LIFETIME of WALKS by DEREK HARWOOD

I drove to Broxburn and parked the car near the town centre to start the walk to Linlithgow along the Union Canal. I walked north up Greendykes Road to Canal Bridge 27, with a good view north towards the River Forth Estuary. Just before the bridge, I took the path on the right and descended to the Union Canal Towpath to join The National Cycleway 754. I walked north east on the towpath and soon reached a milestone showing 18 miles to Falkirk and 13.5 miles to Edinburgh. As I approached Canal Bridge 29, I could see the impressive sight of Greendykes Bing, a very steep sided spoil of Shale, mined in the mid 19th Century to extract oil from the shale. This was a very expensive process where the shale had to be shattered and superheated. I was amazed to see the sides of the spoils so steep and so near to the edge of the canal. I concluded that the weather must have congealed the shale when the bings were being formed, producing the strange rocky moonscape appearance. I wished I had time to explore at least one of the bings. Perhaps another day when I feel extra fit. After passing Greendykes Bing on my left, another red brick bing appeared on my right, Niddry Bing, with the remains of Niddry Castle near the base of the bing. When I reached Canal Bridge 31, I could see Winchburgh Village straight ahead, but to my amazement the canal entered a wooded cutting instead of an urban environment. This sudden change of scenery was extremely unexpected. I continued my journey towards John o' Groats and as I stopped to take a photograph by Canal Bridge 33, north of Winchburgh Village, I saw the one and only moving Canal Craft passing under the bridge, a Narrow Boat named 'Patsy' of Black Prince Holidays. A passing boat or canoe always brightens the journey along the towpath. North of Canal Bridge 33 I came across another stone with its base buried alongside the towpath. It was probably not a milestone because this stone contained words rather than numbers, which I couldn't read apart from the word 'Division'. See if you can decipher the information! After the stone I looked for the remains of Auldcathie Church and 'Lady Track' on the southern side of the canal, but unfortunately the trees and bushes of the wood on the opposite bank of the canal were too dense, so I didn't see anything. Not to be discouraged, I continued with the mystery of what I might find ahead. Approaching Canal Bridge 38, I noticed a car parking area on the right or north side of the canal, an ideal place to split the walk into two sections if needed. I noticed the parking area is marked on the map, but there weren't any parking signs on the B8046 road. After the B8046 road I passed two disused tips, one on the left and one on the right of the canal, but I only had a glimpse of the northerly tip and no sightings of the southerly tip, due again to the dense vegetation alongside the canal. However, when I looked back after I had passed the tips I could just see the northerly tip, another huge shale spoil produced from the previous oil production in the 19th Century. As I approached Philipstoun Village I crossed over the aqueduct over the accommodating Haugh Burn and the Lane to Main Street, Philipstoun. The village of Philipstoun is adjacent to the canal, which I soon encountered after the aqueduct. The back gardens of the properties had the same boundary fence as the canal, but to my amazement a fuchsia bush in full bloom had escaped from one of the gardens and routed itself right next to the towpath, a very welcome sight. At the west end of the village was a caravan storage facility, obviously a wealthy village. After Canal Bridge 40, I passed allotments on the south side of the canal and almost immediately moored canal craft, in my case as I passed, the craft were narrow boats on the south canal bank, probably house boats. Again on the south bank I passed Narrowboat Farm and almost opposite, on the towpath side, the car park of 'The Park Bistro', next to Canal Bridge 41. I had all my necessary provisions with me so I continued under the bridge near B9080 road. Next came a milestone showing 11 miles (17.5Km) to Falkirk and 20.5 miles (33Km) to Edinburgh. Shortly afterwards on the outskirts of Linlithgow I passed over the B9080 road on the canal aqueduct towpath. Following the railway from the towpath I came to another aqueduct over a lane leading immediately to Back Station Road. To brighten up the walk even further I passed three swans all hoping to be fed, but I wasn't going to encourage the swans to beg, my lunch was precious. Next came Canal Bridge 43 where I left the canal to find a bus stop to Broxburn. Standing on the Manse Road bridge, I had a good view of the town, especially St Michael's Church, which alas obscured the view to Linlithgow Palace. As I walked east along Back Station Road, I passed Linlithgow Railway Station on the left and the lane aqueduct on my right. Notice how high the canal is compared with the lane. In my opinion, the canal is an extremely good engineering feat to keep the canal embankment so stable for over a century. Next came the railway bridge where I turned right onto High Port under the railway. I spotted the bus stop I required for the X38 but continued for a short distance to the roundabout, where I had a glimpse of the town centre from the High Street. When the X38 arrived at Winchhaugh I transferred to bus 600 to travel into town to collect my car. When I arrived at my accommodation I heard the very sad news of the Grenfell Tower Block fire in London. I will never forget that terrible news.

Location Map: - www.streetmap.co.uk, - Start: at Broxburn - West Main Street.
Finish: at Broxburn - West Main Street.