Date: Wednesday 19th March 2014
Start Time: 11:15
Distance: 3.5 miles
Duration; 2 hours
Start at: Lauriston Farm Toby Carvery Car Park
Finish at: Same as above (circular walk)
On a bright sunny morning, if a tad breezy,
twenty-seven strollers met at the Lauriston Farm restaurant for a circular
stroll round Silverknowes, Cramond and Barnton. We started off through
Silverknowes, which was one of the areas considered for Edinburgh airport in the 1930’s but instead
it was sold for housing. Some of the land was also used for Silverknowes Golf
Course which whilst started in the 1930’s was not completed until the 1950’s as
an 18 hole course, with Broomfield House initially used as the clubhouse. We made our way down to
Silverknowes Promenade which was built in the 1940’s and has great views out to
Cramond Island. The island can be reached by the
causeway which was built as part of the Second World War II defences. Just
watch the tide times if going out to visit. At the end of the promenade we came
to Cramond Village at the mouth of the River Almond
which dates back to Roman times although ruins have also been found of earlier
occupation. The most famous find is the Cramond Lioness found in 1997 and is
now on show in the Museum
of Scotland and is
thought to be from the tomb of a Roman Commander.
As we continued our way up the Almond and out of the wind, we passed the site
of cuttings into the far bank which were moorings for boats collecting stone
from the Craigiemill Quarry. There were also mills and a dam here and the weir
where our walk leader used to play as a child. Not sure if that ties in with
the Roman History or later. We continued our walk up the river and up and over
the flight of steps, glad they were short, continuing on to beneath the old
Crammond Bridge across the Almond.
Walking up from there to Barnton we passed the impressive West Gates of Barnton
House. These date from 1810 and were just one of the entrances to Barnton
House. Strolling on through between the golf courses of Royal Burgess and
Bruntsfield, both courses with a history which goes back almost 250 years
although they have only been here since the 1890’s. A chance to admire the
large houses and plan for that little bijou residence.
We returned to the Lauriston Farm restaurant where quite a few stayed for
lunch.
Our thanks to Ronnie for arranging the walk and the car parking.
