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Walking Land's End to John o'Groats with Mark Moxon

Edinburgh to Linlithgow

A distinctly suburban scene on the Union Canal outside Edinburgh
A distinctly suburban scene on the Union Canal outside Edinburgh

I've been looking forward to this part of the walk for ages, and do you know why? Because for the whole of today and tomorrow I'm following canals without any deviations whatsoever, and after the ups and downs of the last few weeks, these canals have assumed a mythical significance for me.

Prevailing Conditions

Ratho
Ratho is right on the Union Canal

Somewhere around the 11-mile mark out of Edinburgh the M8 passes over the Union Canal, and in the gloomy shelter of the underpass I nodded hello to a man propping up his bike and rolling a joint. A few minutes later he caught me up as I huddled in the paltry shelter of a small bridge, trying to hide from a blustery shower that had just started dumping large amounts of water on my head. He joined me; we talked about the weather.

Wind ruffling the Union Canal
Wind ruffling the Union Canal

En Route

The tip in Broxburn
The colourful tip in Broxburn

It also didn't help that last night I found myself stuck in a hostel dorm with six two-bed bunks; I'd wondered why the reception sold earplugs, and as the night wore on I found out why. Luckily I never travel anywhere without my own pair, but even earplugs can't conquer the curse of the bunk bed. Youth hostel bunks are rarely built to withstand the kind of treatment they get, and I was lucky enough to get the bed above the only man in the dorm who twitched instead of snoring. He didn't roll over gently and slobber into his pillow like the rest of my fellow insomniacs; instead, every now and then he'd jump like a jack rabbit, spasming into a new sleeping position while shaking the foundations like King Kong. Did I sleep? Did I hell. Sometimes in hostels you get an entire room to yourself and it's like Christmas; sometimes you get what you pay for, and that's when the money you save isn't worth a penny.

A tip in Winchburgh
The Ayers Rock-like tip in Winchburgh
Linlithgow
Linlithgow
St Michael's Church in Linlithgow
St Michael's Church in Linlithgow

These Boots Weren't Made For Walking

Linlithgow itself is a pretty little place and I just had time to rush round the gardens of another exquisite Historic Scotland property, Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots. But I couldn't face wandering around town too long, even though the excellent Four Marys pub serves a mean pint of Kelburn Goldihops and has more real ales on offer than the entire Scottish Borders region. I'm afraid my feet are throbbing after 22.5 miles of pounding towpath, and they need a rest.

Linlithgow Palace
Linlithgow Palace

1 My thanks to Demon Drawer, who left a message in my Guestbook explaining more about the tips of Lothian. 'May I just give you the local lingo for the tips you witnessed at Winchburgh and Broxburn,' he writes. 'These are called Bings, and as you quite correctly point out they are tipping piles, in this case for the soil from which shale was extracted for one of the major local industries of the region (i.e. shale oil production). The flatness of the tops was because at some point in the last 20 years, for public safety reasons, the tops were flattened off.' Thanks for the information, DD – much appreciated.