It was Autumn, season of the falling away of summer foliage and the start of nature’s melancholy. On the day I happened upon this place, on a walk from Slateford to Tollcross, rays of sunlight lit up corners and features of the deserted graveyard.
There was sadness there, of course, but also a lightness and positivity. I find beauty in every season, and the shift from one to the other, the inevitable transformation, often calls for contemplation on what is passing, and what may be to come.
There are times when we feel that death is closer than usual, and very often the news is full of it, as it is today. Some block it out because it is too hard to face, others have no choice but to deal with loss and the complicated practicalities it brings. Still others will realise that the proximity of unexpected demise can be a good thing in some ways.
“A close conversing with death … would scum off the gall from our tempers, remove the animosities among us …”
For five thousand years we have used darkness as the metaphor of our mortality. We are at the mercy of merciless death, which is darkness. When we died, they [neolithic people who built Maes Howe] sent a beam of midwinter light in among our bones. What a tender, potent gesture. In the Christian era, we were laid in our graves to face the rising sun. ‘
‘The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.’.
The Bible, Isaiah
This is not a religious blog, I am not a church goer, but I do notice that when we know sorrow, it means we will also recognise happiness as its opposite when it returns; when we experience grief, then, too, we will recognise love. Living through the death of someone throws the light on these inevitable aspects of life.
English poet and hymnodist, William Cowper, described grief itself as medicine. Grief cleanses the anguish from our souls and sets us back up on the path of life so we can dance.
In these days of Covid-19 (we are still in lockdown in the UK as I write) there are a few more articles about death in the media than normal. The Guardian’s Yuval Noah Harari wrote, ‘Some might well argue that…the crisis should teach us humility. We shouldn’t be so sure of our ability to subdue the forces of nature…..While humanity as a whole becomes ever more powerful, individual people still need to face their fragility…We have to own up to our transience.”
For me, the acknowledgement that I do not know when I will die is something I remind myself of every day. It helps me put things into perspective. I might not live to a ripe old age, so I ask myself, ‘What is the most important thing right now?’
Access to the Dalry Cemetery is on Dundee Street near its join with henderson terrace and it backs onto Dalry Road in Edinburgh. See Find A Grave dot com
When I travel away from Edinburgh, my aim is clear: either to walk Pilgrimage (taking the paths people have trodden before me, where their steps have created tangible layers of spiritual tradition); or to explore a given area, what to me is virgin territory.
But when I am home, my walks are more prosaic – to and from work and the shops for my messages (used in Scotland, meaning errands) – placing my feet on known land, pavements I have walked so many times. Then my focus is on forging new connections between familiar places, seeing the same views from alternative perspectives and finding something new in them.
On Jan 11, I joined in the Snapshot Synchronised Walk (Women Who Walk Network) taking a route from Causewayside in a near-straight line to York Place.
After a day of teaching, a good tramp is therapeutic. Via ghostly vennels, northwards along narrow-walled passageways, up slopes, down flights of steep steps, I discovered a gothic-glowing steeple, a jaundiced arch lit by 19th century streetlamps, and scary blue eyes in a repurposed church. The extra-mundane exuded from the normal.
Corner of South St Andrew’s Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
I walked Causewayside from Sainsburys, past Summerhall with its ghoulish green up-lighting,
I meandered along the edge of the Meadows, and the South Loch Gin Distillery (which I hadn’t seen before),
South Loch Gin Distillery, Edinburgh, Scotland
I kept the University on my left,
Until I glimpsed the rear of the National Museum.
I picked my way over the cobbles of West College Street,
Across Chambers Street,
Down steps to meet Guthrie Street half way,
Crossed the Cowgate and took a mini-right to find Stevenlaw’s Close (which I didn’t know was there). Looking right I paused to snap the Stramash Live Music Bar.
Stramash Live Music Bar, Edinburgh, Scotland
On the opposite side of the High Street was Fleshmarket Close,
On the opposite side of Cockburn Street was the downhill flight past the Halfway House:
The Balmoral Hotel in the distance, on the corner of North Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland
Through Waverley Station and up the other side, I crossed Princes Street and took South St Andrew’s Street where I popped my head into the old Bank of Scotland which has become a mighty fine looking hotel.
The old Bank of Scotland building, St Andrew’s Square, now The Edinburgh Grand, Edinburgh, Scotland
I posted a thank you letter in a pastel pink envelope I had been carrying in my bag for a few days, to my sister in London.
The rain came on.
The wind blew me through the bus station (where a small bag of mini-cheddars were outrageously priced) and out onto York Place, carefully avoiding trapping my toes in the tram lines.
Rounding the corner to Broughton Street I found that the bus stop was closed – again.
All the way down that road I tripped, head down because of the driving wind,
…where I waited 7 minutes, as my coat became increasingly sodden, before taking the bus to my home by the sea.
Edinburgh Castle, Scotland.Scottish National Gallery, the Mound. Edinburgh, Scotland.Scottish National Gallery, Princes Street. Edinburgh, Scotland.St Cuthbert’s Church, Lothian Road. Edinburgh, Scotland.Churchyard, St Cuthbert’s Church, Lothian Road (entrance also from Princes Street gardens, west end). Edinburgh, Scotland.Waldorf Astoria – The Caledonian, Lothian Road. Edinburgh, Scotland.National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Edinburgh, Scotland.National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, and in front the Bedlam Theatre, a fully operational, 90-seat theatre housed in a former Neogothic Church. Edinburgh, ScotlandThe Flodden Wall (George IV Bridge near Greyfriar’s Church). Edinburgh, Scotland.Greyfriar’s Kirk (church), George IV Bridge. Edinburgh, Scotland.View from graveyard of Greyfriar’s Kirk (church), George IV Bridge towards Cental Library. Edinburgh, Scotland.View from graveyard. Greyfriar’s Kirk (church), George IV Bridge. Towards Forest Row. Edinburgh, Scotland.Greyriar’s Bobby (dug / dog). Notice his shiny nose where people rub it for good luck. Edinburgh, Scotland.St Giles Cathedral and Mercat Cross, Royal Mile. Edinburgh, Scotland.View from the Bank of Scotland building, the Mound – Princes Street and the Scott Monument. Edinburgh, Scotland.Princes Street Gardens, Scott Monument and the Balmoral Hotel (North Bridge). Edinburgh, Scotland.Live music at the Mound (Scott Monument in the background). Edinburgh, Scotland.Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland.St John’s Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland.Carlton Hill with street lamps and clouds, Edinburgh, Scotland.The Meadows, Edinburgh, Scotland.Drumsheugh Gardens, New Town, Edinburgh, Scotland.Douglas Gardens, New Town, Edinburgh, Scotland.The Water of Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.The Old Cinema, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.Ramsay Garden, Castlehill, Edinburgh (top of the Royal Mile)
Granton Harbour (built in the 1830s and historical site of the first electric car factory) to South Queensferry – an easy and utterly heavenly walk which takes you along the shore, through woodland and between agricultural pastures.
This blog contains directions for the walk, together with a collection of observations.
Bluebell woods, Rosebery Estate, Scotland
Agricultural land, Rosebery Estate, Scotland.
Today was everything that is quintessentially reminiscent of my childhood in British springtime: bluebell woods and wild flowers by the path side.
Cow parsley, Silverknowes, Scotland
Wild garlic
Granton
I left at 11.20 and arrived at 4.20, but as my friend Ann said when she told me about this walk on Friday, it depends how many times you stop! I think I probably had half an hour at the cafe and half on the beach so I would allow 4 hours.
The Cramond Falls Cafe is in the woods along the Rover Almond Walkway, Scotland
It was shorts and t-shirt weather.
Broadwalk Beach Club (cafe), Cramond Foreshore, Silverknowes, Scotland. Note the wide path (car free)
“The natural world is where we evolved. It’s where our minds evolved. It’s where we became who we truly are, and it’s where we are most at home.” – Michael McCarthy –
The old light house where Janis used to store her Scenehouse (professional set design training) costumes. Granton, Edinburgh
It starts among wasteland and industrial plots – either side of West Harbour Road.
The Big Red Bus company Vintage Routemaster bus hire, special occasions etc run by friends
Once away from the traffic, I saw a circle of gulls mimicking a mothers group, just out at sea; a pair of multi-coloured sparrow-small birds (red, black, brown and white) which played by the water line; and eider ducks swam by – she brown and he black and white.
Silverknowes
The first sight of the sea. You cannot quite make out the Forth rail bridge in the photo but you can with the naked eye
The little girl who held her mother’s hand was leaping for joy over the waves
Inchkeith Island in the distance, one of the many small islands in the Firth of Forth
The tarmac way stretching from Granton through Silverknowes (1 mile) to Cramond is perfect for wheels of all sorts – scooters, roller skates and blades, prams, wheelchairs and bikes. Dad said, ‘look no hands’, and wobbled dangerously. As he passed me he muttered, ‘harder on this bike’!
The little white blob on the left was a baby enjoying picking up stones while her mum had a quiet smoke
It can be crowded at weekends at this stage, but at other times so very peaceful. As I passed, I caught the fragrance of elderflower and meadowsweet. The Edinburgh airport flight path is parallel to this trek so planes roared periodically overhead.
The area is full of history, with boards located at intervals which tell you about it.
On one side, the sea, on the other private parkland with trees in between
Almond House Lodge, Marine Drive, Edinburgh
Past Gypsy Brae, I spied Almond House Lodge. At the corner you can cross to Cramond Island at low tide but beware! People often get stranded.
Cramond
Cramond Island and the familiar sight of white yachts racing, Scotland
On the left are public toilets and then a steep slope up to the village. By now you will have passed two ice-cream vans. There are two cafes: the Cramond Gallery Bistro near where the Roman statue of a lionness was dredged up in 1977, and further on past the marina, the Cramond Falls cafe. There I stopped for a delicious green tea and what was not really a scone, but nice cherry cake just out of the oven. I sat in the ‘walled garden’ listening to a woman read out a most distressing text from her son.
Yacht moored at the mouth of the Almond River, Scotland
Part of the marina on the River Almond. You can see the ferry house opposite where a small boat took people across in the past
The picturesque River Almond, Scotland
The weir at Caddell’s Row, River Almond, Scotland. Look out for herons here!
A duckling was nudged by its mother; a tan-headed crested grebe ducked and reappeared, its tuft upright though wet. Thin, shiny-green beech leaves looked almost plasticky, matching the weed drifting in the river. The sound of bubbling water and the ‘creep creep’ of birds surrounded me.
One of a pair of women in serious sun hats were the first to say ‘good morning’, an hour and a half into my walk. She was American. ‘Oh’, she said as I went past, ‘I’ve been saying good morning all this time and it’s the afternoon!’ and laughed. Later there were many friendly families of cyclists cheerfully greeting me.
The path is generally very easy to follow, but do keep taking the right hand fork if you have a choice.
Take a right at Dowies Mill Lane where there is a playpark and Shetland ponies. I realised I was already at the field I was told about and, yes, there was a just-newborn foal in a woman’s arms. Last week’s littl’un was being trotted round the field by its mother. The two other adult horses were curious, and crowded round the shed door to view the new arrival.
Then take a right again at Cramond Brig (bridge). (You could go left for the cycle path back to Edinburgh, or straight on for the continuation of the Almond Walkway).
After Bridge Cottage (above), go up the lane by the Cramond Brig Inn and keep right until there are signs to South Queensferry. The road travels through the Dalmeny Estate by a bank of comfrey, white dead nettle, dandelions, pink campion and buttercups. Flies looped the loop after each other in front of my nose. A cuckoo called; a bee buzzed by my ear; white cherry-blossom petals wafted.
Keep straight on.
Manure – allotment holders delight!
Look to the right to see Granton’s very own disused gas building (once the site of Hidden Door Festival 2021 and now part of the extensive redevelopment of the area’s housing).
Granton’s disused gas works, Waterfront Park, Edinburgh
When you get close to the sea take the left fork signed John Muir Way (JM Way).
The John Muir Way between Granton (Edinburgh) and South Queensferry
A group of women came up behind me with their Glasgow accents. In fact, all day I heard almost as many foreign languages as I hear when walking in mainland Europe.
Turn left again at the beach. Here one can take a tiny right hand détour to lie on warm sand and sit on the promontory of Eagle Rock with its chocolate seams, in a beige cove. I looked back to my right at Cramond Harbour with a beautiful view of the island.
Eagle Rock, Scotland
I meditated on the sound of the waves and tried, unsuccessfully, to ignore the fly crawling up my arm. I smelled the beautiful briney sea (sing-along-a Bedknobs and Broomsticks fans).
Oyster catchers, and curlews with long sabre-curved beaks perched on the starboard side.
At the cottages, stay right on the JM Way.
There was a coconut scent of warm gorse here. The ash trees had young leaves, no black nibs to decorate them as it was April. I stopped and hung over the dinky wooden bridge and heard a bumble bee and the trickling brook.
The path continued beside the golf links, opposite the Fife Coastal Path.
Two geese flew over and honked. It was definitely spring – everything and everyone was in pairs. I will be honest, I wanted the whole world to be in love.
Dalmeny Estate
A great arc of precisely patterned oyster catchers alighted in front of the couple who sat quietly side-by-side at the shoreline. Later I spotted the birds lined up neatly, a flock on a rock, like black and white cake-icing.
First I walked past the impressive Dalmeny House and very shortly afterwards, the grey stone Barnbougle Castle owned by the Earl of Rosebery and extremely private. This is where I saw my first magenta rhododendron buds. I was on cycle route 76 as well as the JM Way.
Dalmeny House, Scotland
Barnbougle Castle
I passed a mum taking a snap of dad up a tree, son in his bike helmet looking up into the branches nervously. As I waded through springy undergrowth to get a shot, I disturbed spider filaments which clung to me and tickled as I got back to the path. There were cerise stalks and seed cases of the sycamore and a pollen-yellow clutch of unfurled ferns.
To my mind it was a shame about the yapping dogs on the beach and the droning of the water motorbikes; but a kid hurling stones, boys paddling and little girls rock pooling all seemed idyllic.
I heard a lad saying, ‘Don’t you hate it when you get a speck of sand between your toes and then there’s a blister?’ Luckily I had none 🙂
Then a lady shrilly asking, ‘Do you trust me?’ She laughed, afterwards, with a wicked stepmother sort of cackle.
A black lab rushed up to me with a ruby-coloured, lolling tongue implying, ‘you might want to lie down but I want you to throw the stick’.
I passed out of the Dalmeny Estate through the Longcraig Gate at South Queensferry. If you do not want to walk the whole way, you can park at the foot of the rail bridge and walk part of the way in the other direction. You could also take the train from Edinburgh to Dalmeny Town and cycle (£4.70 return with Scotrail).
The famous Forth Rail Bridge, South Queensferry, Scotland. The one they have to start paining again as soon as they have finished
Under the famous rail bridge I found myself on New Halls Road where perhaps 50 bikers with their beards and bald heads revving their engines. I had a refreshing half of Holyrood pale ale in The Hawes Inn.
The rail bridge over the Firth of Forth with a view of the new road bridge between its legs
South Queensferry and the new Forth Road Bridge, Scotland (from the train so with window reflections)The old Firth of Forth road bridge which is the way over to start the St Andrew’s pilgrim and Fife Coastal paths
There are many steep steps to the station and tiny little signs. When you find yourself in the middle of a housing estate, go straight on (not right) and it is on the left. (I am not quite sure why I got a return except that my head is always ‘mince’ after a walk. The guard said if he had sold it to me on the train he could have refunded it!).
Scotland has a bit of reputation when it comes to the weather! If you live here, you know that there can be gloriously sunny, crisp days when it is a pleasure to be alive. However, it does rain sometimes, even in the summer, so here are some of my favourite places to go on those wet days!
This magnificent building is on Chambers Street, just 15 minutes’ walk from Princes Street in the city centre. Free entry. Open daily 10.00-17.00.
The National Museum of Edinburgh
There are interactive things for kids (and big kids!) including machines and massive stuffed animals; fascinating Scottish historical artefacts displayed in creative ways; original temporary exhibitions; plus it is warm; there is a decent cafe; free wifi ….
Atalanta and Hippomenes
…. jewellery, spacecraft, dinosaurs, Buddhas, death masks and the bizarre and wonderful Millennium Clockmade by Tim Stead and others, which clatters and whirrs every hour, plays Bach and is just a must-see.
Giant Buddha, National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street
Whilst being equally grand and beautiful, in contrast the inside of this building is made of darker wood with a silent sweep of staircase. Look up in awe at the iconic painted panels of Scottish queens and kings all around its walls.
The National Portrait Gallery, Queens Street, Edinburgh
Do not miss the shrunken heads in the bijou library; the originally flavoured scones in the cafe; or the modern portraits such as the brooding Naomi Mitchison (novelist), sexy Michael Clark (dancer) and David Mach’s collage of Gavin Hastings (Rugby player). Free entry. Open daily 10.00-17.00.
Home of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, you can view the best of independent cinema here on Lothian Road.
The famous Usher Hall opposite the Filmhouse on Lothian Road, Edinburgh
With 3 screens showing work from around the world, and a lively cafe where there is often a very interesting art exhibition, you can also browse and buy from the idiosyncratic film shelves, and the tickets are affordable.
The Dovecot is a weaving gallery where tapestries are being woven while you walk around it! Monday to Saturday 10.00-17.00.
Orla Kieley chairs at the Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh
Found in the old Infirmary Street swimming baths (where there is also a small gift shop with original ware), the highlight is the amazing viewing gallery where you can watch the Master Weavers at work. This cafe, brought to you by Leos Beanery which has its own outlet at 23A Howe Street, EH3 6TF, serves delicious cakes, yummy savouries and good coffee. Free entry.
These restored Victorian baths have a modern sauna and gym with Pilates and yoga classes.
A lovely day for ducks!
Located in the crook of the Water of Leith, among the attractive colonies housing area which is very near the trendy Stockbridge part of Edinburgh, you can exercise and relax, with or without children, calming your nervous system as you float, and emerging clean and sparkling afterwards.
5. Bookshops
Sightlines: A Conversation with the Natural World by Kathleen Jamie
Edinburgh has a literary array of independent bookshops from Golden Hare in Stockbridge (68 St Stephen Street EH3 5AQ) to Lighthouse, Edinburgh’s Radical Bookshop at 43- 45 West Nicolson Street, EH8 9DB, from Argonaut with its lovely cafe at the foot of Leith Walk (#15-17), to the miniscule but delightful Typewronger at the top (4a Haddington Place, EH7 4AE), and from Portobello at 46 Portobello High Street (the inspired author, Ali Smith, dedicated her new novel to them) to Topping and Co at 2 Blenheim Place, EH7 5JH.
Then there’s Waterstone’s, part of a national chain of bookshops and quite grand in its own way. The initial flight of stairs splits to take you right and left to the different departments, and the mezzanine floor houses the cafe which has a great view of Edinburgh Castle.
In all of these, you can cosy down in a warm carpeted corner or on a comfy armchair, and transport yourself into the world of Trainspotting (Irvine Walsh’s gritty novel set in Edinburgh’s Leith) or Hogwarts of course (the Harry Potter books written in part at the Elephant House cafe by J.K. Rowling).
Get away from the noise and crowds for some quiet contemplation in St Mary’s Episcopalian Cathedral. See the contemporary and colourful stained glass, especially the Paolozzi window; and the radiant glow of ‘The Presence’, a painting by the Edinburgh artist A.E. Borthwick from 1910. When the clouds clear and the sun comes out, walk the wildflower labyrinth.
St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh
St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral wildflower labyrinth
Funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, look out for the stunning ceiling of the George Washington Browne room, the hidden Fine Art library (wooden tables and chairs as you would imagine from your childhood) which has interesting art exhibitions, and a substantial local history / Scottish section.
Get Wisdom – tiles at Central Library, Edinburgh
Downside: the toilets are in the basement, but, upside, you get to see some lesser known art as you wind your way down there.
Finding wifi
And, finally, I know when I am travelling I need to keep in contact with friends and family and if I am having trouble with my phone I need wifi: Try the Fruitmarket Gallery cafe where you can also see contemporary art exhibitions of the highest calibre.
Walking without a donkey 