Tag: Community Walk

Community Walking Projects

Pennywell Murals Community Walk

Community Walk visiting the Pennywell murals in North Edinburgh. Sunday 22nd March, meeting at North Edinburgh Arts (full address below) at 2pm.

On this walk we will visit three vibrant murals by Fraser Gray which transform local buildings. Celebrating local history, they are a great example of the role the arts can play in brightening up urban areas, sparking conversation on climate change, and promoting a sense of belonging in community.

Expect:

  • fresh air and gentle walking / wheeling exercise
  • an opportunity to get to know new people
  • entertaining stories of local history
  • information about art and murals
  • the chance to enjoy urban nature

Led by Tamsin Grainger, experienced community walk leader.

Moving slowly through the city landscape allows for quality noticing. Pauses are important so we can discover and really see what is around us. We will embrace the environment, community and conversation.

The walk will be on tarmac, so fine for sticks and wheels, whether wheelchair or buggy. Dogs welcome.

Booking Link

Book here

How to get to North Edinburgh Arts

Address:12C MacMillan Square, Edinburgh, EH4 4AB. What3words: ///combs.chin.woven

You are encouraged to walk, cycle or use public transport to keep carbon emissions down. Buses 17, 24, 27 and 37 stop outside. There are bike racks outside the building. Strict parking restrictions operate on Pennywell Road. (As of 23 March 2026, the day after the walk, most on-street parking in the area will require a permit or payment.)

More information

Suggested donation £5 (£3 concession).

You might like to read about the North Edinburgh Art Trail here

The Walk Club

This is a Walk Club, Edinburgh walk that is open to everyone. It’s a brand-new Edinburgh walking / wheeling club offering ambulatory meet-ups that focus on local history, art, and urban nature ~ with a twist ~

More information about The Walk Club is here. You can join the new Walk Club by contacting tamsinlgrainger@gmail.com for details.

Community Walking Projects

Remembrance Day for Lost Species 2025

This community walk took place along the coast from Wardie Bay to Granton / Royston (the ‘Brick’) Beach to search for flat oyster shells on Remembrance Day for Lost Species.

Date: 30 November 2025.

Time: 2-3.30pm (14.00 – 15.30).

Meet: Wardie Bay, Granton, Edinburgh.

Ending: walk to Granton (Brick) Beach and The Pitt.

We met on November 30th 2025 at 2pm to walk together and find out about the restoration of seagrass habitats and European flat oyster populations in the Firth of Forth – a species which used to be abundant and was fished to local extinction around 100 years ago. Together, we searched for evidence of these flat oysters. There was talking and sharing about the history of the oyster industry in the area. We discussed our concerns for the health of the sea and the species who live in and depend on it.

We anticipate the event lasting 1.5 hours. It may be cold, so please bring a flask of something hot and wear warm clothes and suitable footwear. We will end at The Pitt where a variety of drinks and food will be on sale.

Granton (Brick) Beach, Edinburgh

This event has been thought up by Katie Smith from Granton Community Gardeners who is working to gather local knowledge about our wildlife and build a Granton nature restoration plan, and Tamsin Grainger, local walking artist with an interest in local history and community wellbeing.

Cost: Free (you can make a donation to cover costs if you would like to). Everyone is welcome including children and dogs. This walk will be manageable on wheels. We aim to be inclusive and open.

Research and Process

Research was made in advance through consultation with Restoration Forth. An initial meeting / training session was had, and we followed their guidelines in our search for flat oysters. The knowledge gained was jointly presented to members of the public on the walk, who all participated in the search, recording and reporting process.

There was also some collaboration with Edinburgh Shoreline with whom Tamsin previously worked on the 100 Species project.

Community Walking Projects

Widdershins

A short film made on the Summer Solstice 2025, a provocation curated by Kel Portman. Sub titled, Walking an Orbit on the Longest and Shortest Day, I walked an anti-clockwise circuit in Granton, Edinburgh at dawn. It included a swim in the cauldron of the Firth of Forth, and an encounter with one of the Covid Memorial Trail sculptures by Skye Loneragan and Stewart Ennis.

Below: 10 walking artists celebrate the summer solstice:

‘Widdershins, A Witch’s Walk’ (short film) was my contribution. Widdershins, a spell for the Summer Solstice. Scots: Anticlockwise. Deosil, Gaelic: turn right, towards the sun, ‘May things go right’. A Witch’s Walk, contrariwise – Fox (tod) shapeshifter – Crow (corbie) familiar – Clootie – Mugwort – Ragwort – Wych Elm – Cauldron – Spoons for stirring. Song: The Witches Reel 1591. Sculpture: Skye Loneragan and Stewart Ennis. Location: ///only.voices.passes 

Contributing artists: Claudia Zeiske, Janette Kerr, Jaqui Stearn, Kara-Louise Slattery, David Tidsall, Jaak Coetzer, Neil Greenhalgh, Martin P Eccles and Kel @kelarrowsmith

Community Walking Projects

Community Walk for the Festival of Terminalia

Please join us on a walk around Granton Harbour on Sunday 23rd February 2025 2.30-4pm to celebrate the Festival of Terminalia with history, art, nature, and community stories.

Explore the boundary of Granton Harbour: an urban walk on pavements and waste ground – past the old Gunpowder Store and site of the Ice House which served the fishing industries of Newhaven and Granton in 1950s, along the old railway lines and discover the original Granton Station, look out across the Firth of Forth and imagine the Esparto Grass boats coming in from the south of Spain and North Africa, check out the latest housing developments, and walk ‘The Wall‘.

Above: On the left -The Old Gunpowder Store (now Corinthian Yacht Club), middle – an old photo of the harbour from Lochinvar Drive, right – an old tram and the train which used to run along past Wardie Bay in days gone by.

Meet at 2.30pm at the corner of Lochinvar Drive and Lower Granton Road, outside the Corinthian Quay Apartments (EH5 1GL W3W phones.solo.groups) on Granton Square. Buggies, dogs and wheelchairs welcome. It is hoped that we can offer Polish and Arabic translations if required. It can be cold on the northern side of the harbour, so please wear warm clothes and sensible shoes. Bring water or a hot drink. Chocolate provided! 

Sorry about the poor quality , but here is the meeting point

Please book your place via Eventbrite

Register on Eventbrite
Community Walking Projects

Festival of Terminalia Community Walk

‘You said go slow … time after time’

A Community Walk was held on Friday February 23rd between 4-5.30pm, with drinks and discussion afterwards to chat about the walk and what we had seen and felt, at 5.30-6.30pm. Eventbrite was used for booking and everyone and their dogs were welcome!

The walk began and ended at the Granton:hub, Madelvic House, Granton Park Avenue, EH5 1HS.

I contributed words and images to a video assemblage, together with a host of other artists and Kel Portman, whose provocation this was. The link is here on the YouTube channel of Kel Arrowsmith. (My part is at 6:30 minutes.)

Introduction

A Granton Boundary walk was made in the Autumn of 2023, in advance of the opening of the Walking Like a Tortoise exhibition at the Granton:hub. It invited people to walk slowly together with a paper map, and annotate that map with places of interest (objects passed, thoughts thought, feelings felt, sites appreciated or not). We meandered, responding to participant’s interest, to their prior knowledge of the area, and to our whim. This might happen again! It was followed by a standing-up discussion and sharing of maps outside the building.

What happened on the walk

I proposed a (repeat) Midwinter walk around the same edgeland, as the evenings lightened, and I invited those who still had their maps to bring them and make comparisons. I brought the ones I was given after the original walk and handed them back for the purpose.

Tamsin

There was a brief introduction, then we walked together and had the opportunity to chat about borders and territories.

The remaining Granton Gasholder which is being built around, providing new housing and arts interventions

The immediate area around Madelvic House has changed considerably, as has the Gasholder (it was partially wrapped up) and the harbour, and therefore the new maps created will be likely to chart those changes, together with that of the seasons, and the alterations in us and the environment during the past quarter year.

Some of the group at the gasholder

This was an inclusive walk, paced for everyone, which was therefore on pavements.

Festival of Terminalia

This event was part of the Festival of Terminalia, an annual one-day celebration of walking, space, place and psychogeography.

Terminalia is a one day festival of walking, space, place and psychogeography on 23rd Feburary. Terminalia was the festival of Terminus, Roman god of boundaries and landmarks! Events have been run on this day since 2011.

Tim Waters tim@geothings.net

Tamsin is a wanderer and psychogeographer. She has nomadic habits and is very often found in the marginal areas around her Granton home. She is a qualified walk leader with Paths for All Scotland, and liked to perambulate with the Ageing Well group who belong to Victoria Park in Edinburgh. Her first art exhibition was Walking Like a Tortoise in 2023. She also writes and walks here .

You may also like: Walking the Granton Boundary

Links

Previous Terminalia walks / events

Festival of Terminalia
Walking the Line