The 'amazing' feeling from Scotland's Forth Road Bridge summit - how you can experience the stunning climb

“It’s an amazing feeling - something to tick off your bucket list”.

Subscribers of The Scotsman are being offered the chance to follow in our photographer and audio visual specialist Lisa Ferguson’s footsteps for a tour to the top of the Forth Road Bridge to mark its 60th birthday next month.

The Scotsman photographer/audio visual specialist Lisa Ferguson at the top of the Forth Road Bridge's south tower on Thursday | Liss Ferguson/The Scotsman

The lucky winners will ascend hundreds of feet via a lift and 50ft ladder to enjoy breath-taking, panoramic views - as well as a commanding perspective of the structure and the adjacent Forth Bridge and Queensferry Crossing to either side.

Lisa said: “I feel really lucky because I got to do this for my job, but for anybody who wins this, it’s something to tick off your bucket list. For others, getting to do this is completely different because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

“You can walk from one side of the tower to the other along the cross-girder. But also, if you’re brave enough, you can go up on top of a small pillar at the very top of the tower by climbing up another small ladder.”

Lisa has been to the top of the bridge once before while it was still being used by traffic before the opening of the Queensferry Crossing in 2017 - but found things had changed significantly on her second visit on Thursday.

She said: “Back then it was a very different experience, when cars were still driving over the bridge. You could feel the traffic going across - and the bridge vibrate, especially as lorries crossed. It was also very noisy because of all that traffic.

“This time, it was really quite peaceful comparatively. There were just a few buses and some private hire vehicles going across - and you don’t feel them at all.”

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However, Lisa warned: “You do feel very exposed. If you suffer from heights, this is not something you would want to do. You have to be comfortable with heights to be able to do this because it is high.

“When you look down, you’re like ‘oh’. But the views are amazing. We could see right across to Arthur’s Seat and the Pentland Hills, over to Kinghorn in Fife, and planes taking off from Edinburgh Airport. You almost get a bird’s eye view.

“Being up there and seeing all three bridges and you’re in the middle of it is really nice.

“Even beside the taller Queensferry Crossing [which is 167ft (50m) higher], the bridge still felt really big and grand. All three felt about the same size.”

The Queensferry Crossing looking north from the top of the south tower of the Forth Road Bridge on Thursday | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman

Lisa’s journey to the top of the tower started with donning a hi-vis jacket and trousers, hard hat, safety glasses, gloves and harness.

She was taken by minibus to an entrance to the south tower at road level, 153ft (47m) above the Forth , then took a “very cosy” three-person lift that climbs some 350ft (107m) to the cross-girder, near the top of the 512ft (156m) tower.

The final stage was up a vertical ladder nearly 50ft (14m) high, her harness clipped onto a rope in case she lost her footing.

Readers can enter here for the competition for five pairs of tickets for the tour on September 4 - the bridge’s 60th birthday - before the closing date of 12am on Monday, August 12.