Following best advice and keeping well apart
on the walk, eleven Strollers met at Musselburgh harbour for a walk round
Pinkie Cleugh in March. They were joined by ‘muddy’ Moira who came dashing
along behind them so she could justify her visit to Luca’s ice cream shop at
the end of the walk.
Breathing in the very fresh air they made
their way along to Musselburgh High Street, past the Mercat Cross and up
Newbigging to Lewisvale Park where the sound of the birds in the aviary mixed
with the cries of ‘out’ from the tennis courts. We then walked up past the
cricket pitch and the marker to show where the Duke of Somerset’s English
troops camped at the time of the battle of Pinkie, coming out opposite Inveresk
Lodge Gardens.
The village itself has an open day, usually
in June, when you can visit gardens of several of the houses. We followed
Crookston Road between the fields where the Battle of Pinkie took place up to
the monument for the battle.
From there we went along to Wallyford noting
all the new housing that is being built there together with a new school. Next
we went into Wallyford itself with its skyline marked by the skeleton of the
stand at the greyhound stadium then down to walk along by the railway line and
past more new housing into Pinkie.
Next we strolled from there through the
grounds of Pinkie St Peters Primary School back to the High Street. We finished the walk at the columns that marked
the edge of Musselburgh and allowing Moira to stop off for her ice-cream.
Given the restrictions in place with the
Corona Virus and cutting back in transport links this will probably be the last
Strollers’ walk for a while.
All the best for the coming months and hope
to see everyone on a walk in the not too distant future.
