Date: Wednesday 24th June 2015
Start Time: 11:00
Distance: 6 miles
Once again the reality
seemed to differ from the weather forecast. Twenty three Strollers gathered in Colinton Village, dressed in waterproof jackets expecting
the worst and wondering if they should really start out at all. However, it
turned out a lovely day for a walk, slightly overcast but the day got warmer as
we strolled round the Pentlands, or was the heat just due to there being a few
more slopes to traverse than the coordinator had stated. The slopes were
nothing to a man of Alex’s calibre, who had warmed up by walking up and down the
‘Lang Steps’ in the village. The path had been part of the ‘drovers’ road from
the Pentlands into Edinburgh
via a ford across the Water of Leith.
Making our way from the village we passed Laverockdale House, designed for the Edinburgh Financier James Ivory, by architect Robert Lorimer around 1912, who designed quite a lot of the houses in Colinton Village including the ‘Rustic Cottage’. Continuing on through the ‘Polo Fields’ with its new and long contested housing development, following the Bonaly Burn where we crossed over a small bridge into Bonaly estate, just short of the roar of the bypass, and worked our way through the houses to emerge at Bonaly Primary School. From here we wandered up past Bonaly Tower, once home to Lord Cockburn but now converted to flats, into Bonaly Country Park where we stopped for a welcome lunch break with lovely views down over the city and the Forth. Here we were joined by a dalmatian which seemed to think there was something good on offer and didn’t continue its walk with its owner.
Then it was time to continue, minus dalmatian, and go over the dam at Torduff Reservoir, built in 1848 to provide water to Edinburgh, and walk on a nice flat road. Well it was flat until the short stretch from Torduff up to Clubbiedean Reservoir built in 1850, where we passed fishermen and horses out enjoying the nice weather. Continuing on down to Easter Kinleith farm where we turned and headed back via the path along the side of Warklaw Hill, site of a decoy station during World War II. The fields were full of calves and lambs. On down past the old Torphin Quarry and past Torphin Golf Club which no longer exists. The old clubhouse and area surrounding it have been taken over by Tiphereth, part of the Camphill Movement, which is a charity aimed at helping vulnerable children and adults with learning difficulties. From there we headed back down to Colinton Village and the end of the walk except for Alex, who decided a bus waiting at the terminus was better than walking back into the village, claiming that walking up and down the steps earlier was equivalent to walking back to the start.
Many thanks again to Drew for coordinating our walks. Here’s to the next walk in July.
Making our way from the village we passed Laverockdale House, designed for the Edinburgh Financier James Ivory, by architect Robert Lorimer around 1912, who designed quite a lot of the houses in Colinton Village including the ‘Rustic Cottage’. Continuing on through the ‘Polo Fields’ with its new and long contested housing development, following the Bonaly Burn where we crossed over a small bridge into Bonaly estate, just short of the roar of the bypass, and worked our way through the houses to emerge at Bonaly Primary School. From here we wandered up past Bonaly Tower, once home to Lord Cockburn but now converted to flats, into Bonaly Country Park where we stopped for a welcome lunch break with lovely views down over the city and the Forth. Here we were joined by a dalmatian which seemed to think there was something good on offer and didn’t continue its walk with its owner.
Then it was time to continue, minus dalmatian, and go over the dam at Torduff Reservoir, built in 1848 to provide water to Edinburgh, and walk on a nice flat road. Well it was flat until the short stretch from Torduff up to Clubbiedean Reservoir built in 1850, where we passed fishermen and horses out enjoying the nice weather. Continuing on down to Easter Kinleith farm where we turned and headed back via the path along the side of Warklaw Hill, site of a decoy station during World War II. The fields were full of calves and lambs. On down past the old Torphin Quarry and past Torphin Golf Club which no longer exists. The old clubhouse and area surrounding it have been taken over by Tiphereth, part of the Camphill Movement, which is a charity aimed at helping vulnerable children and adults with learning difficulties. From there we headed back down to Colinton Village and the end of the walk except for Alex, who decided a bus waiting at the terminus was better than walking back into the village, claiming that walking up and down the steps earlier was equivalent to walking back to the start.
Many thanks again to Drew for coordinating our walks. Here’s to the next walk in July.
