There is an area of land south of Tranent, north of Port Seton, which has been scarred for many years. I am unsure if it was a quarry or was mine working, it has been almost out of bounds for many years.

I believe, although I am not sure, it is the proposed site of a “new mini town”. It is, whatever, always dismissed and treated as a desolate bit of waste ground. It has no apparently easy access and is situated right next to the A1.

Of no interest to anyone. Except I do not subscribe to this view. I think areas of scrubland are often fantastic to visit. There is usually more to see than people expect and, besides, the waste is a result of our mismanagement not of nature!

So I walked the small road crossing the area this afternoon with my dog. I took some snaps – beginning with the most unattractive feature: the passage under the A1 which you use to access it from the south. Even here, among the puddles and graffiti, I did not feel threatened. It was a fairly innocuous wee tunnel with some fairly typical scribbles!

However,immediately after this, the road bends into the “scrub” area. The view is down onto the Firth of Forth. and it is peculiarly peaceful in spite of the A1 being so close.

From here it is a straight forward walk for a mile towards the Longniddry road and Seton Collegiate Church. The area is quiet and I saw several buzzards and a couple of Kestrel hovering. Remarkably, the first time I have seen 2 Kestrel in one afternoon in a few years. All in a “small” area.

There were some lovely views north and west. It was a windy day but I was truly enjoying the walk. Badger was going mad running about here, there and everywhere. I saw some small “rodents” – alas I am hopeless at identifying these wee creatures but the charm is great.

After this short walk we arrived at the East Coast line and turned in toward a small section of farmland.

I realise the pictures are not great, click on them to enlarge them, but I hope I caught a little of this walk. I cannot do it justice with such mediocre snaps ( I had a small fuji pocket camera – I had not planned or expected to take pictures on this walk). What I do feel sad about is the knowledge this will not develop into bushes and wild ground. It will be built upon and some time soon it will be the same featureless streets and ambitious street names. These character-free, repetitive housing areas are all that seems allowed to grow around East Lothian recently.

And the “developers” will once again have failed to live up to the title they assume – it needs no more development. It has been developed into submission already. The small glimpse I had of this “undeveloped” space was enough to make me wish it was simply left alone to breathe once again.