Edinburgh Marine Drive Scotland.

Moving down to the a big city after spending time in the Highlands is always a wee come down after the wonderful wide open countryside. The reason for staying in Edinburgh is that we wanted to spend sometime with our grandchildren. Normally we would have stayed south of the city at Mortonhall but because we wanted to take the children to Inchcolm Island we choose Silvergraigs this time.

The Edinburgh Club Site is located twenty minutes walk from the shore and the Cramond Promenade and twenty minutes walk in the other direction to the bus services. So ideally placed - but the area is a little unkempt with rubbish and leaves all along the borders of the pavement and dumped in hedges. Not a good advert for the many tourists that visit the area. 

As with most club sites the pitches are well arranged and spacious, the facilities kept very clean and the site itself very well maintained.The site is situated on the Edinburgh flight path and planes are passing, quite low, ever ten minutes. Admittedly you do get used to it after a couple of days.

When the tides out you can walk the one mile to the tidal island of Cramond, but you need to be very aware of the tide times because the sea comes in very quickly cutting any chance to walk back safely. Tide times are very well displayed so there's no excuse to get stranded on the island. Unfortunately we were never on the beach at a time which would allow us to cross the causeway. 

Although a little damp under foot there is a footpath that takes you from the promenade to a pathway along the River Almond where you will come across the ruined walls of Fair-a-Far Mill. 

From 1770 the mill was at the heart of Cramond’s industrial revolution. Ships brought iron from Russia and Sweden to Cockle Mill, just downstream, where it was refined and cut into strips. At Fair-a-Far, the walls reflected the fierce glow of the furnace and with great trip hammers it made the strips into tools, chains and cart axles. Cramond’s industrial heyday didn't last long. Because of bad management and things outside their control by the mid 1800’s the mills work was transferred elsewhere. 

I suppose you can't stay on the outskirts of our capital city without venturing into its heart. A 34 bus will dispense you in Princess Street even on a rainy day! A walk along Princess Street and you soon realise that the rumours are right, this once proud shopping street is not what it was with both Frasers and Jenners no longer there and lots of of tourists tat outlets substituting for normal retail outlets. At the Leith end of the street you will find the new St James Quarter Mall. No character and lots of outlets not open yet does not help, but personally i have never been impressed by any of these giant shopping precincts with there lack of interesting shop - that is unless you want to queue up to enter the Lego shop? Never mind at least there’s still a Waterstones Book Shop in Princess Street. 

The reason for stay arrived the following morning and once the rain stopped a walk along the beach kept our grandsons occupied for a couple of hours. 

Entertaining a seven and ten year old is not always easy when contending with the Scottish weather. So it was a number 16 bus to Ocean Terminal to see the movie “The Addams Family 2” then back into town for the dreaded McDonald’s where the trade descriptions act should be invoked, no way could you describe what we ate as a beef burger - with a box of stringy things also wrongly described as chips!

Much more to our liking, and the highlight of the boys stay was the planned boat trip to Inchcolm Island, known as the Iona of the East located in the Firth of Forth.  The Maid of the Forth sails from Hawes Pier at South Queensferry on the four mile journey to the island where you get 90 minutes to explore this rather enchanting place before the boat returns and picks you up.

Thankfully the sun put in an appearance so we were able to sample the delights of the beautifully preserved 12th century monastic abbey and what remains of the wartime fortifications. It even boasts sandy beaches and picnic areas. 

The smooth trip out to the island was very pleasant in the sunshine. The sea had whipped up quite a swell which made our return journey quite exciting, we still got a tour of the underside three bridges even if docking was made difficult by the strong wind. 

The day was rounded off with fish suppers in the Railbridge Bistro before setting off back to Marine Drive.

Another family day followed when our daughter arrived with our youngest grandson, with the weather greatly improved a walk down to the beach and a round of ice cream was the order of the day. 

Inchgnome Island.