Ten Strollers met at the entrance to Kilspindie Golf Course in Aberlady to head to the Gosford House Estate, with three more Strollers joining us at the car park there.
Aberlady used to be the ‘port’ for Haddington
with the site of the golf clubhouse being the customs’ house. We walked past
the ruins of Kilspindie Castle with the stones having been recycled to build the wall
along the road. This area was the site of the largest Anglo-Saxon find of
silver in Scotland along with Bronze Age relics as well.
From here, we walked up ‘Coffin Lane’ and
along to the Gosford Pleasure Gardens and Policies, which are in the grounds of
Gosford House.
The estate belongs to the Earl of Wemyss and
of March, two separate titles. The estate was laid out in the 18th and early
19th century with the house being designed by Robert Adam and the gardens by
James Ramsay. We wandered past the Pyramid styled mausoleum and down to admire
the house, before going round the ponds. The ponds were used for boating,
fishing and curling. The ponds attract swans, ducks and heron which we saw on
the day and also geese over the winter. We circled round the pounds past the
curling and boathouse through the ‘policies’ or trees to look at the lily pond
and the ice-house before making our way back to the car park and shop.
Our thanks to Drew for
arranging the walk and also for arranging a nice warm sunny day. A black mark
though for not discovering that the food places in Aberlady didn’t open till
later in the day contrary to their internet sites.
