Sunshine and Leith

You catch plenty of glimpses of the Water of Leith while ambling around Edinburgh but not many people realise there's a walkway that follows the river's entire length – 24 miles from its source in the Pentland Hills, through the heart of the capital, to the Firth of Forth at Leith. The river was Edinburgh's industrial heartland, lined with mills harnessing the power of the water to produce paper, fabric and flour, while the river mouth supported a boat and shipbuilding industry. Now it's a ribbon of green meandering across the city.

Urban oasis

With the aim of walking at least half of it one Saturday, some old school friends and I meet at the Water of Leith visitor centre at Slateford. This area was once a busy river crossing and a thriving village grew up around the nearby quarries. An impressive aqueduct and viaduct loom over the path as we set off on our walk, echoes of a 19th century industrial past.

Slateford crossings

Over the next few miles we pass iconic Edinburgh sites, including remnants of the 1908 Scottish National Exhibition, Murrayfield rugby stadium, the cathedral-like towers of Donaldson's School for the Deaf, and a sobering glimpse of the barbed wire fence surrounding Saughton Prison.

Dean Village nestles in a steep-sided gorge where the Dean Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford in 1832, towers above the river at a height of 32 metres. There were mills along this stretch as far back as the 12th century and the village became a centre for flour milling. 

Dean Village

Telford's towering bridge

Here you can pop up to the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art for lunch and a loll about on its expansive lawn, taking in the many outdoor sculptures.  

Miro on the lawn

We notice the work of guerrilla stone-balancers, whose rock creations teeter precariously midstream. 

Stone love

A little further on, towards Stockbridge (meaning timber bridge), another highlight of the route is the St Bernard's Well, popular in the 19th century for its mineral water. Housed inside a roman-style temple with Hygeia, the goddess of health at the centre, recent analysis shows the water to be unfit for drinking.

Inside St Bernard's Well

We walk on through Canonmills (so called because King David l granted one of his mills to the Canon, in 1128). This weekend there's a free festival called Fanfare going on at 12 locations along the Water of Leith. We're lucky enough to catch one of the brass bands in St Mark's Park, by the river at Warriston. We soon singing along to an eclectic set that ranges from Bach to Adele. Sublime.

Brassed off

The walk ends in Leith Docks with its mix of bars, restaurants and restored warehouses. Moored next to Ocean Terminal, a shopping mall, is former Royal Yacht Brittania, now a major visitor attraction. For me, the view of one of Anthony Gormley's life-size figures, staring out to sea, is a far more fitting way to end the walk. 

Sea view at Leith