holibags pt2

Since Mary had a week off last week it seemed inappropriate to go back to work. So we had a few adventures. 

24/08/18 One was a run to Telferton to pick up some supplements Mary had bought on the dark net. So 4 bottles of pills rattled round the rest of the run, which went up over Arthur's Seat and then back through the centre of town, which Mary has been calling the Heart of Darkness since the festival began. It lived down to that epithet.

Bernie says this platform is measuring water quality near Seafield.

I bet it's as clean as the local air - and the delightful Seafield Stench.

we got a good look at the nearby downpours from up A Seat

fish ponds looking good at Scottish Widows

Through the meadows then over into the Grassmarket. Things got busier and the streets more and more rammed with (hungover) tourists buying shit at stalls and stopping to point cameras at things. (God forbid!) By the High Street it was intolerable, with floating yodas on opposite corners. I felt this underlined the massive amount of low-end shit that comes with all the highbrow culture, which is largely priced outwith my budget. So I get the bad without much of the good. Which is why I am not a big fan of the festival.

yoda's cash cache was chained to his staff

it would seem you can't trust the force the days

We dropped down to Princes St (Holland and Barrett for more supplements!) and it was another degree of horrible yet. I know the town is supposed to benefit from increased sales but largely it's the pubs who benefit. The whole thing is just an excuse for a piss up till 3am every night under the guise of arts festival. Jesus knows this which is why he hoses it down on the poor hungover tourists every August. He doesn't approve, clearly. I'm rarely on his side, but this once I agree - it's just too decadent.

too many people

I went to a grand total of one show. An orchestral version of Martyn Bennet's 1998 album Bothy Culture at the Playhouse. My nephew Ryan had bought tickets for him and his dad; but Ryan's ticket was up for grabs as he had won the post of official photographer for the Festival. I was very pleased to go along without having to spend the £35 ticket price. That's half a pair of running shoes that is. 

The concert was interesting. When it was good it was outstanding. I am a fan of Martyn Bennett, at least some of the stuff he has done. And he was a very gifted instrumentalist. Sadly he died in 2005 aged just 33. Before that he put out a handful of albums. I really like parts of Bothy Culture his second album. Much less so Grit, and the more traditional folk stuff. I was a bit concerned that all the stuff I really like on Bothy Culture is in the first 5 tracks and from there onwards I lose interest. And they played it in order. However when it got a bit dull I passed the time by counting the members of the casually attired orchestra, who seemed to number in the high sixties. (3 on percussion alone.) There was lighting and the orchestra swayed about quite a bit so it made counting tricky.

The music is very intricate. Martyn B was amazingly accomplished in fiddle, pipes and techno, so the musicians really had their work cut out. And they rose to the occasion, and on minimal rehearsals, from what the dude said. The conductor/arranger Greg Lawson did a brilliant job of translating the album into a score mimicking/interpreting the tracks as closely as possible. The concert started a bit muffled and drum heavy but by track 2 they were nailing it. And proper actor David Hayman made a very decent job of reading Sorley Maclean's Hallaig, while the orchestra did justice to the same. The best track (at the concert) in my opinion was track 5, Ud the Doudouk which grew in repetitive swirls and phrases into a maelstrom of barely controlled chaos, everyone on stage giving it laldy, the whole place caught up in the stomping rhythm.

Unfortunately it never regained those heights, and the next 4 tracks were less good, ending with a dirge-like pibroch on the highland pipes after the rather dreary Waltz for Hector. After that, was the obligatory encore. We had been told to applaud sufficiently and we would be rewarded. Of course the sycophantic audience, who laughed uproariously at every mild quip and clapped furiously at every opportunity, encouraging your man to speak longer than strictly required, got their encore. Unfortunately it was Blackbird, a track off Grit, and I waited patiently for it to end, counting performers. They then played track 6 again (should have been track 5) and Chanter, off Grit.

While I enjoyed the concert it reminded me I prefer to be able to choose what I listen to, and that the atmosphere does not make up for sitting among a large crowd of festival goers. The festival is hugely overpriced these days and a constant crowd scene. More and more it seems like a celebration of alcohol, rather than culture. I much prefer being outdoors, away from large numbers of humans. I mean all the crap on the News these days, and there seems to be more than ever before, that's all humans, making trouble. Apart from the occasional natural disaster, all that bad news, that is just people squabbling. Can't help thinking the world would be much better off if there weren't so many.

It is probably just the end of Summer and the thought of 7 months of crappy weather till life is on the improve again, making me cranky. I wasn't even feeling much like going for a cycle with Mary on Saturday. 25/08/18. As I stepped out the door around midday it felt like a hellish long day to be aiming at Kincardine Bridge and back. But it proved to be worth the effort and apart from Grangemouth, really quite pleasant.

Didn't take many pics till past the bridges. This honeysuckle in the grounds of Hopetoun House and the buddleia beside it had me stop. Pretended I'd stopped to take a photo of Mary in her newly found specs, (and not the butterflies behind her). If you dropped them in the grounds of Hopetoun just tell Mary the 25 digit serial number on the leg and she'll return them! They were useful as there were loads of bugs about and a strong headwind.

Very nice paths round Hopetoun and beyond to Blackness Castle. After Blackness I was reluctant to follow the coastal route 76 as I thought it might end up a dead end, however it went all the way to Bo'ness and was really pretty good. Good tarmac for bikes. We were largely following the sustrans route 76 although I have mixed feelings about it. Last time I ran from Stirling to the Forth Bridges back in May 2015 it mis-led me on at least one occasion. So I don't trust it will always keep me right. I had programmed the Suunto sat-nav to follow what looked like the best route and hadn't seen this option on the map.

Mary vision

Between Blackness and Skinflats was the worst section of the day. Route 76 took us into the Kinneil Estate then dropped us. (Told you.) We back-tracked and yet still could not see any signs saying where to go after the big house. So we threw caution to the wind and followed the awful main road (A904) into and through Grangemouth. Happily there was not too much traffic. But it was hellish ugly after the quiet cycle paths round the coast. Things greatly improved around the prettily named Skinflats (haha) before a pavement option to and over Kincardine Bridge. Here we met the start of the Fife Coastal Path, which we would follow to the bridges.

buzzard on pylon

So the last time I came through here was 2015 and I was on foot. Interesting to see some very similar photos. Like the powerstation above. I had been trying to remember the name Longannet since seeing it from the other side about 15 mile ago and eventually the cogs had turned and I recalled the name. It closed in March 2016. Not sure if its 600ft tower, like Cockenzie, is doomed to be torn down. It has an impressive presence and dominates the landscape for miles.

From that point things just get better and better. The coastal path runs alongside the railway line presumably used to get coal into Longannet. You then come into Culross (pronouced coo-riss) which is like a museum preserved village of quaint architecture and orange pan-tiled roofs. We were long overdue a cafe stop and there seemed to be a few options. We went into the Admiral which was great. Not sure if it was because I was super-hungry or the service was lightening fast but it was defo what the troops needed. Mary threw her bike down on the market square thingy and would have dashed into the place had I not suggested she use her padlock, since we had actually bothered to bring it.

That same Audi was parked there in 2015!

The Admiral - excellent and highly recommended

I had a cheese scorn and flat white, Mary had some cake. Could have eaten the entire menu. Felt much better afterwards and shoved down a Holland and Barrett flapjack as we left. Good heavy stodge - and only 99p - which kept me going.

Now if it had only had Red in the title it would have been perfect.

The track continues to be lovely, right up to the point it hits the MOD ground.

you are obliged to go inland here

Couple of big hills to climb and 2 brief stretches on a bigger road before dropping back down to the coast at Limekilns. And then along the foreshore on pretty paths. Then some larger roads as you get near the bridges. The cycle across the old road bridge (which was empty of traffic) was fun but can make me feel a bit of vertigo. Always glad to get off the other side.

taken this photo before too
(underside of road bridge)

We cycled through S Queensferry and kept going onto the trails through Dalmeny. Along to the big house on the tamac and stayed on it for the remainder to the path up to Cramond Brig. Back home on the northern line cycle-paths. About 66 miles which took over 7hrs as we went at a leisurely pace and that included the cafe stop and the wander round the Kinneil Estate looking for the way. Much better on a bike than running. Nice to have the wind on our backs on the way home!

Inchmickery