Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: the ash lagoons
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Caption: Back in July, when I’d headed out for this solo walk at the lagoons, I’d intended to share it here straight away. It was a ‘don’t overthink it, just share it’ story. I wanted to share something of our everyday lives this year. A regular walk. Nothing fancy. No great sunsets or striking vistas. No tall pine trees or ancient woodland. No vast beach scenes. Just a regular walk, but a walk that fuelled us through the days of lockdown. We discovered this walk on March 29, at the very start of lockdown, and asked ourselves how we’d never been here before. It’s so close to home. And we’ve walked here ever since.
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Picture
Picture
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Caption: But of course, I overthought it. There are so many amazing places being shared here on Steller. This place isn’t ‘enough’, I thought.
But what it enough? Enough for me is being out in nature. It’s walking through the woods, listening to the wind in the canopy of leaves overhead, listening to the birds. It’s spotting the details, the textures, the colours. It’s paying attention to all of those subtle shifts as the season unfolds around you. And, for me, that quietens my busy mind. Just walking, listening, paying attention. Taking photos. That can be enough.
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Video of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: These sections of woodland aren’t big. There are areas where you can see out through the woods on either side as you walk along the paths. But here, in the middle, you can still feel enclosed by the green.
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: I remember the ash lagoons from when I was a child, but this area looked nothing like it does today. The lagoons at Levenhall Links, on the eastern fringe of Musselburgh, were used to dispose of the ash produced by the coal-fired Cockenzie Power Station, and this was still an industrial site during my childhood. I remember walking round the lagoons when they were filled with water. I remember concrete paths and giant ponds.
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: After the power station closed in 2013, work was carried out to convert the lagoons, creating areas of woodland and the pond, and forming a habitat for wildlife. The entire lagoons site is a Scottish Wildlife Trust listed site, and is part of the Firth of Forth Site of Special Scientific Interest and an important roosting site for wading birds.
Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: When we first started walking here, we wondered about these shipping containers sited alongside the pond. They look incongruous here. Ugly. But it turns out that these containers are used to store canoes. Later in the summer, and even now into autumn, we’ll often spot people having canoeing or paddle boarding lessons here on the pond.
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Video of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: I particularly love these white poplar trees. When it’s windy and bright, the light catches the white underside of the leaves, and the branches appear to be dancing in the light.
Video of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: I started a photo series called #skywallskyscapes to record the ever-changing views from the sea wall. Shifting light, different cloud formations, and the constant ebb and flow of the tide.
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: Walking here over the last seven months, one of the things I’ve enjoyed most is spotting and listening to the birds, especially at low tide where they’re clustered to feed along the water’s edge. Just so many birds.
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: I find winters hard, not for the cold - I love the cold - but for the dark. Dark that can drag you down mentally. And last winter, and the previous one, my weekdays were generally spent indoors, waiting for the weekends when we could drive down the coast. That’s hard. It isn’t good for the mind. We all benefit from fresh air and a connection to nature. So as we look forward to this winter, I’m so glad to have this place close to home. I’m looking forward to walking here on bitterly cold days, striding into the wind, listening to the waves crashing into the sea wall. And pausing here, taking in these big skies.
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Picture of Musselburgh
Caption: Monday 13 July 2020 #shareyourworld
