Dunsapie Loch, Holyrood Park

We spent the morning visiting Holyrood Park on the edge of Edinburgh: we arranged to meet Son#1, partner & granddog at the carpark at Dunsapie Loch on "The High Road". We were puzzled as to why the High Road is currently only open to vehicles between 9.30am to 3pm, Tuesday-Thursday: a lady hiker of a certain age told us that for a while the road had been closed completely and that she had been involved in a battle with the authorities to get it open even during those hours. Seemingly the idea of closing it was to make it more pleasant for runners & cyclists but this meant it was effectively inaccessible to older and disabled folk. We agreed with this, as without vehicle access we couldn't have taken my Dad there, which would have deprived him of a ride along the footpath there in his wheelchair and he'd have missed the lovely views.

The view in the blip is of Dunsapie Loch, one of three lochs in the Park: it's a small artificial loch located between Dunsapie Hill and Arthur's Seat which was created on the initiative of Prince Albert in 1844.

After a leisurely lunch we said our goodbyes to the family after our brief visit and had a good journey home. I chose to use the A1 only as far as Berwick: we then diverted onto the B road to Wooler and back down the A697. This route is a trip down memory lane for me: for 6 years from 1984-1990 I did a weekly clinic at Berwick Infirmary and used to drive home that way afterwards, usually setting off about 7pm, enjoying the gorgeous views and the relative quietness of the roads.