CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
resolvedHi folks,
I've got my 8-year-old nephew visiting this week and we've booked into Ratho for the clip and climb.
We've got a loan of a cargo bike and I was hoping to ferry him in sustainable style from where we are (Willowbrae) to the climbing.
We know we can do most of it along the canal towpath and will need to circumnavigate the aqueduct. But we wanted to know, are there any other parts we should be aware of or will need to avoid?
Cheers,
Andrew
There used to be a BIG flight of steps to get from the canal to the climbing centre...
Yes, the flight of steps up from the canal to the climbing centre is far from bike friendly, despite having a (steep) wooden "bike gutter" alongside it. I certainly wouldn't even contemplate trying to manhandle a cargo bike up it.
Coming from Edinburgh, I think you should be able to continue past the steps, under the road bridge, for about 1km or so until you reach Wilkie's Basin (GR NT119710), from where there is a track that runs alongside the field to the north of the canal that takes you to the nether regions of the climbing centre car park. I'm not sure of the actual state of that track, or how many gates you might encounter requiring you to dismount to open them. I've only eyeballed it from the car park end. It looks OK-ish on Google Maps satellite view - I wouldn't hesitate to give it a go on my MTB - but your cargo bike might be more of a handful if there are any significant ruts/potholes?
The other way would be to come off the canal in Ratho village, head north past the church and then take the track signposted "Ratho Paths Network Wilkie's Basin via Platt Hill". I'm led to believe that this track is in reasonable nick now (it certainly wasn't when I was taken along it in a big 4x4 for a sneak preview of the climbing centre before it opened, but that was a good many years ago now) and again there may be one or two gates to negotiate. This track is marked as a route to the climbing centre on Google Maps.
That's a good flag.
I wonder if this would be a suitable alternative to avoid those steps. Not sure about the bit circled in red though, and whether or not we can get through there.
Thanks ejstubbs, great advice!
From hazy memory, there is a gate at the point you circled, but it is passible by bike. (The route you have highlighted is the second one I suggested.)
@ejstubbs @abeardwalks I went to check @ejstubbs' suggestion #1 on my way home today and it's heavily overgrown. Only the signs indicate that there is a path. And its not just low vegetation but of my size. I would not recommend.
I did take #2 a couple of years ago and I remember it was not too bad but I can't remember if there were any gates. Maybe I can check tomorrow.
I would suggest to take this route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40180941
Go over the Cliftonhall road and down along a ramp (pretty gravelly so I walked my bike there but I have seen people cycling down). Cross the road and cycle up the hill along the pavement. The pavement isn't that great and has some gravel on it but it's not terrible.
The is a 4WD track and access to the eastern side of Cliftonhall Rd but it has a barrier at the bottom (you would have to dismount and tilt the bike to get under).
In short -
It’s a ‘go by car’ destination…
Cycled there a fair few times. The bike chute is ok, bit tough with loaded panniers. But if I had a tandem or a cargo bike I would take @Bill’s route.
There is no public transport out that way, see also Jupiter Artland (though an east Calder bus does stop at the front gate of the Artland )
@algo would stand up paddle board it and deflate the SUP before going in to the climb centre,
Cafe is good.
The Tiso Shop was also good but it closed down.
They are still talking about a surf park but the people who just moved there are objecting.
@gembo I was told that the wave project is going ahead. I spoke* to a daughter of a lade living at one of the cottages on Clifton Rd.
The meadows on top of the Ratho hill and next to the new houses have been fenced off recently, not sure if related through. I don't imagine the dog walkers are happy about that.
* I laughed at myself that I am turning into gembo by talking to strangers i meet along the way
Thanks, everyone :)
We've opted to go somewhere else for the day that's easier to get to. A shame, as the EICC is a great destination, it wouldn't be too difficult to improve bike access for cargo bikes or alternative cycles.
There was plans a few years ago to improve access for bikes to EICA from the Canal. No idea what happened to that. Some discussion on this thread: http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19810
They are still talking about a surf park but the people who just moved there are objecting.
"Plans to create Scotland's first artificial surf park have been boosted by £26m in funding from the Scottish National Investment Bank."
Not really what I thought the SNIB was meant to be for... what's the energy expenditure on making artificial waves?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-62206988
Part of SNIB's remit is "Building communities", which this would arguably (dubiously?) fall under.
BBC 2022 - "Plans to create Scotland's first artificial surf park have been boosted by £26m in funding from the Scottish National Investment Bank...More than 100 jobs are expected to be created."
BBC 2018 - "The £15m facility promises to create 130 jobs and offer a range of other adventure activities."
@Morningsider plus "Senior lender OakNorth Bank is supporting the construction of the facility with an £25.2m loan" so maybe SNIB are acting as guarantor (and hopefully not providing subordinated funding!)
Anyway, it's not like a previous Ratho leisure facility ever needed to bailed out by the council soon after opening, so nothing to see here.
Surfin Butlins.
SNIB shouldn't be getting involved with this in my view.
With climate meltdown any investment needs to be weighed against benefit or damage to planet. Full energy audit also should include how people are most likely to travel to such 'destinations'.
The whole concept of 'destination tourism / leisure' is why we're unable to halt let alone reverse rising temperatures.
One of the first locally was Midlothian's Hillend Ski Centre. That in energy use terms is probably less than many developments since. Couple of tows - all electric. Acres of matting but once installed they don't need so much input. Reliable bus service to bottom of hill. Short walk up from stop. We even cycled it on tandem once or twice. More and more ended up driving though and trend for larger vehicles meant bigger car park.
Skiing of course is generally done by car. Daughter and I did do a day's skiing in Aviemore by train and bus. That's a 'black run' of public transport (dis)integration!
Many children learn from parents that using a car is normal and a precursor to any 'activity'. Forumers of course make cycling normal but once at high school it's harder.
So... the answer for good planetary and personal health are activities inside city like Skelf. Active travel to get to and accessible easily by those without a car.
Meadowbank has re-opened... that should be good news?!
“Meadowbank has re-opened... that should be good news?!”
Better if the Powderhall route had been a key part of the plan…
Not too late, but.
I can confirm that the route highlighted in red by @abeardwalks is possible if a little gravelly with some steepish sections. Wouldn't recommend on tyres narrower than 32mm, anything else should be alright. There isn't a gate. It is fairly typical crap UK active travel infra though, with some battery-powered motion-sensing lights for lighting!
On navigation, on approach to the centre, it's important to "keep right" and do the dog-leg into the car park (otherwise you end up at the top of some steps, as we found out)
I suspect the track is at least partly privately-owned, so getting it surfaced seems unlikely to happen.
If you can lift your bike, I'd strongly recommend the direct steps from the canal, as this is much quicker
I reckon it would be possible to guerilla in a section of single-track to bypass the steps. Sure, it wouldn't be Equality Act compliant, but it would help a lot of users. And likely the council would eventually adopt it, as happened on the Water of Leith path at the bridge near Redhall.
So who's up for a spot of guerilla path making?
I have done this - documented a bit here:
https://twitter.com/Algorhythmica1/status/1532310786915303424?s=20&t=z3an6ekjjm-SvkyYjZrCYQ
if you go over the bridge at Ratho you can get round the back route as I attempted to show there - it's all open - indeed here is a video:
https://twitter.com/Algorhythmica1/status/1532398141147959297?s=20&t=z3an6ekjjm-SvkyYjZrCYQ
Sudden flurry of puff pieces from churnalists.
Would it be cynical to suggest an imminent further cash requirement from ‘investors’? Still, the greater fools of the SNIB will probably stump up as many readies as required
I wonder where the "world's first inland...surfing resort" tag came from? If it was Wavegarden then maybe someone should point out to them that they list one on their web site that's in Switzerland!!!. Even with my limited grasp of geography I reckon that's a fair distance from the sea. (There's another one in Melbourne that's ten miles from the port, and one near Bristol that's 2½ miles from the nearest stretch of coastline. I would tentatively suggest that at least one of those locations might also struggle to qualify as "not inland".)
The Scottish coast is 18,000km long - yet our climate emergency declaring authorities think it appropriate to approve a site where the waves are man-made.
The fact it can't be reached by public transport, contrary to pretty much every planning and transport policy is simply the chef's kiss. I particularly like that the developer convinced the council it could be accessed by modes other than car, and they didn't seem to question it.
Also, there's the fact it is really a holiday park with the wave thing attached as a way of getting planning permission for a large-scale development in designated countryside.
Ratho for holidays? Linn Water Caravan Park will be feeling the heat now.
@Neddie, I have a shovel
@gembo the Astor will need to reopen to cater for the influx
@Murun
Ha
I think David Murray Garden City is also going to open a Butlins.
The press advertorial's seem designed to push people towards buying vouchers which may or may not be worthless the next time the project is delays?
Anyone want to pay £100 for the possibility of a one night stay in their glamping pods sometime over next winter? Me neither.
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts