Another day off work coinciding with the evening Edinburgh German meet-up. I planned a city wander for the afternoon. My route would take me down Leith Walk, along to Portobello beach and back to the city centre via the Innocent Railway cycle path. I had already done this walk a few years ago but wanted to repeat it - with a couple of minor adjustments - and take some pictures this time. With the clocks going back at the end of the month, it would be my last chance for a while to complete a pre-meetup wander in daylight hours.
I took the bus and alighted halfway along Princes Street. I went up and over Calton Hill, the 340-foot summit offering amazing views of the surrounding city as I ate my packed lunch. I then proceeded all the way to the foot of Leith Walk and strolled into the large Wetherspoons pub. I supped a couple of pints of traditional bitter from a brewery known as Fire Island. I wasn't familiar with the ale but it went down a treat as I flicked through my railway magazine. Wetherspoons outlets divide opinion but they provide a nice selection of ale and I do enjoy sitting quietly and anonymously with something to read. I couldn't dally too long as - from this point - I had ten miles in front of me and I wanted to be back in the city before darkness fell. I don't just blast through these expeditions, I like to take photographs and look at unusual features I happen to encounter. All of this eats away at the time but I prefer to build in a degree of flexibility. On the other hand, I don't want to be hurrying up near the end because I've dawdled excessively along the way. Naturally, this has occurred on more than one occasion. I headed across Leith Links to pick up the Restalrigs Railway path which comes curving in from Easter Road. I hopped off as the route bent away from the coast as my task was to follow the shoreline.
A mothballed railway runs between the road and the sea. I took the path on the far side of the line as an alternative to tramping along the pavement. At some point the line was fenced only with a token metal barrier and it would have been a simple task to get on to the tracks. The presence of functional signals deterred me from doing this as the line - while clearly not live - is almost certainly under the care of Network Rail and thus technically open. The transport police can - and do - fine trespassers on lines that haven't seen a train in a while. Not really worth taking the risk in a big city where your movements don't go unnoticed. The path brought me to a bulge of reclaimed land with a high sea wall. I believe the sewage works are inside the compound and I was able to walk safely along a wide concrete ledge around the bend for views across to Fife and the island of Inchkeith. After this little diversion, I joined the lengthy Portobello Promenade. The water was a tad restless and the occasional salty spray washed over the barriers. The concrete platform gave way to a generous stretch of beach and quite a few locals were out and about on the sands. The seaside area is obviously popular with Edinburgh folk although the days of the open-air swimming pool are long gone.
The last time I did this walk I headed up through the town to Brunstane Railway Station. From there I joined the cycle path back to the city centre. I added an extra mile and a half this time around by staying on the coast until reaching reaching the Brunstane Burn (just before Musselburgh) and following a river walkway to the station. I crossed the tracks and picked up the tarmac footpath. Brunstane is a busy commuter halt and now the first stop on the Borders Railway. One has to wonder why the transport planners don't go the whole hog and reopen the Edinburgh suburban route which is currently a working diversionary line. Lack of car parking space? Um, isn't the reason why Edinburgh people use buses and trains in such vast numbers because they either don't have a car or don't wish to use it to get to work? The cycleway passes the Bingham housing estate - the sort of place where it's not unusual to see young lads riding around on motorbikes without helmets. This time I witnessed a grown man whizzing up and down the public green space on a quad bike - probably at 30 to 40 mph - with a toddler perched on his lap. Neither of them wearing any form of protection. Seemed a bit foolhardy to me. When the path reaches Duddingston Road West, it follows the alignment of the Innocent Railway. Almost immediately you cross a short but original cast-iron bridge dating from 1831.
The line was originally horse drawn and built to carry coal into the city from the pits in the Dalkeith area. The system expanded over the decades into an urban freight network. Closure came in 1968. The final days were captured on film and can be seen on YouTube. The highlight of the walk back to Edinburgh is the 560-yard St Leonard's Tunnel. It runs on a noticeable gradient and the bikes fairly come rattling towards you. I emerged in the middle of a student residential complex at the other end and made my way to South Clerk Street which is part of the main drag back to Princes Street. I was weary by this stage and darkness was beginning to fall. Just as well a legendary alehouse was situated just over the road. Incredibly I was making my first visit to the Cask & Barrel (Southside). I think it's about the only reasonably central traditional real-ale pub I hadn't been in until this point. I settled down with a lovely pint of 80 shilling and rested my legs. The wooden interior was adorned with old brewery mirrors and it's a place I will definitely return to. Hunger was calling and I popped into Lidl just down the road for a couple of pizza breads and a fruit turnover. Dinner for £3. I continued down "the bridges" and made my way to the meetup venue in Broughton Street. Funnily enough, the city's other Cask & Barrel pub is situated in this area and I usually pop in for a pint whenever the meetup is scheduled for the nearby Outhouse, which serves only keg beers.
Despite the cask ale no-show, I've always considered the Outhouse to be a great venue for the German group, primarily because we are allocated our own wee room upstairs. On my previous visit, I'd been pleasantly surprised to discover the premises were now being run by the St Andrews Brewing Company. I first became aware of the brewery a few years ago, selling their wares at Dunfermline farmers market. I subsequently visited their tap room in St Andrews - a rather trendy place with keg dispensers built into the back wall but also four old-school cask handpulls on the bar. Not as cheap as it first appeared either as the beer is served in a glass holding two thirds of a pint. I must stress a lot of this modern artisan keg beer is damn tasty stuff, far better than the insipid fizz I grew up drinking. The fact that St Andrews chose to run keg lines in the Outhouse was never really an issue with me. I entered the bar expecting to see some Fife beer on offer but it was conspicuous by its absence. Upon enquiring, I learned the bar had changed hands again. The real disappointment was the availability of only mainstream lagers and Belhaven Best. The latter has often been a go-to beer for me when no real ale is available. It's okay, just that. Mind you, at £3 a pint it was cheap by the capital's standards. There was a political theme at the meetup as I found myself in conversation with a couple of more radically minded souls. All good practice - but challenging. As always, it was a good night and I caught up with Mike and Stefan. Hadn't seen them in a few months. The bargain beer meant I had a couple of quid to ram into the vending machines in the bus station as I took a late service home.
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