Andrew Boath - Adventures from Wardie Bay and beyond

This was our first meeting of 2010, and was chaired by David King, who welcomed those present, extended good wishes for the New Year, and introduced the speaker, Granton History Group Chairman Andrew Boath.

Andrew gave a most interesting talk, about a wide range of outdoor activities.

He spoke first about the Port O’ Leith Motor Boat Club. Before they had the use of Newhaven Harbour, they had their boatyard and moorings on the Water of leith above Junction Bridge. Being tidal they had very limited time afloat and if the tide was too high their boats could not pass under some bridges. This was in the days before the entrance lock was built at the docks.

He talked about a tragedy at the Oxcars Lighthouse in the Firth of Forth.

He then moved on to adventures from the Compass Adventure Centre, a group who were based in the old Granton School for over 40 years. The building now used by Granton Youth Centre.

These included canoeing and camping at Loch Awe, and a canoe trip to the Island of Eigg and back, from Morar.

He went on to speak about skiing at Glenshee and the Cairngorms in the late 1960s and added a photo of the Devil’s Elbow on the A93 south of Braemar

This was followed by rock climbing in the Cuillin Hills on the island of Skye, then a hike through the Lairig Ghru in the Cairngorm Mountains.

Andrew’s talk was illustrated with slides taken on his excursions, many of them showing spectacular scenery at a time when outdoor locations were very much less crowded than they are now.

At least one of the audience had been with Andrew on some of these trips, and a good discussion followed both immediately after his talk and later in the evening.

Photographs of the meeting by David King.