EK News Article: Eric Kent  The latest Duncanrig Ramblers walk was in the West Lothian area. The entire club walked on this route which started at Avonbridge and ended at Linlithgow Bridge a distance of 9 miles. The walk started in the small village of Avonbridge and after walking down a country lane for around a ½ mile we joined the River Avon and walked along the south bank on a rough trail along the south bank enjoying the mild clear weather conditions and the noise of the fast flowing water of the upper reaches of the river until we reached the buildings of the former Strath Mill where we crossed over on to the north bank. As we walked along the widening river enjoying the countryside the view soon became dominated by the now disused Westfield Railway Viaduct complete with sixteen arches which span a distance of 660 ft over the Avon Valley at this point. The Viaduct was built in 1854 and was part of the industrial network of that era which sprang up for transporting coal from the many local mines in the area to fuel the industrial developments building up around Glasgow and the central belt at that time. We climbed up from the river at the viaduct and walked for a while on the edge of the valley then dropping down and enjoying both the views of the unspoiled woodlands and the river. The woodland was then left behind and we again crossed the river on to the south bank again over Wallace’s Bridge. A small notice on the other side informed us that the impressive sandstone arch on the left which was carved out by water over thousands of years was the site of William Wallace’s cave where he was reputed to stay for a time after his defeat by the English (and the so called Scottish nobles who left the scene of the battle without fighting) at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298. Directly across the river on the north side are the ruins of the first water powered Steel Mill in Scotland. The walk continued from the Wallace cave site and passed through some well established woodland consisting mainly of oak and birch which were very peaceful and delightful to walk in. These woods end at the Avon Gorge which the A801 Road passes over via the Torphichen Bridge. Unfortunately for us the trail route via a boardwalk built by the Royal Engineers a few years ago had been damaged by a road accident last year and is still waiting on repairs being completed. This forced the group to cross over the road and use the original old stile route which had almost become redundant.  We stopped for lunch shortly after this at the ruins of the Torphichen Mill and Cottage where the Engineer Henry Bell was born. Henry Bell built the Comet the first commercially viable steamship in 1812 which ran from Glasgow to Greenock and Helensburgh initially using a three horsepower engine which was later improved to a six horsepower engine. The surrounding woodlands in many areas of the Avon Valley are naturally formed woodlands which due to their locations have been unspoiled by man and due to this were able to admire and enjoy a fine section of these at our lunch break. Shortly after our lunch we crossed the river again at the Carribber Bridge which was built on 1990 by West Lothian to open up the River Avon walk. We soon passed Carribber Mill another of the many mills which are located along close to the river banks and again had to climb up out of the valley into the Muiravonside Country Park by means of steps which rose up for a 100 or so feet on to the edge of a meadow land area which has been recently planted with a forest of deciduous trees.  Due to the height we were able to enjoy views from this open area over towards Linlithgow. A short time later we arrived at the Country Park Visitor Centre which was originally an estate farm and the Centre was complete with the standard ranger, food and comfort facilities you expect from a Country Park. The Country Park lands are part of the remains of the estates of the Earl of Callander who lost all the land due to his complicity in the Jacobite rebellion in 1715. The principal residence at that time was the Almond Castle which can be visited by foot from the country park. We continued to follow the river and we soon reached the Avon Aqueduct Web where we had a short climb up on to the viaduct from the river as the route crosses over the Canal Aqueduct to continue again on the south side of the river. The views while crossing the aqueduct are spectacular with the river below. The Union Canal Aqueduct which was built in 1840 is 810 ft long and is the second longest in Britain and lifts the canal 86 feet above the River Avon. The Union Canal is around 31½ miles long and is Scotland's only contour canal. Known locally at the time as the "mathematical river", the canal followed the 240ft (73m) contour throughout its length, so making locks unnecessary. Together with the 62 fixed bridges this helped speed up the flow of traffic along the canal. As well as providing Scotland's first inter-city link the canal was intended to ensure the easy transport of coal into Edinburgh from Scotland's coalfields, and lime to help the building development of the capital. Dropping down from the canal banks via steps we returned to the south bank of the river and continued along the river banks  we then passed close to the ruins of Manuel Priory are close to Whitecross on the eastern, West Lothian, bank of the Avon. This was a Cistercian convent founded, or perhaps re-founded, in the reign of King Malcolm IV of Scotland (1153–1165). Getting close to the end of the walk we passed through some lovely woodland where were entranced by the lovely banks of snowdrops which grow in profusion in this area. As we closed in on Linlithgow Bridge the view was dominated by the Avon Viaduct which was opened in 1842. Overshadowing all in the surrounding area is the magnificent railway viaduct built in 1841 for the main Glasgow to Edinburgh route, strides across the Avon Valley with its 23 arches, some up to 90ft high. Passing under the viaduct we were soon admiring the housed in Burgh Mills Lane as we walked up this to join on to Mill road where we joined the coach after a very interesting walk.