Thirteen Strollers, and a surprise visitor of Dave McK, met at Roslin to walk the old railway line to Straiton pond and the shopping centre. It was a nice sunny day though the wind was a tad cold at times and surprisingly given the last few days of rain most of the path was dry.
Starting off along the path it was
noticeable again that what were once fields are now building sites. It makes
you wonder how far we have to travel to do a walk amongst fields and open
countryside when a short bus ride used to be all that was needed.
Walking in the area where Dolly the
sheep was from, we stopped briefly at the monument to the Battle of Roslin,
1303. From here, we then made our way on to the Bilston Glen Viaduct which is
330 feet long and 140 feet above the river below. It was a long way down but
did have lovely views unlike last time when we couldn’t see for the mist and
rain. The railway line had been built to move mineral extraction from the
Roslin and Loanhead areas to Edinburgh. It was then expanded to Glencorse and
Penicuik and latterly a link to Bilston mine works. The Roslin end of the line
closed in 1969 and it closed completely in 1989.
Following the path through and past
Loanhead we ended the walk at Straiton pond nature reserve. It had previously
been a clay pit providing clay for bricks. Even since last we visited the
growth in vegetation and increase in wildlife has been dramatic.
A nice place to finish the walk or move
onto the shops for those really keen.
Thanks to Drew for arranging a nice day
for the walk.
