Walking Edinburgh’s Lost Railways

A book that literally walks the reader through the many miles of 'dismantled railway' in Edinburgh, which have have been transformed into tarmac routes, ideal for pedestrians of all ages, cyclists and joggers. The railway engineers, who balanced excavation and infill, have left a legacy of cuttings and embankments which are generally unobtrusive and often surprisingly tucked away from today’s city life.

In 1981 Lothian Regional Council acquired various disused lines and other railway land, making possible the creation of cycleways-cum-footpaths. The programme began in 1983 and has flourished ever since. More might have been achieved had the line closures of the 1960s been accompanied by comprehensive plans for re-utilisation, which the mood of the times did not favour. There was instead piecemeal redevelopment for domestic housing, commerce and industry. Although a more enlightened policy subsequently prevailed, these results are not easily undone.

Nevertheless, the maze of track beds has very largely been preserved covering a total of some 40 miles. Thirteen walks are described and, although each stands alone, tackling them in sequence opens windows on two centuries of urban expansion which has subsumed once-independent communities, all with their own histories.