On a surprisingly mild January day eighteen Strollers met at Haymarket Station for a walk along the Water of Leith path to the centre at Slateford. It was a crisp day, but nowhere near as cold as it had been and it was dry, and some of us felt decidedly overdressed.
We followed the tram tracks along to join the cycle path where we went
down the hill to walk along Russell Road to Roseburn Park. The park is looked
after by a local support group who have been involved in a lot of improvements
in it. We passed the ever name changing rugby stadium of Murrayfield and then
past the ice-rink and curling centre before heading along the river. After a
slight forgetful moment by the leader of the walk we made a quick U-turn to
cross the bridge. This took us to the other side to follow the path past
Balgreen bowling and croquet club and the primary school.
From here we crossed the road into Saughton Park and, after a look at
the bandstand and gardens, we stopped for a break at the cafe. Surprisingly it
was fine to sit out at the picnic tables. After that we walked along Fords Road
and crossed the Calder Road to follow the river again to re-cross it and go up
past the allotments and cemetery along to our finishing point of the Water of
Leith Centre. For some reason no-one wanted to continue the walk and circle
back along the canal to Tollcross.
Our thanks to Drew for arranging the walk and the weather.
Hopefully the weather for the historic walks in February and March will be
as good.
