As you may have seen from Nick’s blog, I joined him for a section of his mammoth cross-UK walk on Sunday. We trekked from Linlithgow station to Edinburgh Park station along the Union Canal, also known as the Contour Canal because of its consistent height of 73m above sea level, and as the Mathematical River due to its consistent width and depth.

The weather mostly held up, but there were a few wet sections – not, though, the storms predicted on the BBC weather website. There was a change of scenery when we left the canal for a pub break in Broxburn. We didn’t actually know we were in Broxburn until we got well into the town, suspecting that we’d only got as far as Winchburgh, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover that we were several miles farther on. Having seen Manchester United score an apparently endless stream of goals against Fulham (yes, I mentioned football, be impressed), we headed back to the canal.

We passed close to Ratho, which has a nice stretch of canal with resting places and interesting titbits of information popping up at regular intervals. This included the names of Ratho canal boats and we could help but be tickled by the third…


Another display appeared to show Edinburgh Castle as north of Ratho – we didn’t quite understand that one.

I was flagging a bit towards the end but had the treat of walking/staggering along the Scott Russell Aqueduct over the city bypass before trudging away from the canal towards Edinburgh Park station. There I had forty-five minutes to rest and let my muscles seize up before hobbling onto the train home. Including my walk to the station in the morning, I must have done 20 miles which I’m pleased with, especially as I normally walk about a mile maximum in one go. On the downside, my feet and legs were killing me when I got home and I was struggling just to get around the flat. I was still limping yesterday with my right calf muscle giving me gyp, but it’s mostly better now.

Nick was great company and, having been doing this for several weeks already, didn’t show any signs of discomfort. He should, as I type, be en route from Peebles to Melrose as he continues on his way to Cornwall. He is raising money for the Brain Research Trust. Please do sponsor him if you haven’t already – you can do it online at http://www.justgiving.com/nickswalk and if you’re a UK taxpayer the Treasury will add 28% to whatever you can pledge.