A trip to the Seaside in Winter.

I think that it's easy for us residents of Edinburgh to forget what an extra-ordinary landscape we live in.  Like many settlements, the original location was based on a defensive site and Edinburgh grew up around the Crag-and-Tail formation.  I believe that it is regarded by Geologists as the classic Crag-and-Tail formation.  But's that's not all, famously we have the seven hills (like Rome) namely: Arthur's Seat, The Castle Rock, Calton Hill, Corstorphine Hill, the Braid Hills, Blackford Hill and Craiglockart Hill.  We have some fabulous parks, like the Botanic Gardens, The Hermitage, The Meadows and Inverleith Park to name just a few.  People forget that we have rivers, most notably the Water of Leith.

But it often escapes people's notice that Edinburgh is - almost - a coastal town.  Some sensible and well educated friends of mine were surprised when I suggested a seaside trip during their visit to Edinburgh.  I try to remember how lucky I am to live here, and part of that is trying to get to the Seaside when I can.  My preferred place to visit is Portobello, a coastal suburb of Edinburgh located about three miles East from central Edinburgh.

I think that the best way to get there is by bike and so my friend and I set off for there the other day.  It feels like we've had more than our fair share of good weather this winter and this day was great.  Sunny and not too cold.  It's a pleasant and fairly traffic free route from where I live to Portobello.  After a mile or so through quiet suburban streets, we cycled through a hospital campus and then out into the Grange.  This is one of the most affluent suburbs in Edinburgh, and it's quiet streets offer an easy and pleasant route.  Then we cut through one of the halls of residence of the University of Edinburgh, whereupon we arrived in Holyrood park, which contains the aforementioned Arthur's Seat.

This conveniently dropped us onto the Innocent Railway, an old railway line that has been converted into a walking and cycling route.  My friend reminded me how these routes provided an alternative perspective on the city.  She's right.  Most of us are used to the views from a pavement, a car or the bus; but cycle routes give you a very different vista.   This route goes through the old village of Duddingston, then onto the Edinburgh districts of Bingham and Brunstane.    Whereupon it drops you onto the coast road in Joppa.

From there it's a short hop along the Portobello promenade to Portobello itself.  It's a sandy beach, and whilst these things are never quite the same as in summer, we did Beachy things like playing frisbee, eating hot dogs and drinking coffee.  It was a clear day, and the the view from here is great.  The Firth of Forth, the the coast and hills of the Kingdom of Fife.

It's always quite a debate how to get home from here and there are a number of scenic alternatives.  But we opted to go up the water of Leith.  That involves a cycle along a dedicated cycle-way for a few miles to the old port of Leith.  There's quite a quick transition on this route from the pleasant suburb/seaside resort scenery of Portobello to the industrial landscape as you cycle along the path.

A casual visitor to Edinburgh might conclude that Edinburgh seemed to be entirely free of Industrial areas; and they would be largely right.  Edinburgh grew up around administration, law and Universities mainly.  But Leith was traditionally a busy port and there has been substantial other industries such as distilling and brewing in this town.  Nowadays the section between Portobello and Leith consists of former industrial buildings, large DIY outlets and vehicle dealerships.

But the Port of Leith is beautiful, and the water of Leith pathway provides a rural corridor through some of the most picturesque parts of Edinburgh, including Stockbridge and the village of Dean.  We cycled up the river though these places, past Murrayfield rugby ground, and after a few miles we reached the canal towpath.  From there it is just a short ride to my friend's place.  In a few short hours we had taken in the views of many of the aforementioned stunning landscapes.  As as my friend said, the cycle routes provide an alternative perspective on all of these views.

A saunter through the heart of England.

For some months prior to this trip I had been intending to travel to London to see some friends and business associates.  But I hadn't booked the train, because I hadn't firmed up my plans around this date.  And by the time I had, it was too late.  The trains were too expensive.  So it was a bus trip.  A long bus trip through the night.

Although this probably counts as low level adversity, it also had it's up-sides.  The bus company stopped at Loughborough University in the English Midlands.  My alma mater.  Edinburgh to Loughborough by bus takes some time.  I left Edinburgh around 1700, and went via Glasgow arriving at Loughborough University at 0300 the next morning.

This combined with a free couple of days during the working week presented an opportunity.  So I booked a night in cheap accommodation on Campus and made a plan for some visiting of family in the Midlands.  The accommodation that I booked on campus by sheer happenstance, turned out to be in the same hall of residence that I stayed in for two of my three years at Uni..   There is something profoundly strange about revisiting familiar places years later.

I sometimes wonder what would have happened to the town of Loughborough if they hadn't upgraded the technical college into a University of Technology in the nineteen-sixties.  It is famous for it's bell factory, Big Ben was manufactured in Loughborough; many years ago many of Loughborough's residents would have worked in one of a number of companies producing electrical equipment, such as large transformers, cranes, and locomotives.  Some of those companies are still their; but I think their work-forces must be much reduced.

Loughborough University's catering service equipped me with a fine cooked breakfast to set me on my way.  So packed my luggage onto the bike and headed for my relative's farm some fifteen miles east of Nottingham.  The cycle-friendly minor roads are familiar to me because I used them for the same trip when I was a student.  And whilst I fully intended to bring my Ordnance Survey map of the area, I also managed to forget it.  So navigation was sub-optimal.

The landscapes of the English midlands other than the Peak District are - I think - underrated and much derided.  I don't agree.  I enjoy the rolling hills and the arable scenery.  Also, the fact that these landscapes have been intensively farmed for hundreds of years can be advantageous to cyclists; it means there are plenty of byways.

I cycled around Loughborough and out on the north side of the town.   It's a strange transition from an industrial market town into the pretty villages of North Leicestershire.   The weather on that day was just about as good as it could have been at that time of year - warm with plenty of sunshine.  I remember the A60 road which links Loughborough to Nottingham as a busy road when I lived in Loughborough back in the nineties.  Not any more.  But nonetheless, I turned right in Hoton and cycled through the prettiness, to the villages of Wymeswold and Wysall, where I turned left and headed back to the A60.

In years past I would have gone cross country through Keyworth, Plumtree and Cotgrave on small lanes with light traffic.  But any regular readers of this blog will know of my fondness for cycling by rivers.  And the route along the Trent from Nottingham to Radcliffe-on-Trent is irresistible to me, so I opted for the latter.  I tend to glibly assume that the Midlands are fairly flat and easy for cycling.  There's some truth in that, but the landscape is rolling and the pull up the A60 to the outskirts of Nottingham is a long one, when laden.

But the run into Nottingham is then easy, down through the affluent suburb of West Bridgford until you meet up with the river Trent.  It's then a pleasant ride, which combines riverside paths, suburban back-streets and roads that are closed to motor traffic.  You pass the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepoint and a few miles later you arrive in Radcliffe.  It's then only a few miles to my relative's farm.

The rest of my day was pleasant, I had lunch with my Cousin, tea with my Aunt, and then cycled back into Nottingham to catch the train to Chesterfield to see another Cousin.  I final late train took me to my brother's house in Coventry.