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.