Distance: 5 miles approx.
Twenty six Strollers braved the
wintry weather for the walk at Musselburgh. Conditions were slightly breezy but
not too bad and we avoided the rain.
We set off from Musselburgh’s Fisherrow Harbour, after some had stocked up with
bacon rolls and cups of coffee to fortify them selves for the walk. We made our
way along the Promenade and crossed the River Esk to join the John Muir Way.
Strangely there wasn't much bird life to be seen, apart from the ever present
sea-gulls and a few oyster-catchers, but not much else. We must have frightened
them away, or was it the weather.
We made our way along the
foreshore to Levenhall then turned inland and doubled back to the bird hides to
look for birds on the ash-ponds. They had all gone as well, only some
oyster-catchers again! Luckily we saw some swans on the bigger pond after
leaving the bird hides. Moving on, we joined the Musselburgh racetrack, where
some Strollers got confused and went off the rails in the other direction. The
rest of us continued along past the racetrack and golf course, passing the
'old' golf clubhouse and the grand-stands for the race track.
Making our way back to the River
Esk, we passed the many buildings of Lorretto
School, where we parted
ways with some more Strollers, as the lure of the High Street shops and cafes was
too strong for them. While crossing back over the river we managed to find a
lot of Canadian and Greyback Geese, so the walk had been worth it after all. Passing
more Lorretto School buildings (how much of
Musselburgh do they own?), we made our way back to Fisherrow Harbour and into a
breeze which had now turned into a gale. It was time for more coffee and rolls.
The first walk of 2014 will be on
Tuesday 21st January, but looking forward to seeing some of you before then at
the lunch in December.
