On a warm sultry day fifteen Strollers met at
Dalkeith to walk to Musselburgh.
Starting a walk near a Greggs or Morrison’s’
cafe always seems to work well for those needing the boost of a coffee and
bacon roll before the start. The close proximity of the public toilets was an
added bonus!
Making
our way from the centre of Dalkeith we headed up to the Dalkeith Schools’
Community Campus which houses 3 schools in one area, St David’s High, Dalkeith
High and Saltersgate. The 3 schools share the sport and leisure facilities as
well as being used by the local community.
Here we joined the cycle track and footpath
on the old railway line to make our way down to Whitecraig. The village was
built in the early 20th Century to house mine workers. Passing through
Whitecraig and down Cowpits Road, we were on the edge of the site of the Battle
of Pinkie fought in 1547 as part of the Henry VIII’s ‘Rough Wooing’ of Mary
Queen of Scots. This was a major defeat for the large Scottish Army.
At this point we were also walking over one
of the old mine shafts. We made our way down to the River Esk and a very
welcome stop for lunch. The fields to our side at one time housed prehistoric
dwellings and Roman camps. As we continued on our way, we passed below
the historic village of Inveresk. This is where the Romans are said to have
based their headquarters for administering their Northern Territories in
Britain.
We finished our walk at Tesco just short of
the Roman Bridge which was used by the Scottish forces on the way to the Battle
of Pinkie.
Our thanks to Drew for arranging the walk and
hopefully it won’t be quite as hot for the next walk in August.
