Last week we went to see The Enchanted Forest, which is a light-and-music show staged during each October at Faskally Wood, a small forest park surrounding a lake, just outside Pitlochry, Perthshire. I have to say I like Pitlochry - as resort towns go, it has a lot of character, and there are excellent hotels and eating places.
The actual show is remarkable - it is run by a local community group, for the benefit of the community, but there is nothing at all amateurish about the production. I believe that the contract firm which installed the sound and lighting this year is Chinese - for the Scottish Highlands, this is quite a big deal. I recommend it without any hesitation at all - if you have a few days spare next October and you can get to Pitlochry (rather less than an hour's drive north of the city of Perth), it is well worth a visit.
Take your camera - these photos are my wife's, for which I offer my humble thanks - they make my own feeble efforts look ridiculous!
...and, since photos without sound are missing an important part of the experience, here's a YouTube clip from this year's show...
To get to Perth from here you have to cross the Forth Road Bridge, and I got my first glimpse of the new bridge which is going up alongside it - no, it is not to be the Fifth Bridge, it will be known as the Queensferry Crossing. The current bridge is developing some rust problems in the main cables - it is not at all dangerous yet - it has years of life left - and so it will continue in service to carry public transport vehicles when the new one opens.
The present bridge is a conventional suspension bridge - the new one is of a completely different construction. Here you see the new towers going up, to the West of the existing bridge - the expected opening date is 2016, I understand, which certainly astonishes me. I wish them good speed - the Edinburgh trams and the Scottish Parliament building were both wildly late and overbudget, so there is a bit of a credibility exercise involved here, as well.
Tony - that looks fantastic, one to put in the diary for next year!
ReplyDeleteI agree that they do seem to be having more luck with the bridge than the trams...