Musselburgh to Cramond | UK Coast

Eve and I had been putting off walking the section of coast around Edinburgh for a while. All summer, we opted for quieter, more rural sections. However, Edinburgh couldn't be avoided forever.

Concerned for our safety, I had no intention of trying to wild camp around urban Edinburgh. We planned to hike this section in winter when Sarah could drop us off and pick us up. Now that we've completed it, we did see a few areas where I would have been happy to camp, but with Eve, I wasn’t prepared to take that risk!

Edinburgh is our favourite city. If we were to live in a city, it would be Edinburgh. In my opinion, it’s the most beautiful city in the United Kingdom. The coastal section around it, although not our usual stomping ground, was overall better than I’d expected.

We had an early start today, getting up at 6:15 in hopes of walking by first light. That didn’t quite happen, as we stopped en route to use facilities and get some AdBlue for the car when the warning light indicated it was low! We finally started walking just before 10 am.

Our starting point was on the edge of Musselburgh. We parked at Booker Cash and Carry. Here, the John Muir Way (which we have previously hiked) splits from the coast and heads into Edinburgh city centre. We continued along the coast, into Portobello.

After a quick goodbye, Sarah drove off to go Christmas shopping. Eve and I made our way out of the car park to find the first safe and convenient route to the coastline.

The tide was out. I hadn’t checked tide times, assuming there wouldn’t be much beach walking as we entered the city. I knew Portobello has a huge, expansive beach—but not much after that. With the tide out, we went straight onto the rocky shoreline, walking behind houses and flats toward Portobello. It was slow going, as the rocks were so slippery. This was one of the rare times we opted not to carry walking poles. I began to regret that decision.

Portobello Beach is massive and in summer can make headline news. Being so close to the city, it gets mobbed in hot weather. Today, it was almost deserted! Another great reason to hike in winter, especially through popular touristy places—they’re much quieter.

We walked along the beach, with Eve desperately trying to teach me Brownie and Guide songs and their actions! This always ends poorly—Eve gets increasingly frustrated with my feeble attempts and lack of mental agility to remember the correct sequences.

Approaching the end of Portobello beach, we passed a dog rescue centre and headed onto the main road. We could see the main road from some distance thanks to the flashing blue lights of emergency vehicles. There was no mistaking we were in the city!

The road was busy and noisy, but we tried to settle into a rhythm and ignore the drone of engines and horns and the smell of fumes. It was not pleasant, and we briefly spoke about the beaches north of Aberdeen!

As we neared the industrial heart of Edinburgh, we could smell it, strong and pungent on the wind—a huge sewage treatment works lay ahead.

We had studied the maps as we walked down the road, trying to find a way to stay near the coast and skirt the sewage plant. Navigationally, this is often hard—paths and trails that are mapped in urban locations are frequently non-existent or blocked. This proved to be no different.

Dropping briefly onto a sandy beach, we climbed the sea defences and made our way around the sewage plant. It was huge, smelly, and the coast trail was absolutely covered in rubbish and excrement. We didn't stop, but did see a man working in the plant. How people do this is beyond me—he is, in my opinion, the backbone of our nation, doing jobs most couldn’t or wouldn’t do. He was whistling a happy tune. I hope his wage reflects the conditions he works in, though I fear it doesn't.

After the sewage works, it was industry—lots of industry. Noisy, smelly, rusty, and dirty, but essential to our modern, always-available, always-connected lives. Again, I admire, respect, and look up to those who make their living in these places! My father worked a manual labour jobs all his life, as did my mother. These people keep our nation moving. The unseen army without whom our lives would descend back into the stone age! If you are one of them reading this, you have my eternal respect and thanks.

Weaving through the industry and factories was hard and at one point, we feared it was all for nothing. Walking along a path, we could see a formidable fence in front with no gate or apparent way through. Only as we got close did Eve spot a broken part we squeezed through. Had we not, we’d have had to backtrack to the road by the sewage plant—adding miles to an already long day!

Leith, another area of Edinburgh, stands in stark contrast to the industrial area we had just walked through. The streets were clean and paved. People walked in suits, plugged into iPhones and other tech. Leith is also where the glorious Royal Yacht Britannia is permanently berthed.

Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia is the former royal yacht of the British monarchy, in service from 1954 to 1997. She was retired by the government in 1994, crewed by volunteers and the Royal Navy, with a detachment of Royal Marines! It’s also where some of the most famous photos of Princess Diana were taken.

Eve and I tried to get as close as we could to the Britannia, but as a paid attraction, we couldn’t get as close as we wanted. It was nice to see it from afar—perhaps we’ll return in the future to go onboard!

In Leith, we found a large shopping centre. We popped in to use the facilities and grab a hot drink from Greggs. I managed to get a free drink as a reward from our home energy provider, and Eve used some of the Buy Me a Coffee donations you have given us—thank you! I had a Gingerbread Latte, and Eve had a caramel Mocha. We sat on the floor in the shopping centre enjoying the warmth—and got a lot of strange looks from passersby!

Leaving Leith, we walked around the coast to Newhaven, trying to push into Western Harbour to stick to the coast. The harbour was very secure with tall wire fences all around. We walked down the side of high-rise flats, passing about six Amazon delivery vans all making deliveries on the same road!

Reaching Leith West Breakwater Lighthouse, it was approaching 1 pm and we were hungry. Sitting on a wooden plank, made into a bench, we ate our soup from our new Thermos Food Flasks. We both had Scotch Broth.

A nice path runs next to the sea on the opposite side of the high-rise flats, leading to the other side of Newhaven. The small harbour at Newhaven is quaint and pleasant with a small lighthouse. We walked to the lighthouse and found hundreds of padlocks on the fence. Eve started to read them aloud—most were in memory of loved ones. One was dedicated to a child. We stopped reading them after this, paid our respects and walked on, hoping the parents have found some peace in the gesture to their child's memory.

We followed the roads, passing small cottages painted in different colours. We watched a delivery driver pull over, and four doors opened almost in unison, expecting the delivery to be for them! They all looked disappointed when the driver knocked at the fifth door and handed the package to a gentleman who answered it.

Granton Harbour looked busy and we couldn’t see any logical way to get through the buildings to stay on the coast, so we opted to continue on the road, rather than risk getting trapped by fences or shouted at by a security guard for trespassing! I don’t think we missed much.

It was now starting to get dark. Grey clouds had descended and it began to rain lightly. The day had been cold and windy, so we got ourselves ready for the rain and darkness, making sure we had head torches accessible and all our dry bags watertight in our backpacks. We also had a snack to power us onwards.

Getting onto Silverknowes Esplanade felt good—as if we were starting to leave Edinburgh’s urban sprawl behind. The esplanade was quiet, with only a few people around. We passed a few cyclists and a mother and baby heading into the buildings opposite. Walking started to feel pleasant, with a slightly more relaxed attitude. We were alone for the first time today.

We still walked at a pace, keen to avoid the worst of the dark. Although we enjoy walking in the dark, we hadn’t planned for that today—knowing Sarah would worry, being so close to the city! 

Eve walked most of the way along the narrow wall next to the coast, and I stayed on the path. The trees to our left looked warm and inviting, and if we were camping, this is where I would have gone—hiding behind one of the bushes, out of sight. Across the Firth, we watched lights being switched on the opposite side and on the various boats and platforms moored in the water. I really like this time of day, when day shifts to night. The twilight is magical and mysterious—I never tire of it. Eve was transfixed by the lights twinkling in the water’s reflection. We were both getting tired.

Darkness came fast. It was almost pitch dark as we reached Cramond as the last of the light faded. We walked along a wooden boardwalk onto the sand next to the causeway to Cramond Island. Cramond is a tidal island, so with the tide currently in, we couldn’t walk out to it. We’ve visited Cramond Island several times and walked its edge. I’ll write another post sometime and add images of Cramond Island. It's well worth a visit, but check the tide times, as the island is tidal and people do get stranded!

At this point, it was pitch dark and raining.

We phoned Sarah to tell her where we were and ask if she could pick us up. Eve and I decided to end at Cramond, feeling it was a good stopping point and easy for Sarah to reach. Sarah was luckily only a few miles away but, due to heavy traffic, it would be another 30 minutes before she could get to us.

Eve and I sat down, had a wee break, and watched the lights twinkling over Cramond Island and the Firth of Forth. But we got cold, so decided to walk slowly up the banks of the River Almond to another car park we had seen on the map.

We passed a large old building advertising coffee and ice cream. Eve got very excited hoping to get ice cream, but the shop was closed. We walked in the dark listening to the river beside us, eventually reaching the car park, where we sheltered under a canopy, where bins were stored—not the nicest way to end the day’s walk, but it served us well and we appreciated the shelter! It wasn’t long before Sarah arrived and we bundled ourselves into the car, with a pack of mince pies waiting that Sarah had bought for us! I had told sarah earlier that Eve had been craving mince pies!

We had walked nearly 13 miles, passing through a variety of areas from heavy industry to city flats. We enjoyed it for what it was—we’re both happy and slightly relieved to have bagged another section of coastline.

Tomorrow, we plan to reach North Queensferry and link up with the Fife Coastal Path.

We really hope you enjoyed reading our journal.
If you did, we’d be incredibly grateful if you’d consider supporting us with a warm drink at Buy Me a Coffee. Your generosity is deeply appreciated and means so much to us all. Thank you.
Ian, Sarah & Eve 🙏

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