Wednesday 28 May.
The TV weather forecast wasn’t looking as good as the one they gave yesterday but we were going walking anyway. Moira had her shower then we got everything ready and were on our way just after 7am. We decided to go to the day’s start by car, Moira drove while I read my book on the iPad. We went on the M8 towards Edinburgh and the traffic was heavy with a lot of minor hold-ups. The rain had started just after we left home and it was very heavy at times, but we could see some lighter sky in the east and we had our fingers crossed. We left the motorway at the junction for Falkirk and after about 8 miles took a turning to Linlithgow. We went through the middle of Linlithgow which was a nice little historic town with some beautiful buildings. It wasn’t very far now to Bo’ness and the rain had gone off. We left the car in the car park near where we caught the bus after we finished our walk on the last section from Falkirk.
Although the rain was off the clouds were still heavy and I wore my water proof trousers on top of my shorts. We weren’t walking for long when we stopped and got our rain jackets out. It hadn’t started raining but the wind coming off the Forth estuary was cold and the jackets kept us warm. The path ran along just above the shore. The tide was well out and on the mud flats hundreds of birds, much smaller than the normal gulls were busy pecking into the mud for food. The path was good and ran round Bo’ness harbour before meeting the shore line again. There was a notice warning about work on the path and it would be impassable at low tide. This section came just before we reached Blackness Castle and we had to walk along the gravelly beach. We had a beautiful view of the castle on a point going out into the estuary and behind our first sightings of the Forth bridges.
BLACKNESS CASTLE
Built in the 15th century by one of Scotland’s most powerful families, the Crichtons, Blackness was never destined as a peaceful lordly residence; its enduring roles were those of garrison fortress and state prison. In 1537, James V (1513–42) embarked on an ambitious programme to convert the 15th-century castle into a formidable artillery fortification. The looming threat from Henry VIII’s Protestant England was the catalyst. The work was completed in 1543, just as the ‘Wars of the Rough Wooing’ were about to erupt.
Mighty Blackness had none of the subtlety of the great Italianate artillery fortifications. Instead, a brute mass of masonry (the ‘stern’ tower) confronted bombardment from the land, with defensive cannons firing through yawning great gunholes positioned to give all-round firepower. The vastly strengthened castle withstood various sieges, until in 1650 Oliver Cromwell’s heavy guns devastated the defences, forcing the garrison to surrender. The scars of that bombardment are still in evidence today.
A state prison:
Dour Blackness was no suitable residence for a nobleman. It was a garrison stronghold first and foremost. It also came to be used as a state prison for those whom the reigning sovereign wished to see safely out of the way.
Countless noblemen were held here during the later Middle Ages, none more important perhaps than Cardinal David Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews, in 1543. In the notorious ‘Killing Time’ of the 1670s and 1680s, many a Covenanter (religious dissident) was incarcerated here by Charles II and James VIII. In the later 18th century, Blackness served as a prison of war for foreign sailors and soldiers captured during the wars with France, Spain and the fledgling United States of America.
There were picnic tables in front of the castle and we sat there and had a cup of coffee and a piece of cake. It was still cold and not very pleasant sitting in the wind from the river, we soon moved on again. Just after leaving Bo’ness we spoke to a man out walking his dog, he said when went through the gate from the castle we should leave the marked trail and go right up the hill for better views of the river. We ignored his advice and stuck to the official ‘Way’ and were glad we did. Although we couldn’t see the river we had a delightful walk through a woodland, Wester Shore Wood, thick with oak, beech and Scots pine.. The trees also created a shelter from the wind and it was feeling warm. Once clear of the woods the track ran beside the walls of the Hopetoun estate and through the trees we managed to glimpse part of the magnificent mansion.
HOPETOUN HOUSE
Home to the Earl of Hopetoun, the house is open to visitors from Easter to the end of September, and offers as seasonal tearoom and nature trails within the grounds (entry fees apply). The surrounding Hopetoun Estate extends over 6500 acres and includes self- Regarded as Scotland’s finest stately home, Hopetoun House was completed in 1707, then enlarged my William Adam in 1721. catering accommodation, clay pigeon shooting and Hopetoun farm shop. See: www.hopetoun.co.uk.
The drive from the house was a mass of colour on both sides from numerous varieties of rhododendron bushes. The dive ended in a curved gateway.
When we picked up the road outside the estate it was along the shore to Queensferry and we were now very close to the bridges that were towering overhead in front of us. The new bridge was progressing with the support columns in position across the river. The beginnings of the actual bridge were projecting over the road. Under this was a children’s play park with benches and we stopped there for our lunch. The old road bridge must be really heavy with traffic as the noise of the cars and trucks crossing was very loud, and it was mid-day, not the rush hour.
THE THREE FORTH BRIDGES
The new Queensferry crossing is due to open in 2016, just west of the existing road bridge which opened in 1964. Recent concerns about traffic levels and maintenance of its suspension cables led to the commissioning of the new road bridge. Traffic is to be shared between them. The original ‘Forth Bridge’ opened in 1890 and has carried the mainline railway ever since. It was the World’s first giant steel bridge and its p[perpetual need for repainting was legendary until 2011 when an epoxy paint promised a 25 year respite. It has been nominated for World Heritage status. See: www.forthbridgeworldheritage.com.
We thought about calling it a day and getting a bus from here back to Bo’ness but it was early and the weather was improving, the sun was trying to break through. We decided to continue to Cramond on the outskirts of Edinburgh, another 10km. The next bus leaving Queensferry for Bo’ness wasn’t for another hour and we didn’t fancy hanging about.
Queensferry was a nice quaint little town with lots of souvenir shops, pubs called either something ‘ferry’ or something ‘bridge’. There was one place called the ‘3 Bridges’ I wonder if it had been named recently? There were sailing sightseeing cruises on the ‘Maid of the Forth’ to see the bridges close up. All along the town the views of the bridges were magnificent and through the window of a restaurant we could see the customers at their tables and through a window behind them the old railway bridge.
After leaving the town it was along a coastal path again then into the woodland of the Dalmeny estate. It was another pleasant forest walk to Dalmeny House where we saw that the lawns in front were the fairways of a golf course. It was well maintained and the greens emerald green with all the recent rain. The path ran round the outside of the course which hugged the coastline.
DALMENY HOUSE
The home of the Earl of Rosebury, Dalmeny house is an unusual and striking Tudor Gothic mansion. Designed by William Wilkins, it was completed in 1817. It houses an outstanding collection of paintings, including works by Raeburn and Gainsborough, and Napoleonic memorabilia. Set in parkland, the landscape was designed in the early 19th century.
The house and tearoom is open Sunday to Wednesday afternoons in July and August; entry is by guided tour only. See: www.dalmeny.co.uk.
The marked ‘Shore Walk’ was a mixture of coastal and woodland until where the River Almond joined the River Forth and a causeway was marked over the sands out to Cramond Island. It now turned right up the only hill of the day. It was a steady climb not too steep but unexpected. On the other side of the river Almond we could see the houses of Cramond. Above we could hear the planes that were taking off from nearby Edinburgh Airport.
When we reached the main road at Cramond Brig there were bus stops on both sides of the road outside a large steakhouse. We stood at the wrong one first of all thinking that we would be going to Edinburgh for a Falkirk or Linlithgow bus but when Moira check the information on ‘Traveline’ the itinerary it gave was to take a bus to Queensferry and from there to Linlithgow for another connection to Bo’ness. We crossed the busy road for the Queensferry bus on the other side. It was now raining heavily and we had just finished on time. Further down the road there was a couple of backpackers trying to thumb a lift but with no success and they gave up after about 20 minutes standing in the pouring rain. The bus was due at 3:35pm and that gave us a 20 minute wait. A few buses came along the road at that time and shortly after but they were all false alarms our bus finally arrived 15 minutes late. The driver didn’t know where to let us off in Queensferry for our connection to Linlithgow but a woman told us to get off at the police station. Even though the bus was behind time it was still dead slow and stop going round the houses in every village along the route and even stopping at a Tesco shopping centre to change drivers. Our connection at Queensferry was at 4:02pm and we were well past that time when we eventually got off at the police station. I checked the bus time on the table at the stop and found the next one wasn’t for nearly 2 hours but we had a stroke of luck. A woman waiting there told us that the 4:02pmm bus was late, it had passed on the other side of the road doing a loop round Queensferry before returning to go to Linlithgow and Bathgate. We only had to wait 5 minutes when it appeared. It was now a matter of linking up with the Bo’ness bus in Linlithgow and it was touch and go whether we would still make it. The driver seemed to be making good time trying to get back on schedule when we got stopped at traffic lights on a one way section under a railway bridge. The lights were jammed on red our way but the traffic came in intervals the other way. After 5 minutes of horn blowing the bus driver pulled out to pass the hesitant car drivers in front and was going to jump the lights when they suddenly changed to green, we were on our way again. When we reached the High St in Linlithgow the Bo’ness bus was waiting at the same stop and we jumped aboard. It was another tour around the houses in little villages but it was our last leg on a frustrating journey and the car was waiting at the other end. At last we were there and it was only a short walk to where the car was parked.
Moira drove us home. She took the road towards Falkirk and just after the junction to Grangemouth got on to the M9 motorway. It by-passed Falkirk and ran alongside Helix Park and the end of the Forth and Clyde Canal where the Kelpies were. We got a great view of these enormous sculptures from the car. After Falkirk it was on to the M876, the M80, M73, M74, M8 and home. The rain eased off as we travelled and surprisingly it was a lovely evening over Greenock and the Clyde when we arrived back.
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