Walk No. 219: Union Canal walk from Ratho
Distance: 5 miles approximately
Start at: Ratho Bridge Inn
Finish at: Ratho Brisge Inn
Summary:
On a hot sunny day nineteen Strollers met up at
Ratho Bridge for a walk along the Edinburgh
and Glasgow Union Canal led by Ronnie. The canal runs for 32 miles from Edinburgh to Falkirk where
it joins the Forth and Clyde Canal as part of the original trading link between
the two cities but we weren’t going to walk all that way, well not today! The
bushes and brambles had grown a lot since Ronnie had first checked the walk, so
many places were done in single file. We passed the base for the Seagull Trust
which provides boat trips for the disabled and then the Ratho Adventure Centre.
The Adventure Centre was built inside a disused quarry and has the largest
indoor climbing walls in the UK. Walking parallel to the M8 for a little bit,
which made that part of the walk quite noisy, we passed the island in the
middle of the canal with its ‘toy’ fort all set to repel boarders. We made our
way to the valley of the River Almond and the magnificent 1821 Lin’s Mill Aqueduct.
William Lin was the last man in Scotland to die from the plague in 1645. The
Aqueduct is the highest structure of its type in Scotland and the 3rd
highest in Britain. We headed down the stairs, under the canal and back up the
other side to sit in the sun and have some lunch. It was a bit remiss of Ronnie
not to arrange for a barge or two to moor so we could step over rather than go
down and up, as happened the last time we were here. The views from the
aqueduct were amazing. We sat and ate lunch while barges passed and a canoe
paddled by. All too soon it was time to start back via Clifton Road and then
back down to the canal and return to Ratho.
Well done to Ian for lasting the walk, although a bit hot and wet from the heat,
and our thanks to Ronnie for organising such a flat walk on a very hot sunny
day.
Let’s hope for similar weather in August, though slightly cooler would be good.
