First Steps

As friends and colleagues will no doubt attest, I've talked long and boringly about cycling. I do love cycling, but there are times when I feel a fraud when talking about it. Why? Because to me cycling is recreation, walking is a lifestyle choice.

I live within three miles of work. With a few exceptions, most obviously the period we lived in Cumbria, 20 miles and a large fell away from my work, I have always tried to be in walking distance of work (five miles). It suits me.

Being a pedestrian makes me feel like part of my community. I'm not one for getting to know the neighbours, but when you walk you are forced to shop locally, to use the services in your area, to bump into those you live near, to interact with young and old. Indeed, I strongly believe that if more of us walked, we'd have far less fear of what is outside. Why? Because we'd all be outside more, more of us to help each other, more of us to ensure things stay under control, more of us to own our own communities again.

And then there are the other benefits. If it takes me 35 minutes to walk to work (over two hills) then my heart rate is up for a good hour a day. That's more than the minimum time the government advises to exercise each week. And that is just to an from work, add shopping trips, cinema outings etc...

I'm also intrigued by the fact that 'pedestrian' can also mean written in prose. But more of that later.

So that is what all this will be about. Photos, stories, experiences while walking the streets of Edinburgh and beyond, as well as a bit about prose here and there.