East Lothian - Backyard bicycling

East Lothian is a very varied area of southern Scotland, with green farmland, gentle hills, nice wee towns and some lovely beaches. It stretches eastwards from Portobello until the coast turns south. As it's right on my doorstep, I consider it my backyard. So here's a short backyard bicycle trip, right from the front door, that I did recently with my friend, Graham.

We connected quickly and easily to national cycle route 1 where it trundles beside the River Esk. It then passes through Whitecraig to continue along a delightful, old railway line.

We left the old line about half way along to make a connection to the Pencaitland Railway Walk. The railway line here was built in the late 19th century to serve the mines in the area but also carried passengers and agricultural goods. It closed in 1965 and is now part of the national cycle network.

East Lothian's excellent core path network took us away from the railway walk at Ormiston and along a series of lovely, lush tracks and paths that criss-crossed through the fields to Macmerry and Penston. We joined the cycle lane along the main road here to continue to the pleasant wee town of Haddington.

Another disused railway line then runs to Longniddry. It was stunning in mid May with the hawthorn hedgerows in full bloom. In autumn, these same trees create a dazzling red corridor when they are heavy with berries. We also passed under many old arched bridges.

We explored a new route from Longniddry down to the coast with a fun descent through Dean Woods. There was a bit of beach fun before taking the coastal cycle route back to Portobello.

Fact File

Start/finish: Portobello

Picked up national cycle route 1 at Brunstane Station and followed to beyond Whitecraig. The Pentcaitland Railway Path (NCN196) is signed from here, about half way along the old railway line. Left the Pencaitland Path just after it passes Ormiston and used the core path network signed to Macmerry. Continued straight through Penston and stayed right at the fork to join the A199 which has a wide cycle lane. At the next junction and roundabout continued into Haddington and the Longniddry path (NCN76) is signed from this main road into town. At the other end we continued along the A198 west using the wide footpath and took the path down through Dean Woods - on the left, just before dual carriageway starts. This goes to the coast and connects nicely to the start of the cycle path at Longniddry Bents which continues mostly off-road to Musselburgh. It's then the main road or the Brunstane Burn path back to Porty.

Great Glen - iScoot

If I said to you that I've got a new "pair of wheels" you might think that I'd bought another bicycle! But, after thinking about it for a year or so, I eventually bought an adult scooter. My thinking was that it would turn a walk that was ordinarily a bit of plod into a bit of fun instead. My first trip with the scooter was a few days of hillwalking along the Great Glen north of Fort William.

I hopped off the train at Banavie which is a few miles west of Fort William and sits right on the Caledonian Canal. The canal towpath is a hard-packed, relatively smooth dirt surface and I thought it would be perfect for the scooter rather than walk the 6 miles to Gairlochy. It did the job really well, although it was more work than either walking or cycling, especially with a four-day pack on my back. But it was great fun and a wee bit different, attracting lots of looks and comments.

After my 6-mile scoot, I hid my wheels in the woods and set out walking along the route of the Great Glen Way. Here it passes along the shores of Loch Lochy and high above the waters were two Munros that I hadn't climbed yet. After a night's camping at one of the informal wild camp spots on the Way, I made a lovely walk up through the trees. Although the area was densely forested with commercials pines, the gorge that the footpath followed was crammed with deciduous trees and lined by primroses and violets, making for a much nicer walk. 

The path eventually left the trees and climbed to a high bealach between the two Munros. I pulled myself up the broad flank of the first one, Sron a Choire Ghairbh, just as a bank of mist blew over and obscured my views from the top. I returned to the bealach and sat a while munching a muesli bar. I'll never make a Munro-bagger! I was sitting so close to the second Munro and could have been up it in less than hour but didn't. I decided that I had enjoyed the journey here so much, scooting along the canal and walking the forest trails, that I would leave the other Munro unclimbed, thus giving me an incentive to do it all again. So I dropped down the far side of the hills to camp for the night.

Next morning I continued down to the shores of Loch Arkaig and on a hot, sunny day set out walking through the beautiful, cool woods of Glen Mallie. Where the woods ended I made a long walk to the head of the valley and the ruin called Glenmallie. It was a lovely spot here with drystone dykes forming an enclosure, clusters of trees by the river and my next target, the Munro of Gulvain, forming a dramatic backdrop. I decided I would camp here that night and hid my heavier camping kit behind the wall before continuing up the hill. I was very excited to see here, sunning itself on the track, my first slow worm. It's neither a worm nor a snake but a legless lizard. I also had good views of two golden eagles.

The top of Gulvain was a long time coming, over rough, pathless slopes and a steep boulder field on the final stretch. But what views from from the top. Knoydart stretched out to the west and Ben Nevis dominated to the south. I could see Skye and the Kintail peaks with the jagged outline of Torridon to the north. It was marvellous to sit up there in warm sunshine with a barely a breath of wind, procrastinating over the long walk back. The camp spot at Glenmallie was a long time coming and by the time I was back at my kit, I had walked over 30km and climbed a Munro! I sipped my evening cuppa looking back to the dark outline of Gulvain and fell asleep quickly.

My last day was a pleasant walk back to Gairlochy to pick up the scooter which was safe and sound under its rhododendron bush. Then back to Fort William along the canal on my final scoot of the trip.

Fact File

More photos including the slow worm on Flickr - click HERE.

Start: Banavie train stop

Finish: Fort William train station

My route: Up the Caledonian Canal from Banavie to Gairlochy. Followed the Great Glen Way towards Laggan. Just before Kilfinnan a side track heads to the left signed for the hill path. 2.5km along this track is the hill path, marked with a small cairn and walkers' sign. This is a big double-back but with dense forestry all around, I couldn't see a direct route. Most folk will arrive at theses hill by car and enter from Laggan so won't have this problem. The hill path climbs to a bealach between Sron a Choire Ghairbh and Meall ne Teanga and paths head off up both Munros, routes obvious in clear weather. I continued north along the path into Cam Bealach and the ruin at Fedden, dodging some deer fencing and bogs. I then picked up the path that passes southwest through Gleann Cia-aig and pops out at the start of Loch Arkaig, giving nice access to the hills in Glen Mallie. I followed the main track up the glen to the ruin of Glenmallie and beyond until it eventually comes to a stone dyke that traverses the hill. Followed the dyke to the bealach with the spot height 536 and from here it was a straight forward climb to the top of Gulvain. Returned to Gairlochy and Fort William same way.