Newhaven – Walking without a donkey

The Walk Club Edinburgh is a brand-new Edinburgh walking / wheeling club offering ambulatory meet-ups that focus on local history, art, and urban nature ~ with a twist ~

Our next walk

The Walk Club Edinburgh next walk will be on 23rd October at 5-6pm. (Please note that this is a different time from usual.) It will be a circular walk for one hour, leaving from Madelvic House (Granton:Hub) Granton Park Avenue, Edinburgh, EH5 1HS. Booking link here

It accompanies the art exhibition, Blended. All the art work came about as a result of walking and consists of mixed media art – wire sculpture, photography, and stitched textiles. There will also be a small pop-up shop. The exhibition opening event is immediately after the walk and you are invited to attend. Refreshments (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) will be provided.

A donation towards this event will be used to fund research and preparation time. Please note that even if free tickets are sold out, you will still be able to book a donation ticket.

The Walk Club Edinburgh – About

Each walk will have a theme and celebrate events such as the Festival of Terminalia, the Urban Tree Festival, May Day, and the Autumn Equinox. The events aim to be stimulating and the company friendly. Fresh air and gentle exercise are promised, whether you are on wheels or feet, and the Walk Club is open to everyone. Children and dogs are welcome (no membership fee for them!) The aim is to be accessible, inclusive, and flexible.

Moving slowly through the urban landscape allows for higher quality noticing and time to pay attention. Pauses are important so we can look, smell, and discover. We will embrace community, as well as silence and conversation.

Member benefits

Advance booking for all walks
All events free
Simple to join
Personalised communication
Membership badge
Welcome postcard
Walk Club Membership Card

Hand-made map for the Rock On! walk ©Tamsin Grainger

Detail

Monthly walks around Edinburgh, often in less well-known areas
Location: Each walk will be different
Time: Sundays, 2-4pm, once a month
Duration: Approximately two hours
The walks will go ahead whatever the weather
You are welcome to attend all or some of the walks as you wish

What will we do?

Meet-ups will involve:

Walking / wheeling
The opportunity to get to know one another
Local history, games, quiet meditative walking

Each one will be different in topic / theme.
Just turn up. There is no need to tell me if you’re coming unless you would like to be certain that the walk will be possible for you.

Cost

For an annual membership fee of £10 (£5 concessions) you will receive a membership pack through the post (including a badge, welcome postcard, and the Walk Club membership card).
You can make a donation per walk if you want – something like £5/£3 – no pressure.

Download a membership form

Please note that at this time, you have various options in order to join The Walk Club:

Download the form by clicking the button above and print it out in order to fill it in. Then upload it and return it to me
If you have a programme on your phone / computer that will allow you to fill in a pdf on screen, then you can miss out the print-out part and simply click on the button above, fill it in and email it to me
You can email me now and I will send you the membership form.

My email is tamsinlgrainger@gmail.com and once I have your form and annual membership fee, I will send out your membership pack.

The first Walk Club event

The first walk was on the Saturday 21st February celebrating the Festival of Terminalia: Rock On!

We collected stones at Wardie Bay and walked them past rock music studios to Granton ‘the Brick’ Beach and made a cairn

Other walks

Since then, we have met monthly and here are some of the walks we have been on together:

On August 22nd, we walked the Linen Way in Bonnington and surrounds. It was a community walk around the Bonnington area of Edinburgh with local history, nature and art.

Composite image of sites of interest around Bonnington, Edinburgh

We visited sites of mills (including the early Chancelot Mill), cottages of the linen and wool workers (with some information about shrouds), the areas known as Bonnytoun and Bonnyhaugh. And we looked into the origins of local street names such as Mill Lade, locate the site of St Cuthbert’s Well, and take in the Water of Leith where women bleached the linen.

Knots, a community walk for all the family was on Saturday 26th September as part of the Granton:hub / Madelvic House Doors Open Day.

We walked, played, and did an art activity, as well as learning about nature. This event was concerned with the Harbour / fishing, and United Wire, both historical and contemporary industries. We learned a basic knot, and made a joint artwork. It started at the Granton Hub / Madelvic House.

We have also walked around Western Harbour:

Saturday 23rd May, 2-4pm. There was local history, information about the campaign to save the ponds, the wind/alternative energy structures, art, and local stories. We had an optional cafe visit at 1pm (The Haven, 9 Anchorfield, Newhaven, Edinburgh EH6 4JG). It was, as ever, open to everyone.

Wind turbine structures at Leith for the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm, situated off the Angus coast https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crm88mkl87ko

There have also been Walking with Children and Families events, Granton Hub activities

These were community walks for all the family on Friday afternoons, and started on 22nd May. We walked, played, did an art activity related to local history, and learned about nature too.

Walking the Pennywell Labyrinth

Another walk took in the Pennywell Labyrinth. It was in April 2026and we met at North Edinburgh Arts (2pm – 4pm). It was a there-and-back walk, and the labyrinth was designed by Natalie Taylor.

Labyrinth by Natalie Taylor, Old Kirk, North Edinburgh. ©Natalie Taylor

Pennywell Kirk, site of the labyrinth where Alan unexpectedly came along with the keys and gave us a guided tour

One (Sunday 22nd March) marked the Spring Equinox and visited the Pennywell Arts and Heritage Trail murals in North Edinburgh. The artwork below is by Fraser Gray and the walk was led by me, Tamsin Grainger, with local history, stories, art chat and discussion. All ages were welcome, and it was foot, wheel and paw friendly.

Mural by Fraser Gray, part of the Pennywell Arts and Heritage Trail

More information on the North Edinburgh Arts Trail

The March and April walks are featured on my blog here

Late Winter / Early Spring 2017 / January 2018

January 2018.

Would you ever know that this gorgeous place is a mere 20 minutes bus ride (2 miles, 3 kms) from the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh city centre? Found on the south side of the Firth of Forth, between Granton and Leith Harbours, it was James IV who created it in 1504 to build the warship ‘Michael’.

Once a thriving fishing village, today’s piscary community is tiny compared with the fleets of the past. Well known for its oysters (until 1890), and once involved in whaling, it was Scottish folk songs about the herring business which first bought it to my attention.

The hard working women and girls who gutted and sold the fish from door to door in creels (baskets), are immortalised in songs such as Caller Herring (1798, words by Caroline Nairne and music by Nathaniel Gow) and Song of the Fishgutters.

Newhaven fishergirls pose with a creel. Photo by Hill and Adamson. 1840s

There is one boat I see regularly unloading its crab cargo, and the articulated trucks which carry the iced fish up and down the country are parked by the fish market in the eye catching red Victorian buildings where the museum used to be. There is a retail fishmonger there nowadays, Welchs, with its astonishing array of fresh and frozen sea food and associated goods.

DSC_0026 (640x360) — Newhaven Harbour and lighthouse, Edinburgh

This conservation area somehow manages to sit cheek by jowel with the imposing Chancelot Mill, the happily situated Holiday Inn, and ecologically designed supermarket, none of which contribute in any way to the architectural beauty of the area.

…as you can see!

But you can find a very friendly welcome, comfy surroundings, and the best raspberry scones, freshly made cakes and affordable all-day breakfasts (sitting-in or to take-away) very near by at The Haven cafe on Lindsay Road.

There are other sights to see in the area: a beautiful, wee community garden by the wall plaque.

You can also find the upmarket Loch Fyne Oyster Bar; and the David Lloyd health club where you can swim outside in a heated pool right beside the seaside. There’s lots of accommodation, particularly air bnb (see below).

The famously expensive Edinburgh trams are on their way here now – soon to run as far as Ocean Terminal (20 minutes walk east / 7 minutes on the bus). The airport bus (number 200) also runs past and takes you to your flight in just over an hour.

The old church is now the very popular Alien Rock, climbing wall.

This area was part of a massive re-development reputed to be the size of Edinburgh all over again, going to be built on the docks and reclaimed land between Leith and Granton. The economic situation put paid to that, but there are some impressive tower blocks (Western Harbour for example) around which you can wander in the wind and some rocks where people picnic and fish with their hoods up.

Western Harbour flats.

DSC_0020 (360x640) — The ‘secret’ beach – see if you can find it!

There is plenty to see whatever the weather: the water itself and the seasonal bird population; Inchkeith Island housing left-over battlements and a still operational lighthouse; and the view of Fife and its hills across the estuary. In the summer the massive liners disgorge their tourists who are ferried into the harbour to be whisked away by coach to see the castle. The coastguard from Granton Harbour (half an hour’s promenade to the west) are always buzzing in and out accompanying the visiting shipping from Denmark (oil tankers), Malta, the UK and further afield.

Inchkeith Island, Firth of Forth.

Fishmarket Square is just opposite the Oyster Bar, a quaint place where a (sadly) one-off Apple Festival was held a few years ago.

The recommended pub in the area is the Dreadnought, 72 North Fort Street (the bottom end!) with open jam sessions, the ubiquitous pub quiz, and appreciated pizzas. It stocks local beers from the Leith brewery (eg Pilot), a permanent gluten-free lager from Brass Castle (the owner Toby’s brother’s brewery), plus guest and vegan ones.