Fantastic bike ride – Portobello to South Queensferry via Dalmeny

Fat Mac is in Patagonia or somewhere similar, taking long bus rides to villages in the middle of nowhere with his travelling companion, Poisonous.  When I go cycling with Mac we usually start on the cycle tracks near his flat with the intention of riding to Balerno, but he gets lost within five minutes and we always end up in Cramond.  He claims this is a plus, as the pub there sells very cheap beer, but we never get further than Cramond, and getting home is sometimes problematic, due to the effect of the cheap beer.

Today, I decided to cycle beyond Cramond.

Cramond

The track continues beyond Cramond, up the river.

Eventually, after some steps up, and some steps down, it comes out at Cramond Brig.  The cycle route beyond the Brig was detoured today due to some road works, and the detour went through the lovely Dalmeny estate, past Dalmeny House, and along the coast, eventually emerging underneath the Forth Bridge.  From that point I could take a photo of the new bridge being constructed – the Queensferry Crossing, the supports of which have reached deck level.

The Forth Road Bridge, and beyond it, the construction of the Queensferry Crossing

I had a nice bacon roll & coffee in a cafe in South Queensferry, and then took a different route back up the road, down various other tracks around the Dalmeny estate, out into a cycle route through Barnton, where there are some exceedingly fancy houses, and eventually back to Portobello.  For me, that was a long ride.

Canal end

The cycle tracks in Edinburgh are wonderful.  Often, you’re not sure where you may emerge after cycling along them for a while.  On Friday we ended up at the Water of Leith down at Dean, but the track to Balerno was closed due to a landslide.  Instead we cycled up to Fountainbridge, and then to the east end of the Union Canal, where there was some sort of small festival taking place.  This area of Edinburgh is currently being redeveloped, with several new blocks of flats and student accommodation being built.  I don’t always agree with the planners in Edinburgh, and certainly not when it comes to transport planning, but I must say that the area at the end of the canal is looking quite good.

The Old Ways

It lifts the heart to read a book so well written as The Old Ways: A journey on foot, by Robert Macfarlane.  I can’t give any extracts that prove my point, because his words depend so much on context, and what he has already written, but the style is extremely good.  The simple black and white photos at the start of each chapter add a peculiar amount of context.  This is a very special book.  I’ll lend it to Shaun, and then J.D., as both of them will appreciate the geological references.

I checked the nest just over a week ago, and there were only two chicks left.  There’s the body of one just below the nest – it may have fallen, or have been pushed, out.  I don’t know what happened to the fourth, but I doubt it was a cat that got it.  The cats are actually too busy digging up my vegetable patch and seedlings.  Today I checked the nest again, and it is empty.

At the cycle shop the other day I bought some knee-length waterproof socks.  As he registered the sale, the attendant looked outside at the fourth beautiful day we’ve had in a row, and then to me, and said “A bit pessimistic, perhaps?”  I pointed out that they were for our planned canoe trip later in the summer.

Jameson & Rival Sons

Two seconds after the dramatic finish to the Test Match we were off to the Liquid Room to see Jameson, who was the first act supporting Rival Sons.

Jameson has an excellent voice, a good sound, good microphone technique, nice songs, and happens to be staying in our place due to his manager, Reggie Reg knowing some friends of ours down south.  Reggie Reg (well, that’s what it says on his Facebook page, anyway) is also staying.  Edinburgh is the last stop of the current tour.

The Liquid Room was stoved out with several hundred people in a venue which became extremely hot by the time Rival Sons played their set.  We had a reasonable spot near the back, until two large bruisers came and stood in front of us.  From that point on, my view was restricted to:

They were friendly bruisers, though, and they seemed to know all the songs.  I hadn’t realised how popular a band Rival Sons were.

Then it was a bit of a dash back home in time to see Ghana go one down after less than a minute.

Cycling around North Berwick

Yesterday was fine, so I loaded the bike onto the campervan, took off for North Berwick, and cycled the backroads.  There are some very attractive views in that part of the country.  I called in to the harbour and had a half lobster & chips for lunch from a stall.  It was so busy they could hardly get the lobsters grilled quick enough.  The lobster was small, but delicious.  The legal landing size would seeem to be 87 mm, which seems very small.

Berwick Law, from the south

Nest

There’s a nest in our hedge with four chicks in it, but there are so many cats in the neighbourhood that I’m not saying exactly where it is.

Dunnottar Castle

Dunnottar Castle is one of the most impressive castles in Scotland.  Entrance is quite expensive (no student or auld folk discounts), and information points are sparse, but the location of the castle makes up for it.

According to this history, it has been occupied for thousands of years, and became the site of an early Christian settlement.  The Vikings then destroyed the castle and later it became a Catholic settlement with a stone chapel that still stands.  Cromwell’s army also took the castle.

In 1685, a group of men and women who refused to acknowledge the Stuart King’s supremacy in spiritual matters were imprisoned in the castle.  Some eventually took the oath of allegiance and were released. Some of the others who survived the imprisonment were deported to the West Indies.

We called in on the way back from Aberdeen, on Sunday.  It was nice when we bumped into Agnes in the courtyard.  Haven’t seen her for several years.

Shaun has spent some time coasteering in the rocks around the castle

The SSE Hydro

The SSE Hydro was filled to capacity (13,000) last night for the Eagles.  What a wonderful band.  What music!  Everyone had a fantastic time, although the car park was so full it took an hour to get out and on the road.

Smokies

Arbroath is famous for its smokies.  These are smoked haddock, and are available from several shops in the town.  Lindsey bought a tub of smoked haddock pâté, but I passed, on the delicacy.

Arbroath Abbey

On the way to Aberdeen to collect Shaun, we stopped at Arbroath – not the most attractive of towns – but the Abbey is impressive.