An excellent route for a lazy Saturday
There’s a fitness programme that’s been running for just over a week. It’s known as the 5×50 Challenge and the idea is very simple. It’s not even that much of a challenge unless you’ve really let yourself go. Every day, until the 29th of May, people who’ve registered will be walking, running, cycling, rowing for at least five kilometres. The project started on the 31st of March; so an easy piece of calculation shows that it lasts exactly 50 days!
As editor of the Caledonian Mercury, I decided to enter (along with my wife) to experience the claimed benefits for myself. A minor problem is that, thanks to sporting and other injuries in the past, running (and even walking at times) is out of the question. So it’s on to the bike, into the rowing boat or down to the in-house gym for me (yes – we have a surprising quantity of our own gym equipment at home!).
Snowy Edinburgh from the Forth
To be honest, the weather so far this year has hardly been conducive to any form of exercise out in the open air. The winds blowing in from the Continent across the North Sea have been bitter. The frost and snow have lasted longer than many folk can remember. The waters of the Firth of Forth, even in the sheltered waters of Joppa Bay, have been rough, with large breakers rolling in and white horses as far as the eye could see.
But the Challenge started with the sun at least shining, if only weakly, and enough stillness in the air to make us brave the great outdoors – if only for a short time. We had measured out the distance on a map. From where we live, we could ride in safety along Portobello Promenade, all the way to the Cat and Dog Home and back. A grand total of just over 2.5km each way – an excellent way to start.
We managed this almost every day for the first week. There were both work commitments and foul weather which intervened on a couple of occasions. However, the gym equipment stood us in good stead. Both the exercise bike and rowing machine show both time and estimated distance on their electronic displays. It was certainly more comfortable than the icy east wind and freezing rain turning our cheeks a pallid pink.
Section of the Pencaitland Railway Path
By the weekend, the daily trips along the Prom seemed tame and even boring. We were ready for something a little more challenging. So on Saturday, we put the bikes into the back of the car and headed to Crossgatehall, near Carberry, the starting point for the Pencaitland Railway Walk. It’s a well-maintained, relatively level path that runs for eleven kilometres across to West Saltoun, quite close to Glenkinchie. The car park there can take perhaps a dozen cars. It’s the sort of place which is both isolated and safe. There are no concerns about leaving the car behind as you head off along the track.
We’d been cycling here before. But what came as a delightful surprise was just how much work East Lothian Council had done on it. Where before, it was muddy and sometimes hard to navigate, it’s now well drained, well prepared with the old track beds covered in part by asphalt which makes the ride even smoother. There are access and egress points for walkers and cyclists all along its length making it as the easier to use.
Memory Board
In some respects, the path looks like a work in progress. There are now memory boards at roughly kilometre intervals. Local people have told their own stories about life in the mines and villages along the length of the track. They include tales from railway workers as well. They tell of harsh winters and accidents on the line, of the hardship involved in the 1926 General Strike and of the pain of soldiers going off to the two World Wars. It all seems to have been a mixture of hard grind for the adults and comparative fun for the children.
All along the path, there are stones, carved with the names of the mines which once produced large quantities of coal. Given that this is a relatively small area, there’s a surprisingly large number of them. They show how the black gold was dug from the ground in this area for over 150 years starting around 1800. The stones stand there like funeral monuments, grave markers to a dead industry.
About half way along, at an old railway station near Ormiston, there’s work going on to create what will become a community garden. There already are tables and seats laid out in what will be the picnic area. Other sections are condoned off, ready for the spring weather, when the land can be prepared for planting. This is all evidence that both the local authority and local people want this area and the Railway Path used.
Glenkinchie Distillery
At the far end, it’s worth taking a short detour to Glenkinchie Distillery, home of The Edinburgh Malt. It’s very much a working distillery, with a visitor centre in a listed red brick building which used to hold the Maltings floor. And one unusual feature for those who don’t know much about whisky is a model of a still house which shows the entire distilling process. It’s a superb scale model, originally built in 1924 for the Scotch Whisky stand at the Empire Exhibition at Wembley. It’s been on display at Glenkinchie since the mid-1970s.
There are alternative routes back – East Lothian is a bike-friendly county with cycle lanes almost everywhere. However, for this first foray in the more clement weather, it seemed sensible to ride back the way we’d come. With clouds coming in and covering the sun, the air suddenly felt a lot colder and we were glad to get back to the car and a flask of hot tea!