Thirteen Strollers met up for the Silver anniversary of the Strollers for a walk at Tranent. 1999 when it all began seems a long time ago but I’m sure when I was younger I used to watch the programme ‘Space 1999’ which seemed a long way in the future!
We met up in the High Street by the
statue of Jackie Crookston commemorating the ‘Massacre of Tranent’ in 1797 in
which 12 people were killed by the militia who were brought in to quell
protests about conscription. From there we set off towards the Elphinstone Road
and crossed over it and followed the shale path past a couple of ‘sink’ holes,
reminders of the long mining history of Tranent dating back to the 13th
century.
Following the path back up to meet the
road again we then turned to follow the path to Fa’side Castle. Once a ruin it
was restored at the end
of the 1970s and completed in 1982 by
the Craig family guided by the author Nigel Tranter and the Restoration Society
he had set up.
We didn’t see the ghost of the ‘green
lady’ as we passed by. She died when the castle was attacked and fired by the
English in 1547 and is said to roam the castle.
From here we followed the road and path
back to Tranent but because of the haze we didn’t see much of the views as we
might have done, the ‘Kingdom of Fife’ was lost as were views of Berwick Law
and the Bass Rock. You can’t trust Scottish weather even though it was a nice
day for a walk.
Thanks to Drew for the walk and
hopefully the weather will be as kind for the next walk to Peebles.
