Exploring the Union Canal in Edinburgh by bicycle

A few years ago I moved into a flat in Bruntsfield and was rather surprised to discover a canal right by me. Despite being from Edinburgh I never managed to become aware of its existence. The canal starts in Fountainbridge and the Edinburgh bit goes through Slateford, Meggetland and Westerhailes to Ratho which is about 8 miles.

Harrison Park bit of the canal

It's not somewhere to go if you want to cycle fast; there are too many joggers, dogs, dog walkers, other pedestrians and other cyclists for that, especially on a sunny weekend. There are also a number of blind bridges. where you should ring your bell (or yell if you don't have a bell) and slow down. A cyclist once had to brake so hard to avoid crashing into me that he fell off his bike and got his bottom wheel in the canal. I was meandering slowly and he was cycling too fast to stop properly, so I think it was his fault. I am always super religious about bell ringing now (I think I probably did that time too, but couldn't swear on my life)

Places along the canal

Fountainbridge Quay

Apparently the canal once went all the way to Princes Street, but these days it begins in Fountainbridge. There have been efforts to regenerate this area - with new flats built and there are a few restaurants at this end, although some of the units appear empty so it doesn't seem like it is quite the thriving area that the developers envisioned.

Swans at Fountainbridge Quay

There is an annual canal festival at this bit of the canal with stalls, free boat trips and a homemade raft race.

Annual canal raft race - part of canal festival

Continue further west along the Canal and you get to Harrison Park in my opinion -this is the prettiest bit. There is a little boat shed here where in the summer you can rent out a rowing boat.

Zazou cafe sign

View from a row boat hired from boat shed

Continuing along the canal, at certain times of day, you are likely to come across school children learning to row. Often there is someone cycling alongside them yelling instructions.

View of canal from near Ashley Terrace

The next landmark is the Slateford Aquaduct. There are steps just before it which lead to the Water of Leith visitor centre. You can also transfer here to cycle along the Water of Leith northwards. If you are going south you are better continuing over the Aquaduct and transferring to the Water of Leith at the bridge a bit along from this (it's well sign posted as route 75). Signs tell you to dismount and walk over the aquaduct and you definitely should if there is anyone coming the opposite direction. It's quite a squeeze.

Pedaling along the canal

As you get towards the edge of Edinburgh you pass Hailes Quarry Park, noteworthy for a bright green and black outside gym. The path continues through Wester Hailes. As Wester Hailes is a housing estate some people think it is a bit dodgy. I personally have never had any problems though (although one year there were some particularly aggressive swans blocking the whole path).

Piece of outdoor gym equipment

You then get to a bridge over the city bypass. Psychologically I think of this as the end of Edinburgh, but in a mile or so you reach Ratho which is still within the city boundaries, but feels like a separate village, and is a nice rest stop with benches and everything.

Ratho

It's a lovely place to cycle...just as long as you aren't in a rush.

Where did you go summer? Woe is me.

It's cold. I'm thinking of putting the heating on soon. The radio said someone had predicted it would snow in early October. I have had a constant sore throat/cough thing for a couple of weeks. I gets dark earlier. I have failed to go on any adventures. Unless going to Ikea counts. I explored Swedish meatballs, furniture, kitchen utensils I never knew I needed, and the inadequate 47 bus (they need to make it a double decker, at least just after university terms have started).

I need summer, motivation and a proper working throat back.

Brambles

After work headed along the Union Canal and then a bit along the Water of Leith looking for brambles. It was quite a slow trip because I stopped every time I spotted a promising looking bush. Most of them aren't ready, which means that there are still weeks of eating brambles ahead.

Whenever I pick brambles I recollect a poem that I read in Higher English about them. I didn't remember the whole poem, but it obviously struck some sort of chord with me and I found it on google.

Blackberry Picking by Seamus Heaney 

 Late August, given heavy rain and sun
 for a full week, the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a glossy purple clot
among others, red, green, hard as a knot.
You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet
like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it
leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for
picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger
sent us out with milk-cans, pea-tins, jam-pots
where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots.
Round hayfields, cornfields and potato-drills
we trekked and picked until the cans were full,
until the tinkling bottom had been covered
with green ones, and on top big dark blobs burned
like a plate of eyes. Our hands were peppered
with thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's.
We hoarded the fresh berries in the byre.
But when the bath was filled we found a fur,
A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache.
The juice was stinking too. Once off the bush
the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour.
I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair
that all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.
Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not.

I think this poem is supposed to be about growing up and realising that things don't last. I'm not sure I have really grown up. I want to be one of the excited ones picking blackberries like thickened wine, with pink stained fingers. I will be disappointed in a few weeks too, when the last of them are gone.

Innocent Railway

Brambles

The Innocent Railway is one of my favourite cycle paths. It's beginning is a bit hidden in the Parkside block of modern flats. You need to turn left just before the entrance to Holyrood Park, and then loop round to the beginning of the tunnel. The tunnel is long, dark and damp, but fun because it slopes downhill. You can pretty easily freewheel along most of the first stretch of the path.

It leads to the East Coast. On Saturday I used it to get to Portobello Beach which was a bit cold and windy. 

But it is very exciting the brambles are almost in season. In fact on my way back I discovered some which were ready, lovely and juicy and yum.

Portobello

Getting lost and cycling near the city bypass

This week I tried to cycle home from Little France and accidentally ended up in Straiton. I got to a road which I thought was one I recognised, but it turns out it was a different road going south rather than west...

I ended up confused near the city bypass. This is not a great place to be with a bicycle.  Luckily the entrances to the bypass were clearly labelled with big keep out unless you are in a massive metal vehicle signs, so I didn't accidentally end up on one, and there were shared use paths for pedestrians and cyclists. I made it to the retail park without too much bother, and had a nice coffee and rest, but to get back into the city it seemed the only way was to cross over lots of roads with fast traffic to get back to somewhere you were allowed to cycle on. The crossings were marked for pedestrians, and I mostly became one at this point, but it didn't seem very safe crossing over roads with cars going very very fast to the motorway.

Then I had to cycle back all the way on roads which I found various degrees of terrifying. (apart from the bits I walked because they were a bit uphill and I was tired).

I generally avoid cycling on roads, unless I get lost, or know them well. I tend to stick to cycle paths wherever I can. I don't like cycling near cars and I am afraid of buses and lorries.

Over the time I have cycled my attitude to cycling on roads has gone from:

• terrified to cycle on roads and sticking completely to paths, usually walking between them

to

• not so terrified of cycling on roads and doing a bit more of it

to

• terrified of roads again having started to understand more about what cars and buses aren't supposed to do, and don't always.

I eventually got home, about 3 hours later than I should have. Exhausted and desperate for a shower. I don't recommend cycling to Straiton, especially accidentally. I should make more uses of maps rather than vaguely heading in the direction I think I should (or at the very least have my phone charged to more than 2% battery so I can look them up properly)

Cycling achievements

I started this blog with the intention of writing reviews of cycling routes (and other fun exploration things), but I'm not sure I am that good at review writing, or if I can be bothered. I might make it more of a personal blog which will track my own progress cycling and describe where I have been in self obsessed manner, and as a person quite obsessed with my bicycle.

My most recent cycling achievement was making it all the way up Leamington Terrace without stopping. I hadn't done that before and have always been a bit rubbish at anything uphill. I felt exhausted afterwards though - it was lucky the next part of my route is the nice downhill bit of the Meadows meaning I could have a rest. My next goal is cycling all the way up without breaking a sweat. Once I have done that I will try the path up from Bonaly from the Water of Leith (which is steeper and longer). 

I had a few days recently where I didn't ride my bike. The chain came off and I didn't know how to put it back on again (now I do know, it is really really easy). I have subsequently decided cycling is essential to my mental well-being, because I was incredibly moody all the time I couldn't cycle. Once I put the chain back on I went straight out to the Union Canal and cycled along to Wester Hailes and back, and it makes me 100 times happier. I imagine there is a scientific explanation for this, endorphins or something?

Cycling in the Pentlands again

Went to the Pentlands again. Ate lots and lots of raspberries. At one point it started to pour with rain. We "sheltered" under some trees until it stopped and the sun came out again. Got as far as the Harlaw Reservoir.

I still need to get properly into the hills, buy a rain jacket, and learn to cycle up as well as down slopes. I am getting better at them though, and it always feels worth it when going downwards.

Trees where we sheltered

This path was a bit too rocky to cycle along

Taken minutes after it had been bucketing with rain

There was always a bit of ominous cloud to be seen

Raspberries - yum yum yum

Cycle route rating 

Ease of cycling: very steep from Water of Leith to Bonaly, some hilly bits here and there, a few gates, had to lift bikes over one wall

Injury rating: Black oil marks on legs (and nettle stings, but that was caused by trying to reach raspberries)

Best points: Raspberries, feels far removed from Edinburgh festival madness

Cycling from Fountainbridge to Pentlands

View over Edinburgh from Bonaly Country Park

Escaping the centre of Edinburgh to the Pentland hills.

Started at the Union Canal (as usual), and swapped onto the Water of Leith just a bit after the Slateford Aquaduct. I kept going along the Water of Leith, including through the eery Easter Hailes tunnel until I reached the junction in Colinton. Left the junction turning to the left and a very steep road leading to Bonaly. I didn't even try to cycle up it.

Bonaly Primary School seems to resemble a prison. It has really high steel fences. Not sure if it is to keep the children in, or others out...

A reminder of modern chaos, life, busy traffic from the zooms of cars when going over the bridge crossing the city bypass. My mood couldn't have been more elated, had escaped the city, and all the mad people around at the festival.

Reached Bonaly Country Park, I turned right along a path and cycled along past a couple of reservoirs, stopping to eat raspberries on the way. I ended up on a path which eventually led to a road (a place called Kinleith I think). I cycled along it, and then turned back. Going back was mostly down hill so took hardly any time at all. I was at my front door in about 40 minutes, and feeling much more cheerful.

Not the biggest or most exciting trip to the Pentlands, but I will definitely make more soon, and go further.

Noisy traffic on city bypass

Torduff

Path in the Pentlands

Isle of Skye: The deserted villages of Boreraig and Suishnish and old marble railway

There's a well known 9 mile trip walking trip on Skye which takes you to the remains of the villages of Boreraig and Suishnish on the shores of Loch Eishort. The villages were forcibly cleared during the infamous Highland Clearances where thousands of Scots were forcibly removed from their homes by landowners, often being replaced by more profitable sheep. The stories of the way in which crofters were removed from Boreraig and Suishnish suggest the clearances here were among the most violent. With my historian hat on I thought these would be an interesting place to visit, and we set off to explore. We took our bikes though, and it transpired there are reasons that this is a walking route, rather than a recommended cycling route.

Marble line railway

We started by cycling along the Marble Line Railway. This was built in the early twentieth century to transport marble from Kilchrist to the pier at Broadford, a three and a half mile track built by a marble mining company.

For cycling purposes, this route was reasonable, but  steep in places, and full of large bits of rock (start of a theme here). We ended up walking some bits, but I think someone with a proper mountain bike, a greater level of fitness and more energy could have managed it.

The path to Boreraig

Once you are past the marble railway, you reach a small path, and go through the Beinn nan Carn Native Woodland project. This was a narrow path, so we only cycled on some bits, especially given the number of rocks and stones.

Walking along this path towards Boreraig I found it hard to imagine that several hundred people could once have lived in a settlement so remote from everywhere else, with only an uneven track leading to it. Though it was later pointed out to me that many settlements in Skye and other islands were once similarly inaccessible.

Boreraig

View to Lake Eishort from the area of the Beinn nan Carn woodland project 

I have read other accounts of people who have been to Boreraig who talk of how haunted and resonant it seems. I don't know if I just lack imagination, or am callous, but I didn't really feel any sense of ghosts in Boreraig. There are a number of old ruined stone cottages, so you could see where people once lived, but I couldn't picture this as a place once home to 120 people. I did feel mildly threatened by some cows.

It was lovely and sunny. We stopped for a while. I tried to wash my extremely muddy bike in a stream. My friend L went for a short dip in the sea.

Path from Boreraig to Suishnish

Then we decided to head along the coast towards Suishnish. This is where cycling became impossible, as it was too up and down and far too rocky. I think even the hardiest of mountain bikers should not attempt it. (Although we did see a group of cyclists in Boreraig who had come that way - but I assume they didn't cycle it all). So we dragged our bikes along a narrow coastal rocky path for what seemed like hours, until we reached a sheep pen around Suishnish and much to our excitement a proper (well in comparison- still very stony) path that lead back to the main road.

We stopped off at the deserted church of Kilchrist on the way back, which is now the home of sheep. 

Cycle route rating
Difficulty rating - impossible, impassible, still fun, just can't cycle it all
Scenery rating - excellent, beautiful, historical interest
Injury rating: in addition to midges there were also evil cleggs (horse flies) that bit me sometimes drawing blood, causing me to have to stop cycling to try and flick them away and leaving me with many attractive red welts.
Exploration rating: very high

Boreraig

Boreraig

Kilchrist

Suishnish 

Path to Suishnish

Isle of Skye: Swimming in the fairy pools

One of the best things ever was swimming in Skye's fairy pools on a lovely (uncharacteristically) warm summers day.

My friend Lilac has written about it on her wild swimming blog:

http://splashingandswimming.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-faerie-pools-glen-brittle-skye.html

Cycling along the Union Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal from Edinburgh to Croy



Part of the canal opposite Harrison Park

Together the Union Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal run all the way from Edinburgh to Glasgow, winding around for over 60 miles. I haven't made it all the way quite yet, but I will make it all the way soon though....

This is the story of my trip all the way along the Union Canal to the Falkirk Wheel and then along the Forth and Clyde Canal as far as Croy. According to my map this is 42 miles, the furthest I have ever cycled, so I am congratulating myself anyway.


The Union Canal starts at Edinburgh Quay in Fountainbridge, although I joined the path a bit later at Harrison Park in Polwarth. I often cycle on the Edinburgh based part of the canal, but I had never ventured beyond Ratho (about 8 miles)

I was going to a friend's barbeque in Glasgow in the evening, and I thought I would use my day off work to see how far I could get under my own steam.

Pebbley path to Linlithgow

  

 



Canal at Ratho

The Edinburgh part of the canal path is smooth and easy to cycle (but watch out for dogs, pedestrians, and blind bridges), however once you get past Ratho the path becomes a lot more pebblely and uneven, and I didn't find it that fun to cycle in parts. Other friends of mine have complained it is boring, and while I wasn't bored, it certainly isn't the most spectacular landscape. The main variety is provided by the aquaducts where you have to dismount and walk across with your bike. It took me about 3 hours to travel the twenty miles to the town of Linlithgow, and I was totally exhausted.

Linlithgow

Sign post in Linlithgow showing distance

Linlithgow is a medium sized town in West Lothian. I wandered along to its loch and Linlithgow Palace, its most prominent landmarks. Linlithgow Palace was the birth place of Mary, Queen of Scots, and is now managed as a visitor attraction by Historic Scotland. I didn't go in on the grounds that it cost money, and I was very hungry. I visited the So Strawberry Cafe near to the palace where I had a nice, but slightly expensive wrap and cup of coffee. I was a bit outraged that the number of crisps that my wrap was served with was precisely 3.

Scary Falkirk tunnel

After spending an hour and a half in Linlithgow I felt a bit refreshed and decided to see if I could make it to Falkirk, thinking I would grab a train from there. When you get close to Falkirk the path becomes a 600 metre tunnel which you have to walk through, which is dimly lit, dark and drips. I found it really quite unnerving, especially as I couldn't walk as fast as I would have liked as I had two slow walking cyclists in front of me.

Falkirk Wheel  

The Falkirk Wheel connects the Union Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal lifting boats between the two. It was opened in 2002 and is striking architecturally. It also seems to be a busy tourist attraction with visitor centre and apparently you can go on a boat trip on it. I tied my bike up and wandered into the centre, mostly to look for a map to work out where I should go to get the train. A helpful girl in the centre showed me how to go back to get the train at Falkirk High station, but I was rather surprised to find I wasn't tired anymore. Some madness had set over me meaning the idea of continuing for another ten miles or so to Croy was appealing.

Forth and Clyde Canal

So I headed down to the Forth and Clyde Canal. The path of this canal was wider, and mostly gravely rather than being covered with small stones, so it wasn't too hard to cycle, and the scenery a bit prettier than the Union Canal. It took me an hour or so to cycle almost to Croy, but due to bad map reading I took the wrong turn off to Croy and added an extra 40 minutes to by journey by walking over a hill and cycling through a housing estate to get to the train station. However that was due to my own stupidity.

Forth and Clyde Canal

End of Journey

I arrived in Croy about 8 and a half hours after setting off, so I didn't exactly travel very fast. It is maybe the fact that I spread the journey out that meant I wasn't completely exhausted. I think I could have made it all the way even, but I would have missed the barbeque. When I got to Glasgow I even managed to have energy to cycle a bit of the way to my friend's flat (and I would have cycled more of the way if I hadn't ended up heading along Sauchiehall Street against the one way system).

Next time I just have to cycle all the way.

Cycle route rating:

Ease of cycling: medium (flat, but path pebbley in places, need stamina)

Access to facilities: can leave the canal in a number of places to find shops (I went to Lidl in Broxburn for example), also goes along the train line so if you end up exhausted, or it starts to bucket it down there is the option to jump on the train.

Best points: It's very hard to get lost. The path just follows the canal.