Edinburgh and back on the road again

Sunday 30th July – Thursday 3rd Aug

I spent 4 nights in Edinburgh. I did a sightseeing bus tour, I walked around the castle, the Royal Yacht Britannia, caught up on my blog, generally soaked up the atmosphere and did a bit of shopping. It’s almost impossible to rest in a city. I also saw a podiatrist who diagnosed me with sesamoiditis. Possibly damage to or a stress fracture of one of my sesamoid bones (a tiny bone under the big toe joint). In an ideal world, after 6 weeks of complete rest it should be healed but she knew I’d like to carry on so attached some specific padding to my insoles and advised that I take anti-inflammatories. She also said that if it gets significantly worse that I should stop because continuing in agony could lead to longer term consequences. I’m hoping that the padding does the trick and I can carry on, as having to stop now would be devastating. I also treated myself to a sports massage and the guy did a fantastic job of ironing out my stiff, tired legs and knotty shoulders.

Edinburgh has been interesting, but busy. So busy. It’s peak season, on the cusp of the fringe festival and tourists of all nationalities wander the streets. It’s been a bit of a shock to the system; the traffic, the choice (of one sort or another), the sirens and just the sheer scale. The biggest place I’ve been since I left was – I think – Barnstaple which is not exactly huge and was a long time ago. I’m looking forward to getting back out on the trail but a bit apprehensive about how my right foot will cope.

• Day: 72 – Thursday 3rd August
• Started at: Linlithgow Station
• Finished at: Falkirk Wheel
• Miles: 11
• Miles from LE: 870
• Duration: 6hrs (10:30-16:30)
• Trig points visited: 0
• Ales imbibed: 0

After some morning faff I eventually got on a train out of Edinburgh at 10am. No less than 2 minutes after stepping off the train it started raining – just a brief shower and then 10 minutes later it was stair-rods. Luckily there were some strategically placed trees and I kept out of the worst of it and then stayed dry for the rest of the day. I walked along the Union Canal all day, sometimes there was a rural view (a horse that had moments earlier given birth to a black foal) and other times very urban (a young offenders institute). The two highlights were the Falkirk Tunnel and the Falkirk Wheel.

It’s 636m in length and was dug because the local landowner didn’t want the canal to spoil his view and so demanded the canal go through the hill. It was quite drippy and eerie in parts, but lit just enough.

The wheel, in contrast to a crude hole through a rock, is a feat of modern simplistic engineering. It replaced a set of 11 locks that had fallen into disuse and were dismantled 70years previously. There is something mesmerising about its elegance and many people stand rooted to the spot watching it rotate.

My foot has been ok, I don’t feel like the padding is a panacea but I find tow paths quite hard going anyway so it’s an unfair expectation. Not just because of the hard surface impacting my feet and knees but also the lack of variability of movement in the feet and leg muscles. Even without any issues I find it hard not to become conscious of my gait because of the monotony. I’m looking forward to getting off the tow path (2 more days!) and seeing how I fare on a more irregular path.

• Day: 73 – Friday 4th August
• Started at: Falkirk Wheel
• Finished at: Twechar, nr Kilsyth
• Miles: 11
• Miles from LE: 881
• Duration: 6hrs (11:00-17:00)
• Trig points visited: 0
• Ales imbibed: Seven Giraffes

I started slowly and the day continued in the same vein. I would walk for a while, stop, take my boots off, rest, then back on with the boots and away again. This being the first time on the trip that I’ve been properly suffering physically has knocked me for six a bit. I was expecting that if I made it this far that I’d be a walking machine and that it would only take something major like a fall or bad sprain that would stop me getting to the end. Instead I have niggles that dominate my thoughts and stop it from being fun – that and sodding tow paths.

Enough of my down beat drawl. Today had a distinct second chapter.

After a nice beer at a hotel by a marina I continued the 1.5miles to the campsite. When I arrived it was locked up and didn’t turn out to be a touring site – it was an adventure/activity centre which also offered camping. I gave the number a ring and left a voicemail but didn’t hold out much hope. So I started to consider the alternatives. No other campsites and according to research no B&Bs. There was a potential wild camping spot but I was out of water and there were no streams around, just a stagnant canal. I walked just 100m and there was a B&B sign hanging outside a farm, so I thought I’d give it a shot. A lovely Scots lady answered the door and unfortunately they had no vacancies. Could I camp? Without a moment of hesitation she said; “aye, roond tha back”. Within 2 minutes of pitching my tent on a lovely lawn I was presented with 2 fresh eggs from the hens that were now pecking at my bag. And just 10 minutes later I was offered a bowl of steaming hot soup and 2 slices of garlic bread. Oh how the tide can turn so quickly. William and Elizabeth’s generosity was so heart warming – as was the soup! I tried to offer them some money but they wouldn’t take it.

Author: lhwood1

I enjoy a good walk and so I decided to go on quite a long walk from Lands End to John O'Groats this summer. You'll be able to keep up with my progress through this blog. View all posts by lhwood1