Teaser:
As ever, click on any of the photos to see them full-size.
Taken from Dean Village, looking in a north-easterly direction, down-river. There's a weir at the end, there, which is why the water just seems to stop. The building on the left is an old mill, now converted into flats.
Looking upriver from the same spot. The tudor-style buildings (to my mind) match the name of the path they stand on: Hawthornbank Lane.
We walked upriver. This is by the pedestrian footbridge over to the end of Hawthornbank Lane. The path goes under the bridge; as you can see, the water is rather high. No problem for us though; we were wearing walking boots. For the next post, take note of the position of those trees beyond the bridge.
Looking in the other direction. The cobbled quayside just peters out, there's no path all the way along. I suspect it was used for transporting goods when the valley was full of mills.
Having navigated the bridge, you come to another weir. Sometimes in the spring there is a heron who fishes here.
I was intrigued by the way the water folded back on itself at the edges of the weir.
The water was pretty, but very loud.
Belford Bridge, and the end of the "nice" bit of the path; up to this point, the path winds along the side of the river through a pleasantly-wooded dell. After this, it all gets rather industrial and significantly less scenic. There's also a dastardly Travelodge the other side of the bridge.
We head back downstream again. This is taken downstream from the first photo in the set, under Telford Bridge.
This came out horribly blurry, so has been photoshopped. It's important for the next post, so I've kept it in; look at how high the water is.
So I grew up around the Water of Leith back in the 60's and 70's. I lived on Ferry Road accross the 'railway line' from Bangholm playing fields.
ReplyDeleteMy first recollection of being involved with the Water of Leith was when we used to go 'fishing' for Minnows and Sticklebacks down at 'Puddicay'. This wee stretch of water was located at the bridge on Warriston Road right where the B&Q is located now.
It was so exciting to see a shop that had those bamboo poles with a wee green net on the end. They were seasonal so when they appeared.......... time to think Minnows, Sticklebacks, Jam Jars and feet in the mud in the Water of Leith.
We would have to get over the wall which was a climb for a wee boy, then there was the muddy bank to clamber down.
I'm sure the water was freezing but no attention was paid to that at all.
At first, you would stick close to the bank and glare down into the water to look for wee schools of Minnows. 'Swoosh'. In went the net and nine times out of ten, nothing.
Then, you learned to keep the net in the water and 'stalk' the schools of fish. A slightly more successful tactic.
Confidence grew and you edged out further into the river, maybe up to your knees.
Then you learned that there were 'pools' of slightly deeper water. The riverbed changed from mud that sucked your feet down to a more rocky surface. Wee pebbles, round and smooth, massaged the bottom of your feet.
One time, I remember looking up and was shocked, almost panicked, that I was almost underneath the bridge. I always assumed that the water was really deep there because the water always seemed to flow so fast there.
When we were done, there was usually a Stickleback in the Jam Jar. As a wee boy, that was going home with me. They never saw the day out and ended up with my Mum flushing them down the toilet. As I got to 8 or 9, I always put them back because I knew it was the right thing to do.
Sticklebacks are one of the most beautiful fish I have ever seen anywhere in the world. For a wee boy they are perfect. Multicolored and because of the spines on the back, very interesting.
I have so many stories surrounding my time in and around the WOL. If you are sufficiently interested, I'll share the story of the time I used worms from under an old piece of carpet to land a 4 pound trout near Redbraes and the time I was right there when two trains crashed head on into each other!