Day 87 East Calder to Linlithgow, slag heaps and a canal

Today started with a walk through Almondell Country Park before we reached the Union Canal which we followed all the way to Linlithgow.

Almondell Country Park was delightful. Within 10 minutes we had seen more walkers than in the whole of yesterday. We walked along wooded paths and over a suspension bridge to reach a canal feeder. The feeder led us to the Lin Mill Aqueduct, but not before we had climbed down to get underneath it and up on the other side to reach it.

As I’ve mentioned before, the big problem with aqueducts (and viaducts) is that it’s difficult to capture them in a photo when you’re on them. This is one of three aqueducts on the Union Canal which was built completed in 1822. There’s a gate halfway along where water can be let out to make a waterfall for tourists to admire. (I don’t think they do it these days.) In 1895 it froze and took two months to thaw.

The canal is a contoured canal so it is winding but flat and has no locks, except at the end where it joins up with the Forth and Clyde canal. We enjoyed the canal with its easy (but hard on the feet, I expect I’ll complain about this for the next few days) path. We detoured into Broxburn partly to avoid a rather dodgy bit of canal and partly to buy lunch. We had a Gregg’s meal deal. Our server egged us on to buy the larger fruit juice for the same price, which we thought was great until we realised it would be heavier…

Our other excitement in Broxburn was the self-cleaning public loo. Good value at 10p as well. It goes through an automatic washing cycle, including the floor, after each use

The major feature of the landscape around Broxburn is slag heaps. Big red slag heaps, now covered in vegetation. It turns out they are remnants of the shale oil boom in the nineteenth century. The shale slag was very hot when it was deposited which often led to smouldering fires that could go on for years. The heaps are known as bings, and some are now scheduled monuments, partly because they are home to rare plant and insect species

I have to say, the canal was a bit dull. For most of the time after we passed the bings any views were shielded by trees. There were no moving pleasure craft just a weed clearer

We plodded on. We found a bench for lunch, but there were no canalside cafes or pubs. Well, there was one, about five minutes walk after we had stopped for a Mars bar, by which time we just wanted to get to Linlithgow. We got there at last and did then stop at a nice cafe on the Main Street before Sue left me to catch the train to Edinburgh and thence to Durham. I plodded along through Linlithgow to reach my hotel for the night. 14.6 miles done and feet jolly sore.