George

Edinburgh Waverley – Princes Street Gardens – Lochrin Basin – Union Canal – Craiglockhart Pond and Hill – Craighouse – Hermitage of Braid – Nether Liberton

Sunny but cold in the wind, better than forecast. Stayed dry.

George, Sandy, Ron. Evelyn came with us and spent the day in the city.

Bernie - Church duties

Diane and Richard - family

Comments

A fairly flat walk of just over six miles, apart from the ascent of Craiglockhart Hill. The going was firm, mainly on stone or tarmac paths.

Tulips, primroses and aubretia were all flowering in Princes Street Gardens. We passed the statue of Wojtech, the bear, who served with the Polish Army in Italy during WW2. There was also a bronze statue of San Dieg'os Vagabond Dog (Blue), who is twinned with Edinburgh's famous dog, Greyfriars Bobby. We went by St Cuthbert’s Church, built on the site of a medieval monastery.

We walked westwards along the Union Canal to Craiglockhart Pond. We passed a lifting bridge with an adjacent iron footbridge. There was quite a selection of canal boats of different sizes, shapes and colours. The towpath busy with cyclists, runners and dog walkers. We saw a couple of eider ducks swim underwater for some distance.

We then left the canal and climbed up the hill through the woods, passing a large pond with swans and a tennis centre. The climb was harder than anticipated. We came out of the woodland to a very windy hilltop with spectacular views over the city. All three Forth Bridges could be clearly seen. Then we dropped down into the woods to get out of the wind and to have lunch, sitting on dry rotting large logs.

We could hear someone playing the bagpipes. We continued through the woodland at Hermitage of Braid along a tarmac path, alongside a stream with several small waterfalls.

We caught the bus back to the city centre, where we walked through the University, then passed the statue of Greyfriars Bobby and headed down the Mound. We climbed the Scott Monument before going to the National Gallery to pick up Evelyn, who had also visited the Dynamic Earth.

Wildlife: Lots of ducks, both mallard and eider, swans, a heron, moorhens, coots, sparrows, blackbird, grey wagtail, pigeons, magpie, seagulls. Grey squirrel, horses, black and white sheep.

The Abbotsford, Rose Street. Nice meals, good value but a bit loud.

Two Walkers below the Castle

Statue of Blue, the San Diego Dog

Union Canal

Canal from the Bridge

Heron

Panoramic View from Top of the Hill

Lunch Logs

Hermitage of Braid

Waterfalls

Waverley Station from Scott Monument

Princes Street from Top of Scott Monument

Scott Monument

Inside the National Gallery of Scotland

Canova's Sculpture: The Three Graces

Landseer's The Monarch of the Glen