CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure

Embra to Broxburn via canal

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  1. dougal
    Member

    Went with some friends at the weekend. Got absolutely blackened with mud on the canal path. Having a white bike at least makes it easy to identify all the bits that need cleaned (ie, all the bits).

    Stopped for satisfying lunch at the Bridge Inn, Ratho. Had a pint of the Summer Storm. I'm not normally a wheat beer fan but I couldn't resist the name given the weather we'd been riding through.

    Stayed out late in the end and got the train back from Uphall. If I do it again I'd look for a different route as I don't have any bikes that are suited to the alternately rough and claggy terrain along the canal.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  2. twq
    Member

    I find it infuriating how close to good cycling infrastructure they are on the canal.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  3. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @twq

    It is maddening, isn't it? Just three or four metres of land is all we'd need, and a lot of that is scrubby waste ground. The parapetted bridges are a real bugbear.

    I can only imagine that CEC are wary of trying to engage with Scottish Canals, Historic Scotland and Network Rail as well as the myriad local landowners. Solving the aqueduct conundrum alone would be a major achievement. Double decker? Widened original? Pave over the waterway? If we all rode amfibiefiets it would all be so much easier.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Amfibiefiets_Amphibious_bicycle.jpg

    Posted 9 years ago #

  4. dougal
    Member

    Yes, alternatively I should have found someone to lend us a canoe for the day!

    That being said, my only experience of the canal so far has been the stretch at Linlithgow so I was impressed that there was a paved section in Edinburgh! It didn't last, of course, but at least I had the impression I would make it to my destination without regretting my choice of wardrobe/vehicle.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  5. richardlmpearson
    Member

    Totally agree.

    There is also some potential in developing a whole new route up the River Almond from Cramond to Livingston. I'm sure this wouldn't be too costly a project.

    I have recently been exploring may trails in the area and reckon that cutting back a lot of vegetation and chucking down some thin gravel would do the trick. There would be some small challenges bridging some streams, but precast structures could deal with them.

    The path already goes as far as the airport from the promenade at Cramond (although overgrown between Cramond Brig and the airport). The banks seem quite wide and could be developed. There are lots of short sections of path along it, but unconnected.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  6. Dave
    Member

    A segregated route from the canal to Cramond would be fantastic.

    I've often wondered about guerilla brushcutting to get things started, then using stretches often enough to establish crude paths...

    Posted 9 years ago #

  7. gembo
    Member

    Definitely feasible. Could go from the other aqueduct, the one over the almond, down through almondell country park which has paths and indeed a road that cars can't use.

    There was a previous discussion about the big rocks up from crammond and how to get round them

    Posted 9 years ago #

  8. fimm
    Member

    If I were the benign dictator of Edinburgh I'd ban cycling along the canal.

    Well, maybe not ban it. It is an OK place for a pootle. What I would do is make all the infrasructure along all the parallel roads so good that none of the commuters/speed merchants would want to use the canal any more.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  9. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Could go from the other aqueduct, the one over the almond

    That would be the Almond Aqueduct.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  10. chdot
    Admin

    "There is also some potential in developing a whole new route up the River Almond from Cramond to Livingston. I'm sure this wouldn't be too costly a project."

    Well there are current plans for the first bit -

    "Replacement of the Salvesen Steps (River Almond)"

    http://www.citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12506

    CEC is also looking at the section to/around the airport.

    Anyone who supports this should contact Lesley Hinds.

    (She is chair of Access Forum and quite keen on the idea of a decent path to Kirkliston.)

    Posted 9 years ago #

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