LEJOG
Distance walked – 35.4km (22.1miles)
Total Distance – 1453.5km (908.4miles)
I play the street life
Because there is no place I can go
Street life, it’s the only way I know
Street Life
The Crusaders – Street Life
Today we recommenced our LEJOG journey after two rest days in Edinburgh. It was the first day of three planned days heading eastwards to eventually join the West Highland Way just north of Glascow. For the majority of that time we will be following canal side paths. Our journey started today with 35km alongside the Union Canal. The path doubles as a National Cycling route and was paved/gravelled the entire way. This made for fast, flat, but ultimately painful walking.
We spent our days off relaxing, spending time with family, and replacing a few of our items. Louisa has splashed out on a new pair of shoes (Speedcross 6 as well) while I have a new pair of sunglasses after I lost my last pair about a week ago. We set off this morning feeling refreshed and ready for our next 12 day stretch which will hopefully get us to Inverness.
Urban Canal
Luckily it was only about a kilometre road walk from our rental apartment to the Union Canal, so we were soon walking on the towpath beside the water, heading out of Edinburgh. The Union Canal, or the Edinburgh and Glascow Union Canal, to give it its full name, runs from Falkirk to Edinburgh and was opened in 1822. Although initially successful, competition from the construction of the Edinburgh to Glascow railway line in 1842 brought about its slow commercial decline. It closed to commercial traffic in 1933 and was officially closed in 1965, after which much of it fell into disrepair. A renaissance in canals for leisure boating in the 1990s led to its reopening in 2001 as a Millenium project. This included reconnecting it to the Forth and Clyde Canal by the amazing Falkirk Wheel which we will see tomorrow.
Motorway Canal
The initial section in the city wasn’t particularly scenic, and we had to spend a lot of time dodging cycling commuters, some of whom seem to think that they are racing for the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Open countryside was eventually reached after we crossed the busy six lanes of the A720 by an aqueduct! Amazing! The canal goes over the road. This is because the Union Canal was constructed as a contour canal following a constant contour of 73m above sea level throughout its entire length. This dispensed with the need for locks but did require the construction of large viaducts to cross river valleys.
Rural Canal
The canal sides were in full summer bloom and the walking was pleasant and easy. There were less cyclists once we had left the city, and the morning rush hour was over.
Studio Canal
We stopped for mid-morning snack in the village of Ratho where there was a large canal basin. We were entertained by an elderly couple tinkering on their nearby canal longboat. The husband seemed to be a somewhat demanding captain, with his long-suffering wife constantly being forced to run and fetch things, hold things, and be generally shouted at. “God, imagine being on a boat with him”, I said to Louisa as she shouldered her heavy pack and followed me down the path.
Canal View
We followed the canal. Occasionally a view would open up. At one point we could just see the Firth of Forth bridge. For most of the time, however, as with most canal walking, we were in a narrow corridor of canal and canal side greenery which tends to look the same after a while.
Wood Canal
We passed through several towns during the day. Broxburn, which looked very rough, Winchburgh, which we couldn’t really see, and Philpstoun, where we passed the back of a large unkempt council estate. Not necessarily a vintage day of scenery.
We could tell when we were approaching a settlement as loads of dogshit would suddenly start to appear around 1km out of the town and continue along the path for a kilometre after the town. It would seem that dog walkers who do not pick up, only walk about a kilometre.
Aqueduct Canal
The aqueducts and open countryside were beautiful, however, and the weather was again lovely. The day flew by and despite the hard bitumen path, we arrived in Linlithgow feeling okay.
I hope the owner is going to pick that up . . . . .
We hadn’t counted on our hotel being at the far end of town, requiring a further near 2km walk in the hot afternoon sun. It did give us a chance to see Linlithgow which is a very striking town with many fine buildings, a loch and the remains of a palace dating to 1424. The town symbol is a black bitch chained to a tree, from a local legend concerning a townsman who was sentenced to starve to death on an island in the loch. Every day his black greyhound would swim out to him with food. When this was discovered, she was chained up on another island to share his fate. The townspeople, impressed by her loyalty and bravery, adopted her as their symbol.
We found our hotel, checked in and had a nice meal in the bar before retiring to our room. We face another 30km plus day on the canal tomorrow, but that as they say, is a problem for future Louisa and Nigel . . . . . .
