There’s an idea bouncing around here. Boing. I’m sure you’re familiar with it. It’s something about the fact that there’s something remarkable under your nose if only you paid attention and stopped hurling yourself around looking for other things.
Boing. There it goes again. Though, the only remarkable thing under my nose is philtrum – remarkable only for that word. Philtrum.
But you get it all the time in stories. Some fool rushes through lots of mess and peril only to find that the thing/person/contentment they sought was next door all the time. Probably wearing frumpy clothes and spectacles. Happy ever after over the fence, and so on.
Yes, yes. I am getting to the point.
The Erskine Bridge is a grand structure, making it quite easy for us here south of the river to get to the exciting and adventuresome places north of it. It’s also handy for visiting Waitrose in Helensburgh, friends who live in Bearsden and Loch Lomond.
Then the other day last week, on an adventure in Edinburgh as it happens, someone mentioned Erskine Beach and the park under the bridge. Oh? Where’s that then? Obviously living nearby there can’t be anything worthwhile unvisited, explored or rejected, can there?
But instead of subjecting you, dear reader, to further pompous ramblings about fruitless treasure hunts and improbably happy endings, here are the photos I took.
Intriguing! I confess I’ve never been there, but every time I cross the bridge I ponder why we don’t use the river and its bank for anything much, like leisure, transport, wildlife preservation, etc. Having just cone back from Copenhagen, I’m more convinced than ever that we seem just to let most of what we have stagnate from lack of interest. Good news for the wading birds, perhaps?