covered so many hundreds of years was closed. A new chapter was opening.”
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