After visiting the Britannia I decided to walk around the docks of Leith until I reached the “start” (or end) of the “Water of Leith” walkway. It´s like a green corridor running next to the Leith river all the way through Edinburgh up to Balerno, a suburb of Edinburgh – but to be honest I didn´t walk all the almost 20 km. Even if I´d would like had to as it was just a beautiful sunny day and the path crosses many sights of Edinburgh and even runs though the stunning Dean Village, which I visited on the next day, but there was so much more to see! Next time I´m gonna rent a bike and just bike all the way!
I maybe walked for an hour and left the path near the Royal Botanic Gardens, which were my next stop.
The power provided by the rapid flow of the river was harnessed to drive waterwheels in mills at over 70 sites along the river, establishing a string of villages. The mills produced a variety of goods for Edinburgh and further afield including, paper, flour, woollen and linen cloths, spices and snuff.
The people of Edinburgh have, for centuries, had close links with the Water of Leith. (Water of Leith Trust)
The idea of a path next to the once so important river first came up in 1949 but it took until 1973 until the construction work started.
This is where I left the pathway (or kind of lost it) and continuted my walk to the botanic garden.
What a view of the city and all those cute dogs! Almost arrived at the Royal Botanic Garden….
