Full Description
Within the City of Edinburgh, there
are many miles of "dismantled railway" that have been transformed into smooth,
gently-graded, tarmac routes, ideal for pedestrians of all ages (especially
young families), for cyclists and for joggers. The railway engineers, who
balanced excavation and infill, have left a legacy of cuttings and embankments
which are generally unobtrusive and often surprisingly tucked away from today's
city life.
In 1981 Lothian Regional Council
acquired various disused lines and other railway land, making possible the
creation of cycleways-cum-footpaths. The programme began in 1983 and has
flourished ever since. More might have been achieved had the line closures of
the 1960s been accompanied by comprehensive plans for re-utilisation, which the
mood of the times did not favour. There was instead piecemeal redevelopment for
domestic housing, commerce and industry. Although a more enlightened policy
subsequently prevailed, these results are not easily undone.
Nevertheless, the maze of track beds
has very largely been preserved covering a total of some 40 miles - in part the
product of inter-company rivalry and duplicated provision. Thirteen walks are
described and, although each stands alone, tackling them in sequence opens
windows on two centuries of urban expansion which has subsumed once-independent
communities, all with their own histories.
The first walks described begin at
Waverley Station in the city centre. Where track beds have been lost - especially
through parts of old Leith - exploratory detours are detailed. The authors
therefore advise that more time is allowed than the distances cited may
suggest!
