Tuesday 23 March 2021

Skulferatu #24 - SEPA Monitoring Site, River Almond, Craighall, Edinburgh

 

On an unseasonably sunny day I went for a stroll along the River Almond. The Almond runs from Hirst Hill in Lanarkshire to its exit into the Firth of Forth at Cramond.  The river is twenty-eight miles long and winds its way through West Lothian and round the outskirts of Edinburgh.  The name of the river comes from the old Celtic word Amon, which means river.  So, the name of the river is basically River River.

 

I joined the Almond at its exit into the sea at Cramond and walked along the riverbank up the path to the Old Cramond Brig (bridge).  On crossing that, I cut off down the path under the new bridge that carries the traffic speeding along the A90.  The noise from the traffic is a continuous thunderous rumble and as I walked through the nearby woods, I could just make out some birdsong, which made me wonder how the birds can possibly communicate above all that noise.  Maybe they just sing a bit louder.

 

A view of Old Cramond Brig, Cramond, Edinburgh.  Old Cramond Bridge.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Old Cramond Brig

 

Snowdrops on the bank of the River Almond near Cramond, Edinburgh.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Snowdrops on the riverbank


An old stone drainage tunnel, draining water from nearby fields into the River Almond, near Cramond, Edinburgh.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
An old drainage tunnel, draining water from nearby fields into the River Almond

 

Once under and past the new bridge the river path winds on for miles and miles.  One day I will walk, or cycle, as far as the path carries me, but not today.

 

A view of the River Almond, in March with trees bare of leaves and the winter sunning making the river a deep blue. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
A view of the River Almond

 

Today I walked to the SEPA Monitoring Site on the Almond at Craighall.  SEPA, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, has 392 sites around Scotland that monitor water levels.  The information from these sites helps in flood management, amongst other things. 

 

SEPA Monitoring Site, as seen from the riverbank by the River Almond.  It looks like a dull brick box with graffiti sprayed on the wall.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
SEPA Monitoring Site, as seen from the riverbank

 

Black and white photograph of the SEPA Monitoring Site, as seen from the riverside.  It is a small building with a large, boarded up window facing out to the river.  There are steps leading down to the river at the side of the building.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
SEPA Monitoring Site, as seen from riverside

 

The monitoring site at Craighall is a rather unimpressive, purely functional, brick building.  Its walls are cracked and pitted with holes and it is heavily graffitied on the wall facing the path.  At its side there is a set of rather worn steps and what looks like a lovely, shiny ruler.  This ruler is the basic, but effective tool for measuring the level of the river.  At the time of my trip out there the level was just under 50 centimetres.  According to the River Levels UK website the usual range of the level of the Almond is between 0.21 and 1.92 metres, though it reached 3.76 metres in April 2000…a particularly wet year I have no recollection of.  I must have spent most of it in the pub, to keep out of the rain.

 

Measure at side of the SEPA Monitoring Site, Craighall building showing water levels.  It is a silver coloured ruler type measure going down the bank into the river.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Measure at side of building showing water levels

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on today’s walk in one of the many little holes in the wall of the monitoring station, facing out onto the River Almond.

 

Kevin Nosferatu holding a small, crudely made ceramic skull, Skulferatu, with a view of the River Almond in the background.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #24


Photo showing a crudely made ceramic skull, Skulferatu, in a hollow in the wall of the SEPA Monitoring Site, Craighall.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #24 in a hollow in the wall of the Monitoring Station

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #24 by the River Almond
Map showing location of Skulferatu #24

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.962894

Longitude -3.338132

 


No comments:

Post a Comment