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LIFETIME of WALKS by DEREK HARWOOD


Derek Harwood's Walking Records

If you have any queries about the pictures or descriptions e-mail me at: derek@harwoodonline.com

    Lands End to John o'Groats 'Fill-in Path'

        Sheriffhall 'P&R'  to   Edinburgh City

11th June 2017 ....................................................Walk No. 1152

Lands End to John o'Groats Fill-in No. 31  Total 233.00 miles


Time Taken:  4:30 hrs               Distance:                Enjoyment:            Weather: Windy  
 10:15 am - 14:40 pm                9.50 miles                      90%                             and wet

Temp:      Cloud:        Rain:       Visibility:        Ground Conditions:                   Nature:
 15oC         95%          20%           Average            Pavement underfoot                      n/a

Total AA:             Total MH:       Total LD:         Total AW:          Other:         Total Distance:
 1122.0 mls        976.0 mls     3521.5 mls       174.5 mls        1986.0 mls      7780.0 miles

Companions:  (Derek)

Points of Interest and LINKS:
Land's End to John o' Groats 		Arthur's Seat			Dynamic Earth
Holyrood House 				The Royal Mile		Edinburgh Old Town
Description:
I travelled to Scotland and parked in Sheriffhall Park & Ride in Edinburgh. I started walking along the Old Dalkeith A7 road towards the city centre, passing some old properties alongside the narrow pavement, often with a stone walled boundary to the private land. When I reached the traffic lights at the junction of A701, Ferniehill Road, opposite an entrance to a run-down property No. 545, I decided to walk through the urban district of Moredun, to get away from the A7 busy road with its car fumes. I enjoyed the different and relatively quiet surroundings but soon rejoined the main A7 road again at the Royal Infirmary Hospital. I enjoyed seeing the outline of Arthur’s Seat on the horizon while walking through Moredun. I passed Little France and Liberton Golf club on the right and left respectively and soon spotted an opening in the wall, the start of Lady Susan’s Walk in the park of the Craigmillar Castle Estate. I was longing to explore but unfortunately I did not have enough time if I wanted to complete the day’s scheduled walk. I continued my journey north along the A7 road and as I passed Priestfield Church it started to rain intermittently. When I reached the open spaces around the Royal Commonwealth Swimming Pool, my eyes were drawn to the impressive Arthur’s Seat towering above the busy properties of the surrounding area. The weather looked threatening so I decided to plough ahead along the Old Dalkeith Road towards the city centre. As I passed St Leonard’s I spotted Salisbury Crags and again I longed to explore the high ground but the threatening heavy rain persisted. When I reached the junction of Holyrood Road in Canongate, I turned sharply right with the distinctive purple of the ‘Holyrood 9A’ property almost immediately on my left. At the end of the road I came to the side of the Scottish Parliament building. It’s a very modern building but for me, too much expensive decorative content at the expense of practicality. After a short observation of the government building, I was immediately drawn to the Discovery Centre structure with its Dynamic Earth Exhibition. Again, I hadn’t enough time to investigate; a week’s holiday is not sufficient in Edinburgh to see even the main attractions. However, I did spend some time examining the Lewisian gneiss stone, which was described as a 2,800 million year old Scottish rock, and the huge ‘slices’ of rock displaced around the edge of the amphitheatre. It was a short walk to the front entrance of the Parliament building with the impressive backdrop of the Salisbury Crags to the south. It was good to see three flags flying over the Parliament building: the Scottish flag, the Union Jack and the European Union flag. I crossed the road called ‘Horse Wynd’ towards the gates of the Palace of Holyrood House, the home of the Scottish Royalty, which is alongside the ruins of Holyrood Abbey dated 1128, passing the Queen’s Gallery. I was able to take good photos of the palace through the iron gates, with a only a glimpse of the Abbey on the northern side. It’s worth taking note of the Scottish Unicorn plaque in the stone wall alongside the gates. From the palace gates I walked up the Royal Mile, passing the Parliament buildings on my left, the ‘Canongate Mercat Cross’ dated 1128 on my right, the Edinburgh Museum on my left and the Canongate Kirk church on my right, dated 1688. After a short distance I had a clear view between the houses and shops of the Royal High School building on Calton Hill, which is peppered with monuments and statues. This is another ‘must’ on my next visit. At Hunter’s Square, the corner of ‘High Street’ and ‘South Bridge’ is a church which has been converted to the ‘Royal Mile Market’. At this point the Royal Mile has been pedestrianised, which had automatically drawn people to the pavement cafés and shops, making progress up the Royal Mile much slower. However, I turned towards Balmoral Hotel, crossing over Waverley Station, with more good views of the city. At the hotel I turned left along the famous shopping road of Princes Street to the Scott Memorial, which is very large and impressive. Here I turned south on Waverley Bridge to cross over the station again to Market Street. I crossed over Market Street to Cockburn Street and within 50 metres (yards) turned right up Warriston’s Close, a staircase of umpteen steps leading to St Giles Cathedral. I took more photos of statues etc before turning down the Royal Mile to the A7 road at Hunter Square where I turned right to the bus stop to catch Bus 49 back to Sheriffhall Park & Ride and my parked car. Care is required when catching Bus 49 to ensure the correct bus stop is chosen. This had been another magic day’s walk on my trek from Land’s End to John o’ Groats, not to be missed. Just one of many descriptions of ‘Not to be Missed’ walks.

Location Map: - www.streetmap.co.uk, - Start: At Sheriffhall Park and Ride.
Finish: At South Bridge.





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