Monday 24th November 2008 - Linlithgow Loch and Union Canal

Having completed our first walk last week, Davy and I were keen to get started on this new walk. This walk is 6 miles circular and we estimated on setting out that it would take us a couple of hours to complete. Surprisingly the weather was fine yet again and there was even a wee bit of heat in the sun. We parked the car in a small car park next to Linlithgow Loch and set off through the town centre and around the back of the railway station to the canal basin.

There were only a couple of barges in the basin and no doubt were about to undergo a bit of maintenance whilst moored for the winter.

We then started heading west along the canal tow path. The path is well made and very easy to walk along. After 10 or 15 minutes walking you start to lose the traffic noise from Linlithgow and find yourself out in the open countryside. We never actually saw any barges or boats using the canal although I understand it is navigable for its entire length.

After about 2km, we reached the old stable building at Woodcockdale, once used for the canal horses. As you can see from the picture to the left, the building is not being used at present.

I couldn't help feel that it is a shame that the building is not occupied. It would make a lovely cottage or even a tourist attraction in the summer months if it was developed as a Union Canal museum (maybe there already is one somewhere else?)

Dangerous Davy under a 'danger - thin ice' sign. He is always sailing close to the wind that boy! Look how close to the water he is!

After another few minutes walking, the magnificent Avon Aqueduct is reached. At 247m long, this is the longest aqueduct in Scotland and is approximately 200 years old. It boggles the mind to think of the effort that must have gone in to creating this aqueduct back in the early 1800's. Apparently one of the navvies who worked on the bridge was William Burke. He was hanged in Edinburgh in 1829, one half of the infamous murderers and body snatchers, Burke and Hare.

After reaching the aqueduct, the terrain changes from the very easy to walk canal tow path, to a wee bit more tricky underfoot as the route follows the Avon River valley. The ground was pretty muddy underfoot when we did this walk and there were some fairly slippy descents as the path followed the route of the river.

The photograph shows the view from the Avon Aqueduct down the river valley towards the railway viaduct.

The viaduct marks the start of Linlithgow and the walk then takes you through the outskirts of the town toward the loch.

The distance around the loch is 2.3 miles and makes a very pleasant finish to the walk. As you can see, Linlithgow Palace looks rather majestic sitting above the loch. Whilst we didn't visit the Palace, I've been before and it's well worth seeing. Bonny Prince Charlie was born here in 1745 you know!

The finish to this walk brings you to the east side of the town centre at Linlithgow and there are numerous pubs and restaurants to eat at.

This was a very pleasant walk, helped in no small way by the weather. It probably took nearly three hours to complete, mainly due to the slow going along the muddy banks of the River Avon. Well worth the effort though as some of the scenery was gorgeous.

Once again, this walk features in the book, 25 Walks Edinburgh and Lothian by Roger Smith and published by http://www.mercatpress.com/

Thursday 20th November 2008 - South Queensferry Circular Route

This is the first walk in our new found hobby and breaks us in gently at a modest 5.3 miles.

As you can see from the picture, the walk starts off with spectacular views of the Forth Road and Rail Bridges at South Queensferry. You should also note the blue skies, which for November in Scotland isn't really the norm!

We parked the car in South Queensferry near to the harbour and started along The Craigs towards Hawes Pier. You cetainly get a flavour for the history of South Queensferry as you walk through the town. It's the kind of interesting little town you could spend a good few hours pottering about, if you were a pottering about kind of person. There are specialist shops, small art galleries and some nice eating places to be found but I guess it's not to everyones liking! We passed a woman speaking to her teenage son and they were obviously having words as we overheard the boy say, "I'm f***ing sick of this place!" It's a shame really that this young guy couldn't appreciate his surroundings, but who knows, it might not have been about him not liking South Queensferry and more about his mum trying to give him the same fish for lunch as he had for his dinner the previous night?

The initial part of this walk follows the south coastline of the river Forth and has some glorious views of Fife. The pathway is well constructed and is very easy to walk.

In about 3/4 hour we reached Dalmeny Estate.

As you can see from the photo, Dalmeny House is a really grand old building and was built in 1814 by the 4th Earl of Rosebery on the site of a much older house.

The estate is actually open to the public during the summer months and apparently houses a large collection of tapesties, porcelain and portraits. There is also a 9 hole golf course on the estate grounds on which I think members of the public can play for approximately £3?
I didn't know this place existed and will definitely be visiting it in the summer months.

(Just before leaving the estate I snapped this picture of a horses ass and a bronze statue)

Continuing south along the coast line takes you into the Crammond area of Edinburgh, however we turned to the west and made our way into the small town of Dalmeny. There is a nice church in Dalmeny which dates to the 12th century, however I thought that it looked a bit odd as it is missing its spire.

From Dalmeny, a cycleway took us back towards South Queensferry where, after our two and a half hour walk, we enjoyed a light lunch in one of the little cafes in the town.

This walk was very easy and took us 2 hours to complete. It sticks to minor roads and good tracks and if the weather hadn't been so good when we were doing it, I dare say we could have shaved 20 minutes off the time by stepping up the pace. All in all, a fine introduction to exercise and walking and really enjoyable.

This walk is featured in the book - 25 Walks Edinburgh and Lothian by Roger Smith and published by www.mercatpress.com