Balerno to Slateford

We went up to see Son and family the other day. Here are the children feeding deer at a deer centre. 

I'm sure the deer are perfectly well fed, but they were all very keen to eat the pellets, cunningly sold to us by the centre. 

It was a lovely day. 

Today we did the recce for a walk we're leading with the walking chums in November. It was a perfect autumn day. 

We walked along the river path from Balerno to Slateford. It's all in the city, but feels like the country. 

It's mostly along a former railway line. Here, a tunnel has been painted inside, much of it illustrating the poem "From a Railway Carriage" by Robert Louis Stevenson, who often visited Colinton (on the route of our walk) because his grandfather was the minister there. It's a poem that, in my youth anyway, was much anthologised for children, and we learnt it off by heart. 

From a Railway Carriage by Robert Louis Stevenson Next

Faster than fairies, faster than witches, Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches; And charging along like troops in a battle All through the meadows the horses and cattle: All of the sights of the hill and the plain Fly as thick as driving rain; And ever again, in the wink of an eye, Painted stations whistle by. Here is a child who clambers and scrambles, All by himself and gathering brambles; Here is a tramp who stands and gazes; And here is the green for stringing the daisies! Here is a cart runaway in the road Lumping along with man and load; And here is a mill, and there is a river: Each a glimpse and gone forever!

It's a good poem, full of rhythmic energy, and the painting was splendid.

Here's RLS himself in the tunnel. 

And here's the rather pretty church. 

The path was mainly very easy and the weather beautiful. This is through the window of a grotto along the way. 

Still, by the end of the 6+ miles we were quite tired, and glad to reach the Water of Leith Visitors' Centre for a sit-down and a cup of tea. We're 77 and 75, after all. It was a wonderful day, though.