Jun 30 2010
New active lifestyle, available in five exciting colours!
Among the many advantages of no longer having a swollen infected toe is the ability to do sports again. I know, it doesn’t seem like me, but I have been known to do it in the past.
At the weekend Helen and I went an epic (miniature epic?) walk up the Water of Leith, from Bonnington to Juniper Green. This map shows the extent of the Water of Leith Walkway but we didn’t cover all of it. We started near the firth outlet, about halfway between Craigleith and the docks I think, and went to Juniper Green which is one of the yellow-marked waypoints. It was probably about 8 or 9 miles in total, uphill but mostly on a very slight incline and broken up by lots of down and flat bits.
We passed by the Water of Leith Visitor Centre (why does a river have a visitor centre? who knows) but it was closed. We saw a couple of herons like in the photo on the visitor centre website. I took my new camera and spent the day playing with different settings in Manual mode, trying to get a feel for how things turn out. I’m not confident but I’m much closer than I was, and I’m enjoying it greatly.
When we got to Juniper Green we had tea at Ristorante Al Borgo, which is owned and run by the parents of one of Helen’s colleagues. After a half day walking in serious heat it was a relief to hop on the bus and get back home again.
But that’s not the extent of the new, exercising, Dougal. Oh no! Near to the flat is the Out of the Blue arts centre, an ex-drill hall that’s been gutted and refurbished to include studio spaces, exhibition areas, a cafe and so on. We go to regular art fairs there and I’ve often seen a poster on the wall advertising their capoeira classes. Last night I popped over to the beginners class organised by the Mão no Chão. They were very friendly and the guest tutor was genial and enthusiastic in equal measure. The class lasted an hour longer than advertised: it should have been 8–9.30 so by the time I got home at 10.40 I was completely wiped out.
It was great fun though. I last did any capoeira about 8 years ago so some of the ideas seemed familiar but it’s not like falling off a bike. It can be forgotten!
we must do the whole Water of Leith walk. We did Leith to the Gallery of Modern Art a few years ago. How long did the full stretch take?
I think it took us 4-5 hours but I can’t recall. I think the plan was to set off at 1 but it was more like 2pm when we left? And we got to Juniper Green just after 6pm. These figures are a bit inexact but Helen will probably remember better.
the plan was to leave between 12:30 and 1, but we left at quarter to two. And arrived a little after six, as you say. I would recommend doing it whilst there are Gormley’s in situ, it added extra fun!
I had thought the Gormleys were a permanent feature. He was quoted as saying they would last a thousand years, being very solid cast iron
ah! they may well be!
next time you can take the bus out and walk back