go west

15th May. I had for a while been thinking about visiting Dalmeny. It is a favourite haunt but since I would normally catch a train to the station and run home hadn't considered it feasible lately. Then Karl posted that the grounds were open again. Didn't know they had been closed or how that would be managed. Anyway it got me thinking I might cycle West and take in a couple of favourite places

I hadn't been down Barnton way in ages. This large mansion has had its 2 front gates (both giant slabs of wood long overdue a varnish) replaced with contemporary metal. The word that sprang to mind was overwrought. However that pun is erroneous as they would be mild (or stainless) steel, not wrought iron, (a semi-fused mass of iron with (up to 2%) fibrous slag inclusions).

 I wondered if the owners were happy with them. I liked aspects of the ambition but felt they were slightly clumsy in design and weren't in keeping with anything of the building, the street or indeed the country. A lot of work had gone into them - a huge amount - and I reckon that both sets plus the installation would have cost about what Mary and I paid for our flat back in the 90s. Or more. 

I decided to have a little look about Cammo estate. I had taken bread and seeds for the birds but somehow it didn't come together today. I put food out on the horizontal tree boughs but there weren't as many takers. I got the feeling that lockdown had stopped some of the regulars feeding the birds here and the birds had got out the habit. Except the crows who (as soon as I wandered slightly from the immediate area) swooped down and cleared the food away. I did a cycle round a few places there including the walled garden. Nice to see beehives. And I was fairly sure the hundred year old ivy covered walls probably contained Holly Blues. But there was no sign of any butterflies so I cycled back to the Cramond Brig and on into the Dalmeny Estate.

an old friend on the beach

I wanted to look up the Small Coppers at the estuary above. They don't really exist properly in full reality and it takes a great deal of mental effort to bridge the gap and have them appear. I didn't feel confident of the trick today and the cool blowy weather was not helping. It all seemed too much like hard work. So instead I found a nice patch of low lying sandy mossy ground and lay down for a snooze till the sun came out. I could see it was 10 minutes away so lay on my back with the camera on my chest and closed my eyes. I heard a honking coming in to land and took a photo. I wished I had something to put under my head to act as pillow but my bike was 50 yards away and if I got up to get a jacket or whatever, the moment would be lost. I enjoyed the lack of air traffic and listening instead to the silence of bird calls and shushing waves. 

The sun eventually snuck out from behind the clouds and slapped my snoozing face. I reluctantly got up and did a quick scan around the area and the flowering rock-rose. Nothing. I had a feeling it was not going to be a great day for wildlife - as if a note had gone round saying due to cold temps all interactions will be suspended for 4 or 5 days. I tried not to let it get me down but it did take the shine off the day.  I cycled home along the front and then up the cycle path.

There were a few Orange Tips - male and female - on the cyclepath. I stopped for a couple of photos but there were too many passing folk to relax. I had remembered plans to visit Warriston Cemetery (not the crematorium) and since it was nearby and the sun was out I took a bit of a detour. The entrance is cleverly hidden halfway up the cyclepath near Goldenacre / Warriston Gardens and the whole place is surrounded by a tall wall. However I wasn't the only person there. Dogwalkers; family picnics; young parents with pushchairs; an artist sketching a scene!; and a few blokes looking a bit dubious. Mary told me it was a gay pick-up spot. Those folk seemed to concentrate round the bottom. Haha! I was interested to explore this area which you can see from the B&Q walkway alongside the WoL  at Warriston Rd, Powderhall. It always looks appealing from the other side of the river, but tantilisingly out of reach. 

butterfly and bike

I nodded hello to a couple of folk, hoping I wasn't being too encouraging and was slightly concerned a guy was following me around for a bit. I also spoke to guy who was gardening or reclaiming an area near the river and turning it into a place to grow stuff and have BBQs. It seemed a great project and good use of this land that was otherwise just going to waste with overgrown weeds and ivy. 

I have been touring round a few Edinburgh Cemeteries and they all seem to be in the same state: slowly decaying and visited less by mourners than picnickers and dogwalkers. So it doesn't seem to be disrespectful to cycle or run round them. Although we usually end up walking, hunting for butterflies. There were a few speckled wood and whites but all the ones I got near to were tattered and not worth the effort. But maybe a place to return to on a warmer day. Certainly very relaxing and uncrowded and easy to distance from others.

A pleasant day out but a little short on wildlife to call a triumph.

Warriston - full of flowers and shady areas.

drone fly