Union Canal

I went on a very fine walk yesterday, following the Union Canal from Linlithgow to the outskirts of Edinburgh. I was very lucky with the weather, it being dry, bright througout, and with a couple of hours of sun around midday. This seemed to bring out all the wildlife. On two separate occasions, I saw what I'm pretty sure were mink swimming in the canal. One of them even swam right up to me to allow a better identification. Perhaps I should be more dismayed at the damage they are probably doing to birdlife, than I am thrilled at the mere novelty. Just after the first American visitor was sighted, I passed a riotously perfumed bush clustered with a stupid number of bees and flies, and six red admiral butterflies. Not bad for mid-October.

It's an enjoyable route for other reasons too. Where the original bridges exist, they are lovely: stone built and elegantly arched, and with carved numbers that count down to Lochrin Basin. And you get a good view of the shale bings around Broxburn and of Niddry castle.