East Lothian - Pencaitland railway trail

Well, another couple of weeks of lockdown have passed. I’m not bored (yet) and have been enjoying my local trails for longer cycles at the weekend. One of these is the wonderful cycling route along the disused line of the Pencaitland railway, which starts a few miles from my house. I set out there last weekend with my friend Graham. We cycled a suitable social distance apart!

The railway opened in 1867 and was part of the Edinburgh to Macmerry branch line. In 1901 it was extended to Gifford. Its biggest customer was the local coal mining industry but it also carried passengers, agricultural goods and whisky. At its peak 30,000 passengers per year travelled on the trains and the journey from Edinburgh to Gifford took an hour and eleven minutes. The engines of the trains were known as “stoorie pugs”, stoorie meaning dusty. Inevitably coal mining declined and the demand for road traffic increased, so the line was closed in the 1960s. Thankfully it’s been preserved as a traffic-free, 7-mile route across the East Lothian countryside.

Our trip there started by cycling south out of Portobello on a warm spring morning. We skirted Musselburgh and passed through Whitecraig before joining the start of the trail. Much of the route was wide and open with views across the surrounding farmland and over to the Garleton Hills and Traprain Law. But here and there it dived into dense woodland where we were wrapped up in the trees. The world was beginning to turn green after the washed-out colours of winter and the hedgerows were alive with birds. 

Every now and again we would pass an inscribed stone marking the former location of an old pit – an epitaph to an industry and a way of life. What’s really incredible is that this is not ancient history, with the last mines only closing in the early sixties, but there is already no trace whatsoever that they were ever there. Nature has taken control over much of the place, as it must be doing now all over the world while the human population is in lockdown.

As we were cycling along the old line where it passed above Pencaitland, we started to ask ourselves if continuing much further would no longer constitute “local” exercise, as required in lockdown. We thought probably not, so decided to turn back. Just before we did, we happened to explore an offshoot of the trail that neither of us had cycled before. We soon found ourselves on a beautiful path that meandered through a springtime beech wood to Glenkinchie. Tall trunks reached to a blue sky and sun dappled the forest floor which was covered by the yellow stars of celandine. It flowers early, before the canopy comes into leaf. It was a stunning discovery and a perfect turn-around point for our ride.

The anticipated tailwind didn’t materialise on the way back, although we seemed to have a headwind on the way out! It didn’t matter and we’d still had a great ride. In time, the discovery of the Glenkinchie path will encapsulate for me the joy that can be found during lockdown, by exploring more deeply the places on our doorstep.

Fact File
Start/finish: Portobello
My route: Cycled south along Brunstane Road to pick National Cycle Route 1 and followed it towards Musselburgh and Whitecraig. After Whitecraig, the route is another disused railway line and after about 1km, the Pencaitland trail is signed to the left. Follow the cycle route up the hill, turn left at the top, then right at the traffic lights. The Pencaitland trail starts just after here on the left and is signed. Closest Hamlet to the start of the trail is Crossgatehall.

Portobello - The once a day, social exclusion walk

I often ask myself why I write this blog. Some people read it obviously and I hope in particular it provides some inspiration to folk for getting outdoors without a car. But the other reason is that it provides a means for me to record my memories of all my outdoor trips. One day, when I’m old, I can look back at all the adventures. I will gaze at old pictures and be amazed at how young I looked. Actually, I already do that! So I suppose I want to record in the blog the only time in my life (so far) when I wasn’t able to get outdoors. As I write, Scotland is in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. I can’t take trains or buses to my favourite places, can’t go camping and I’m only able to go outside in my local area, once a day. So here is one of the walks from the house that’s getting me outdoors during lockdown.

My walk starts by crossing the wee park that’s just around the corner. It’s commonly called the Daisy Park but is better known for its lavish display of crocuses in the first part of the year. My favourite memories of the park are witnessing a large flock of waxwings scoff the berries and, during the Beast from the East, being able to simply walk over the top of the park’s surrounding wall instead of using the gate because the drifts of snow were so deep.  The grass is often picked over by oystercatchers and there are plenty of birds in the mature trees around the edge of the park. When you add the birds here to those in the surrounding gardens of the grand villas, you get a pretty good dawn chorus for an urban area. I love to get up early morning and sit in my own wee garden with coffee to listen to their beautiful morning song. The blackbirds just now are especially tuneful with their flute-like song.

It’s uphill a little from the Daisy Park as I walk up and over the pedestrian overpass which crosses above the main east coast train line. It’s a very busy line normally with regular trains to London and North Berwick. But you’d never know it was there as it sits in a deep cut behind the houses. Only sometimes, on a still, quiet evening do I hear trains rattle through and occasionally the toot of an old steam train. I love how the view opens up from the overpass across the city to Arthur’s Seat and the Pentland Hills, and across the rooftops of Portobello to the blue waters of the Firth of Forth. The twin peaks of the Lomond Hills are the backdrop to the view north. Coronavirus means that I’m working from home at the moment but normally I cycle to the office on the other side of the city. On these days, the overpass is the last part of the ride back and I always love this view on my way home and the sense of space up here.

From the overpass, I cut across Portobello Golf Course. It’s a small, nine-hole course open to the public and a big bit of local green space. It’s fringed with trees where I’ve seen foxes and often hear a woodpecker. I walk and run around the edges year-round, and ski here when there’s snow.

Popping out the far side, I walk for a short stretch through the detached villas and well-kept gardens of the pleasant suburbs hereabouts. The road is normally noisy and busy but of course, during coronavirus, it’s a much more peaceful place. Before too long I turn off the road and into a vast oasis of woods and greenery and open space. This is Duddingston Golf Course. It’s not often that I’m able to explore here for obvious reasons, although a public trail does cut across it. The only time I can normally walk here is when there is snow on the ground. However, at the moment, the club is closed due to the virus, so I can range freely.

It’s a huge space with lots of trees gathered together into copses, the Braid Burn meandering through and the stunning backdrop of Arthur’s Seat. Today, I can see that the gorse is in flower on Arthur’s Seat, colouring it with patches of yellow. I remind myself to head there to breathe in its wonderful coconut aroma. The golf course was established in 1895 on part of what was once a deer estate. My favourite place on the course is the wooden bench beside the folly on the small hill where I can enjoy uninterrupted views across the greens and trees with not a building in sight. The course, and this little hill, is also one of my favourite places to ski.

Moving on, my route returns to the busy road for a little while before turning into my favourite place in Portobello, Figgate Park. Arthur's Seat is still the backdrop and the Braid Burn passes through as well, although it's now known as the Figgate Burn for its final mile or so to the sea. The whole park is a wildlife haven with trees, flower meadows and wild, wooded corners but its centrepiece is the large pond. 

Every year the resident swans raise five or six cygnets and share the pond with many types of ducks including mallards, tufted ducks, gadwalls, goosanders and once a stunning Mandarin duck. There are also coots, moorhens, geese and herons plus all the usual woodland birds as well as kingfishers on the burn. 

But perhaps the most exciting wildlife has been the otters. They are spotted briefly almost every year as the youngsters move away from the parental territory at Duddingston Loch which nestles below Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park. A small tributary from the loch joins the Braid Burn which passes through Figgate Park en route to the sea. However, in late 2018, there were three otters that stayed for two or three months and gave incredible, close encounters. All of this wildlife is beautifully captured in the murals that adorn the walls of the underpass in the park.

The walk leaves the east end of Figgate Park and heads along the cobbles of Brighton Place to the promenade and beach. Here the view really opens up to Fife and along the East Lothian coast to Gullane and North Berwick Law. A few blocks along the promenade is my wee house. I don’t overlook the sea but I’m only ten metres or so from the beach. I kayak in the sea and use the beach for running, walking and generally enjoying the view. Sunrises are best, rather than sunsets, as the view east over the Firth of Forth is uninterrupted and at times quite beautiful.  Last week’s supermoon looked stunning as it rose above Musselburgh and reflected in the water.

So that’s the end of the Portobello social exclusion walk as I return home and put the kettle on for a cup of tea. I hope you’ve enjoyed this virtual excursion.