Garvald is a parish where a car is almost essential. The postal bus to and from Haddington collected passengers from both the village and the monastery every day except Sunday. Latterly a service was provided on a Saturday and a Wednesday by Eve’s of Dunbar.
There are, however, plenty of footpaths. In the 1950s when the village school was still open and far fewer people had their own cars there were a number of footpaths, mostly leading from farms into the village with stiles over the stone dykes. There was a cart track down by the Papana to the ruined corn mill; this persists and is known locally as the ‘Three Bridges’, now leading to Stoneypath Tower, Whittingehame. After the second bridge a path cut up to the left through the whins and eventually emerged near the T-junction on the Stenton road. From the access road to Africa, a path went through the wood and fields used by the domestic staff at Nunraw. A path with a stone stile went from Nunraw Barns to Garvald Mains.
Opposite the school a path forded the Papana and climbed the bank to lead to the Mains. Another path came down the Papana glen from Snawdon, used by the school children. The old track on the south side of the Papana led to the junction of the Gifford and Haddington roads. A track on the east side of Tanderlane led to the Morham-Whittinghame road.