Saturday 29th August 2023

This the last day of this walking trip. We have a short walk of about eleven miles and then we will drive home.

We left the Subaru at Lower Largo  where the coast path comes into the village and then returned to Pittenweem to start walking. It was looking like yet another nice day for us but most of England is having rain.

The path out of Pittenweem is quite easy.

In the late 18th century salt was Scotlands third largest export. The windmill was used to pump sea water into the drying pans to evaporate and leave salt.

We met two children excitedly heading to the tidal pool constructed beside the path at St Monans with Mum and Dad just behind carrying their towels. It was a lovely day for a swim.

There is a short distance on a tidal path near St Monan’s Chapel but since we were three  hours before high tide it was not a problem (and there is an easy alternative anyway).

The path is pretty level most of the way. We walked around Elie Ness and passed the lighthouse which, unusually, appears not to be managed by the Northern Lighthouse Board but has been managed by the Forth Ports since 2013. Forth Ports also appear to own the London Gateway Harbour near Tilbury that we walked past two years ago.

Elie is quite a pretty village. We followed around the edge of the harbour and sea wall and then headed along a path on the dunes behind the beach.

There was lots of activity all around; there was a regatta in the harbour and a ladies’ swimming club who seemed to have just finished a swim. We headed around Craigforth and crossed the golf course on a track. A female runner was coming towards us and paused to wave to some golfers. We continued but got the impression that it had not been a friendly wave and the golfers were getting upset and gesticulating at us as we were now obstructing their play. The trouble with golf is that casual observers have no idea where the golfers are aiming because the tees, fairways and greens all seem to zig zag in no logical way.

We got through to the the beach safely and walked along the water’s edge. At the end of the sand we left the beach whereas yesterday we had walked on over the rocks to the Elie Chain Walk. There is quite a steep climb up to the cliffs above the chain walk but with lots of steps to make it easy.

It really was a very nice day and there were lots of walkers on the paths. As I had predicted, we would have arrived at the chain walk at high tide had we left it until today. Looking down from the cliff top we could see snatches of the chain walk beneath us. The tide was certainly too high for us to have done the chain walk today.

As we descended at the end of the cliff, a family and dog appeared on a low bit of cliff and three of them were in wetsuits, planning to jump. The first two made it. As for the third; we will never know because she was taking so long deciding whether to jump that we gave up waiting and went on.

Beyond Kincraig is quite a large holiday park which we walked through. After Ruddons Point a couple of wooden bridges cross Cocklemill Burn but, at low tide, one could probably cross the burn by coming off Ruddon’s Point on to the beach.

We continued along the dune path for a short way but it was quite soft underfoot and had lots of overhanging dune grass so we went down onto the beach.

We then had about two miles along Largo Bay and stayed on the beach until the sand became too soft for easy walking. We could see rain clouds moving towards us over the water so we joined the track at the top of the beach which was obviously a popular dog-walking route. This brought us to the carpark where we had left the car just ahead of the rain arriving.

It will be a month before we return, we have to get the wheel bearings on the Volvo seen to, some doctor’s appointments to keep and we have family coming to stay and so we will be kept busy. It will also be August next month, when the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe take place and accommodation will be impossible to find.

When we resume walking in September we will only have about one hundred and thirty miles to bring us to Berwick-upon-Tweed and the end of this long adventure.

Friday 28th July 2023

Today’s walk was to be slightly shorter than the last few days. We have decided that we will make use of the early finish to go to Elie and do the chain walk. As far as we can tell, not many coast walkers tackle this but Jill knew her brother had done it with his wife and a friend some years ago when he lived in Edinburgh and, when she asked him about it, he said there was no way we could say we had walked around the coast of mainland Britain if we didn’t do the Elie chain walk – so we included it. This would have been on our route for tomorrow but, as it cannot be done around high tide and that is precisely when we would be arriving there, we are doing this very short (but challenging) chain walk today and will then take the high tide route over the cliff tops tomorrow.

Having left a car at Pittenweem, we returned to Boarhills and started walking. To our surprise, it was quite bright. When we left Cupar this morning it was cloudy and rain was in the air. We followed the Fife Coast Path back to the sea near Craig Hartle. Initially it was on farm tracks but it then followed Kenley Water through a tree-lined sandstone gorge and was very pleasant. 

Yesterday’s walk from St Andrews to Boarhills had been harder than we had expected and we were expecting more of the same today. However, the character of the coast had changed and we were walking on paths behind stony beaches.

On the landward side there was succession of golf courses all of which looked rather better and more interesting than the St Andrew’s courses. At Kingsbarns there is a refreshments kiosk and because it had become such a hot day we would have stopped for coffee until it transpired the best they could offer was instant coffee and so we moved on. (You may have got the impression that we are a bit particular about our coffee stops.)

The walking was fairly undemanding. Sometimes it was a broad path above the beach, sometimes we walked along the beach and at other times we trod the manicured grass of the golf courses.

At Craig Head there is a small cave known as Constantine’s Cave and local folklore says that Constantine I was killed in the cave after losing a battle with the Danes.

As the day warmed and cleared we could see out to the Isle of May and further away was the Bass Rock. Looking at the map it looked as if the most distant bit of land we could see out to the east might even be Berwick Upon Tweed where we started out on this grand adventure. But we have a long way west to walk before we turn east again.

The next place we might find coffee would be in Crail and so we pressed on and rounded Fife Ness and started to travel westwards. We came to Crail and there was one café near the harbour that was actually on the route and so we stopped there for a late coffee at about 12.30. We had coffee and two carafes of water. Service was prompt and so even though it was very busy, fifteen minutes later we were wandering down to the pretty harbour and then climbing the steps up to the cliff tops.

We passed some remarkable rock forms near The Coves.

A little later we found a log on the shore and sat there to have some lunch.

There were lots of people out enjoying the sunshine and several couples and small groups on the coast path.

We came to Anstruther which is divided into Easter and Wester but is really one place. It is a pretty place with narrow streets and wynds and plenty of places where we could have stopped for coffee or lunch had we timed things differently.

Leaving Wester Anstruther, Pittenween was in sight along the shore and by 15.30 we were back at the car.

We drove the short way to Elie and parked near the golf course. We took the short walk across the golf course to the beach and followed it to the east end where a path leads along to the start of the Elie Chain Walk.

A very modest notice warns people of the risks of the walk but it was much less obvious than many other warning signs we have seen on other coast paths which were far less risky.

The walk is tidal and we were right on low tide. There is a series of eight chains fixed to the cliffs to help walkers scramble along this section of coast. Some of the chains are not needed at low tide when you can simple walk across small sections of beach. Initially I just included a few photos to show the character of the walk but Jill wanted to include more to give some sense of our progression round the cliffs, mainly for us to look back on when we are no longer capable of tackling such things.

Each chain has accompanying footholds cut in the rock face and so those using it are really pretty safe, The chains come in two sizes, one has very large links which can be grasped like handles to pull you up or let you down and a smaller-link chain for traverses where it is used more like a handrail. In between the chains are short sections of scrambling over rocks or walking across ledges.

The chain walk itself is about 500m long but it provides a very different experience from from anywhere else around the coast of Britain. We were pleased to have done it – though Jill subsequently found out that when her brother did it, he was at least ten years younger than she is now which made it feel even more of an achievement. We walked  back to the car along the cliff tops and across the golf course once more, enjoying the early evening sunshine.

Thursday 27th July 2023

Today would a longish walk, planned to be 17.25  but I usually reckon the actual walked distance is 5-10% more than the measured distance on a map. The day should have lots of variety.

We left a car at Boarshill and returned to the car park at Tentsmuir and started walking. It was a very dull day with mist hanging over land and sea. A light drizzle had been falling and so the grasses on the dunes were very wet.

I had decided not to follow the Fife Coastal Path here because, slightly inexplicably, it  runs through the middle of the Tentsmuir Forest and then across mature dunes towards Leuchars. 

We crossed the dunes to the water’s edge which was much nearer than yesterday because high tide was only 45 minutes away. Others were on the beach ahead of us; mainly dog walkers. After a half mile we were alone as far as we could see which, given the mist, was not especially far. The outline of Tentsmuir Forest gradually disappeared and before long Reres Wood appeared out of the gloom.

Here I planned to take a track through the wood to the boundary fence of Leuchars air base. As we walked down we checked out an earlier track that runs along the edge of the wood but it was very overgrown and probably barely walkable.

We carried on to where I had planned to walk and to my surprise there was a well-used path from the shore through the dunes to the wood at which point there was an info board about the Reres Wood Nature Reserve and waste bins.

The track through the woods was very easy and soon came to the Leuchars boundary fence. The track continued around the air base until it becomes a road and we came into Leuchars. Walking around the perimeter fence of an airbase is never very exciting but it was easy going and brought us into the village of Leuchars which is mainly MOD housing. Then it was down the road to Guardbridge.

Jill had done some research and there was a café at Guardbridge in an Antiques centre called Eden Café and so we pressed on, over the bridge over Motroy Water and then the the bridge at Guardbridge over the River Eden and came to the café. We can certainly recommend it to anyone else going this way.

Leaving Guardbridge, I was keen to take a bit of a chance. The official path follows the cycle path alongside the A91 which I was reluctant to do because it misses the coast around the famous St Andrew’s Golf Courses and we wanted to avoid the tarmac and the ceaseless noise of the traffic. I planned we should walk from the A91 down a track to Sand Ford Head and then get along the coast to the golf courses. The track to the shore was easy; it is actually the way to access the local nature reserve which encompasses the entire Eden Estuary.

At the shore a path continues around Sand Ford Head and we were able to follow it as far as the old slipway. We walked on the foreshore which generally is above the high water line.

Out in the estuary we could hear the seals singing but they were quite difficult to spot on a sandbank a long way out.

We zig-zagged along the foreshore picking our way on the wet, muddy sand between the rocks, rubble and dense mat of seaweed. Further on, the path took us up the bank into the long grass but we knew we must be following a used path as we passed a bench almost hidden in the vegetation.

After the slipway we continued along the foreshore, though we were below the high water line. The land here is protected an old, block stone-built, sea wall angled at about 45 degrees and the high tide comes right up to this wall. We were a couple of hours after high tide and there was plenty of space to walk but there was a carpet of green or white seaweed most of the way and in places this was overlying round cobblestones and it was very slippery. In places there were puddles of water caught between the mats of seaweed and so we picked our way over the thicker areas hoping we would not find ourselves sinking into water below or simply slipping over.

I did clamber up the sea wall but the top was quite overgrown and so with the tide out walking the shore was actually easier.

It was only about a half mile of this walking (which was just as well) before we reached the first of the St Andrew’s Golf courses. On balance I think this is quite a walkable alternative to the main road so long as you avoid high tide.

We just walked around the edge of the golf course keeping a good eye out for wayward golf balls.

It was about lunch time and we joked about picking up one of the benches looking over a green and turning it round to look over the estuary which would have been more interesting for us. Then a little further on there was bench over looking a tee but at right angles to the shore. We thought that would suit us well. We sat down and got our lunch out when a group of golfers arrived and so we checked with the official caddy and he was very happy for us to use their bench. So we sat there pretending to watch the golf whilst looking out over the estuary.

Lunch done, we continued to Out Head where we turned almost 180 degrees and were going south alongside the sandy St Andrew’s Bay North Beach. The mist had become even thicker and lower and so we did not bother going onto the beach where we would see even less than we could see on the dunes road.

This brought us to St Andrew’s City. It is a fine, prosperous if small city. It had the old-world feel of Oxford or Cambridge but on a much smaller scale. We walked into the middle of the city to get some provisions and, of course, our copy of The Times.

We returned to the Fife Coastal Path and departed St Andrews along the east beach where there is a good tarmac path for a while. At this point we had less than four miles to go. However, we now had a complete “step change”.

The coast path faithfully follows the cliffs, sometimes at the top and sometimes near the shore. It is quite a convoluted path but has been well-engineered with steps in places and sections paved with sandstone boulders. These stones have been scored with an angle grinder to improve grip but nevertheless some of them were very slippery. There is also a short tidal section and, though it is short, it would I think be impassable for at least an hour either side of high water

For the first time for months we passed a good number of walkers going in the other direction. At Boarshill the path turns inland presumably because a land owner denied permission for a way-marked path over their land. The map shows a path around the coast but I suspect that as soon as the official path was opened the old path fell into disrepair and became overgrown; certainly I could see no trace of it. We followed the official path into Boarshill and the car.

Yesterday, when we reached the end of our walk at Tentsmuir, we had treated ourselves to icecreams and tea from the busy trailer café in the car park. We had watched the girl cooking pancakes which she served with lashings of sugar and lemon juice (though other toppings were on offer). The café was open until 6pm so we wasted no time at the end of today’s walk and drove back to Tentsmuir as quickly as we could. They were just packing up as today’s weather meant the car park was almost empty but happily obliged by cooking us each a large pancake to go with our mugs of tea. A real treat.

Wednesday 26th July 2023

Setting up today’s walk meant we both drove to the car park at Tentsmuir. We were a little surprised to discover that not only do the Forestry Commission charge (OK only £2 per car) but they only take coins. I did check the year; it is 2023 not 2003. Also the entry barrier is about a mile from the car park and so we had to pay for two cars to reach the car park even though we were only parking one there, this meant a scrabble for coins which we have almost forgotten about. And we will have to repeat the process tomorrow.

We then drove to Monifieth, parked and started walking.

It was a bright, clear morning with a little bit of cloud scudding around. The council are doing work on the paths and cycleways along the front. The tide was right in and so the beach was not a sensible option. Unfortunately after less than a mile a footpath diversion due to a bridge closure forced us to follow the road for half a mile. Thereafter we got back on the cycle/footway and after a short bit of tarmac we departed for the beach which enabled us to walk as far Broughty Castle.

The old town of Broughty Ferry is quite attractive and well maintained.

After Broughty Castle we were on a tarmac, combined cycle and walkway which would be the case until Tayport. The path from Broughty Ferry is reasonably pleasant and was quite busy with walkers, runners and cyclists. Broughty Ferry is the upmarket end of Dundee and has some nicely preserved stone cottages.

Before long we approached the harbour. We had, from reading other accounts of coast and other walkers, discovered this is a no-go zone for walkers. The council apparently paid for the construction and fencing of this route through the harbour. However, apparently they did not have jurisdiction over it – the ports authority did. So the port authority insisted that cyclists must apply for a pass in advance in order to use the cycle way and they must dismount to enter and must dismount and walk through the exit. Pedestrians, however, were denied access altogether (unless they pushed a bike through having previously applied for a pass.) This had caused much anger and previous coast walkers have complained to Dundee Council who blamed the Port Authority and situation remained unresolved for over a decade. We were preparing for this walk and were resigned to having to divert and walk along the A930 and A92. Jill tried doing a Google search and discovered an article in The Courier from January 2019 headed “Revamped and reopened Dundee Port shared use path connects Broughty Ferry and city centre for walkers and cyclists” – it had had a £370,000 facelift. A victory for common sense at last.

We were delighted to arrive at the Port of Dundee and find we could indeed walk through the entrance onto the cycle/walkway.

We were also hopeful when we saw a sign for Linda’s café which advertised coffee and food all day. Linda’s café is little structure adjacent to the cycleway and they has made a box-like extension to the wire mesh fencing to go around this important amenity. We took a table outside and went in. We discover that they offer coffee from a DIY  machine but have no cakes or pastries to speak of. They will do breakfast rolls and similar. We left. Half a mile farther on at the Dundee Quays development we found a much better café with excellent refreshments (and facilities); The Porter’s Bar and Restaurant.

The port area is gradually being redeveloped and the parts near the bridge are quite nice.

Before we left the café, I asked the waitress if we could access the road bridge by going along the quays and she assured me we could. Actually it is the quickest route because the the cycle/footway on the Tay Bridge is accessed by a stairway from the riverside walk up to the middle of the bridge where the path is between the two carriageways of traffic.

Cyclists must use a lift to get their bikes up to the deck of the bridge. At the moment the northbound carriageway is being repaired and all the traffic shares a single carriageway causing long queues. Even pedestrians are affected because some of the work is so noisy or dangerous that  they have controlled barriers and they cease work to let us through.

On the south side of the Tay, the cycle path and official Fife Coastal Path follow the B946 a shortly and then veers off to go past the lighthouses and into Tayport. Just before Tayport we stopped at a picnic area and had our sandwiches overlooking the Tay Estuary.

We walked around the edge of Tayport and past the old harbour where today there are only pleasure craft. Then we walked round the caravan park and to the Tentsmuir Forest.

As we approached, we noticed a sign warning that a large amount of the forest was out of bounds whilst harvesting takes place. The cycle route and Fife Coastal Path were open but with restricted controlled crossing points for the machinery trackways. Fortunately the dunes and perimeter pathway was unaffected because there are no trees there. Not surprisingly, we went for the perimeter dunes path.

This was a very easy walk at low tide because there is a huge amount of flat, damp sand. It is a popular walk, there were several dog walkers and family groups.

At Tentsmuir Point we left the trees behind and walked through the rather flat dunes and came to the shore on the east side.

There were a few people walking on the dunes and even out on the sandbanks which was obviously safe whilst the tide was well out. It was very pleasant walking and soon we came level with the car park where the car was parked and so we turned inland.

The café at the car park was open and so we both had teas and ices.

Jill noticed that the rather elderly camper van parked close to our car had a cat sitting beside it tethered by a lead and harness. She went to take a photo of the quite unperturbed cat to send to our cat-loving daughter and got chatting to the lady who owned it. There was also a dog on a lead inside the van. Apparently the cat, called Timothy, is an international traveller and in the days of pet passports had been with them in the campervan to France, the Netherlands, Spain (didn’t like that as the ground was too hard to dig necessary holes) and Pompeii (didn’t like that either) and a list of other places. We chatted about our walk and she said we should write a book about it – we said that a book about her travelling cat would be much more popular.

Tuesday 25th July 2023

Today we are leaving the charming little flat we have been staying in at Ferryden. We got everything packed up and were away by 8.45. We drove to Monifieth and left the Subaru in a beach car park then headed back to Auchmithie to start walking.

Today we were well and truly on the Angus Coast Path and, though yesterday the path was more parallel to the coast than actually on it, today we would be hugging the coast all the way. The coast path leaves the road at Auchmithie and is very soon a surfaced path. Grit and sand have been used to construct a proper path which makes walking very easy. The cliffs are a mix of red sandstone and conglomerate.

Near Carlingheugh Bay the path drops to the beach for a short while because the cliff path has genuinely become undercut and is falling away.

The cliffs are very impressive even if they are not especially high. The route along the cliffs is punctuated by short posts, all numbered so that the coastguards can be called and a precise location given by the numbered post.

The cliffs end at Arbroath and we followed along the promenade into the town and went up the High Street to find a café for coffee. It might have been nice to have Arbroath Smokies and, though they were on sale from the smokeries, they were not available in the café.

After coffee we walked out the south end of the town onto the beach. The tide was out and we walked along the wet sand until it runs out near Corse Hill because of low rocks.

We got back on the beach at East Haven though we had to walk on the slightly shingly edge of the sand. (The official route is the cycleway along the road). There was one watercourse to cross called Craig Burn but with the tide out it was easy to walk across.

At West Haven we found a bench and had our sandwiches.

We came to Carnoustie but really saw nothing of the town.

We followed along to the links and walked through the entrance of the Carnoustie Golf links. The golf links is really rather disappointing. It is sandwiched between Barry Buddon the army ranges where small arms fire seems to go on most of the time and the railway line where regular trains hurtle past and disturb the peace. There are three courses squeezed in here; the links is flat with no interesting features. Golf remains a mystery to me.

I was more interested in the rather small and sad-looking premises of Carnoustie Ladies Golf Club.

Barry Buddon is a big training camp and, consulting the Scottish Government website, training and live firing seems to happen pretty much every day and so public access is infrequent. Certainly today red flags were flying and we could hear the firing. We followed the cycle path which runs alongside the railway; it is completely straight and flat and has no redeeming features. We passed a few dog walkers on the path and a couple of runners and perhaps two cyclists. The restricted area continues all the way to Monifieth.

At the end of restricted zone we were at Monifieth and a few yards from the car.

Monday 24th July 2023

We drove to Auchmithie, left a car there and drove back to the beach car park at Montrose to start walking. Unfortunately the tide was too far in to access the beach itself and so we followed the roads around the harbour area of Montrose and to the bridge over the River South Esk. This is a much bigger river than the River North Esk and in the 18th century the first bridge was built making the ferry unnecessary.

Close to the bridge is a statue of “Bamse”, a huge St Bernard who went to sea with the Norwegian Navy on a minesweeper. There appear to be many stories of his heroism and much folklore besides.

The bridge is the fourth bridge to span the River South Esk and dates from 2006, its immediate predecessor succumbed to “concrete cancer”. Before that, a suspension bridge lasted a hundred years from 1829 until 1930, though was subject to a chain breaking with the loss of three lives in 1830 and some of the roadway fell away during a storm in 1838. The first bridge was made of timber and succumbed to wood-boring insects and only lasted thirty-five years. Bridging the River South Esk has a very checkered history.

We turned along the Ferreyden road and, since the flat where we are staying is right on route,  we called in for coffee.

There is a tarmac path from Ferreyden to the lighthouse at Scurdie Ness. The lighthouse and other navigation aids were very important because there are sandbanks on the northern side of the estuary and some rocky outcrops on the south side meaning the useable channel is quite narrow. The lighthouse is brick built which is I think is unusual.

From Scurdie Ness a signpost indicates the way to Usan which was encouraging. The path is grassy and quite easy to follow and brought us to Mains of Usan where a film crew was setting up.

Here we decided to chance our arm at getting along the coast to Usan village. The lie of the land is pretty level but there was a lot of long grass and general vegetation which always slows us down as it’s difficult to stride out when you can’t predict how your foot will land on the rough ground hidden below. On the inside of the fence the map shows a track which is, we discovered, an old road though you would not guess as much.

This brought us to Usan village. Because it had been a bit of a struggle, I suggested to Jill that perhaps we should follow the road for the next section. As we walked past the farm we noted wooden crates stacked high in the farmyard and were discussing their possible use, having seen such crates before.

A man appeared out of the farm and so Jill asked him about the crates and he explained they are for potatoes – which Jill said made her feel pretty stupid since it was the obvious answer given the acres of potatoes we had walked around. We got into some conversation about our walk and he apologised that he was not in a position to be able to offer us a tea or coffee; we were touched by the fact that he even considered as much as we have only had two previous such offers on our entire walk! I asked him if the coast was walkable from here to Boddin. He said that it was regularly walked by tourists visiting Elephant Rock and Boddin Point. He gave us directions to go down to the fishing station and turn along the side of his barley field and follow it the whole way. It was as easy as that. Fortunately everything was dry because the barley was well grown as was the grass at the side.

Elephant Rock is a sea stack, just about, with two natural arches giving it an elephantine character.

On the promontory leading to the base of the elephant’s back is an old, quite tiny cemetery.

From here we had a short walk to Boddin point which is a little promontory with some old lime kilns.

Since crossing the River North Esk, we are now in Angus and the county claims to have a coast path; we have seen one or two of the finger posts already today. Beyond Boddin the cliffs are not walkable because the railway holds close to the cliff tops. There is, however, a road route to Lunan Bay along fairly quiet roads.

I am pretty sure we could have taken a farm track on the south side of Buckie Den and go down to the beach but I did not wish to risk it today. It would require fording the Water of Lunan. The next access point to Lunan Bay is via the car park but this is on the north side of the Water of Lunan which flows into the sea across the beach and I was not absolutely sure it was wadeable.

We continued to the footpath to Red Castle, named for the red sandstone of which it was built. Here we found an old window cill which was sheltered from the strong wind and sat on it for our lunch.

After lunch we descended to the beach and we can confirm that at low tide the Water of Lunan is only about a foot deep and less than that at the sea’s edge. However, I think it would only be fordable for a couple of hours each side of low tide.

Lunan Bay is a fine sandy beach and easy to walk along. To our great sadness the beach was littered with bird carcasses – victims of avian flu. There was also a flock of kittiwakes that seemed reluctant to fly off as they normally would when we walk by and we suspected they too were infected with the virus and would soon die.

At the south end of the beach is Corbie Knowe, a collection of shacks and other holiday residences which are very particular about their privacy. A path continues along the cliff towards Ethie Haven but there is no path beyond that.

The Angus coast path turns inland and follows quiet lanes and farm tracks to Auchmithie. It is well signposted. Mostly it was on well used farm tracks but there was just one section that had become overgrown.

As we approached Auchmithie, we met a woman of roughly our age, walking a dog. We got into conversation and she was very interested in our walk and was the first person to ask “What has been the worst part of your walk?”

Sunday 23rd July 2023

We had an easy set up, leaving the Volvo at the beach car park en route to Kinneff. The forecast was for a dry day and temperatures in the mid teens.

We headed up the road and took a track off to the left to the radio masts on the hill.

My plan was to skirt around the masts and find a way down around Craig David, a rocky outcrop with an almost sheer face to a track shown on the map below the cliffs. As we arrived at the masts, a sign warned that this was a research site and another claimed that RAF Police dogs were patrolling the area.

There is a building there which is largely boarded up and had various strimmers and mowers outside. There was also a car parked there. As we considered our possible route, a well-spoken man appeared and enquired as to our business. He then gave us helpful directions as opposed to saying “get lost” which we generally avoid doing.

He said we should follow along the left side of the fence surrounding the radio mast and then zig-zag down the grassy slope into the little valley and follow that to the track end. It was all very easy; just two gates to climb over.

We followed the track to Kinghornie but it would have been better to head more directly to the cliffs above Bervie Bay and clamber down to the shore and then follow round to the footbridge which crosses the River Bervie.

We tried to find a path shown on the map around Kinghornie but the owner emerged to offer assistance and said that footpaths don’t really exist these days; how right he is. He gave us some directions for getting down to the footbridge but we must have misunderstood because we were still separated from the footbridge by a fence and a steep bank with impenetrable vegetation. In the end we walked around the field and stepped over two low fences and came to the A92. This brought us into Inverbervie.

We walked down to the front and started along the cycle path which, at this point, is tarmac and so we found a parallel path that was more comfortable walking. The coast here is not especially interesting. There is a low, rocky foreshore backed by a grassy platform. We managed to make quite good time. After the village of Gourdon, the cycle path is no longer tarmac but a slightly stony, grassy track. We met a couple of French female cyclists with loaded panniers. They were struggling with the path. We had a brief exchange and pointed out, along the coast we had just walked, where the track would become tarmac and wished them well.

The wild flowers did their best to compensate for the lack of interesting views.

We walked into Johnshaven where there was a café called Hidden Treasures. It had good reviews and so we went in and were offered a table and we ordered coffee and cake. They seemed to have a staffing problem in that most of them seemed limited in what they could or were allowed to do. Only the “boss woman” seemed to manage the coffee machine and also supervise the orders. After waiting some considerable time and seeing the next order being prepared was still not for us, we apologised and departed. Why do we apologise when they are failing to serve their customers? A little further on we found a bench and had coffee from our flasks.

At Tangleha Cottages, the coast path as such ends and walkers need to divert inland to Rock Hall Fishing Station because a rocky buttress goes right down to the sea. At the fishing station the path resumes along the cliff top.

After using the bridge to cross Woodston Burn, a notice informed us that the path is closed for our own safety. This sounded serious and so we ignored it. Why not put such a sign at the start of the path and suggest a diversion? We pressed on and came to Woodston Fishery where there was a Path Closed sign for users going in the opposite direction.

There was no sign of peril to our person along that section and so we really don’t know what all the fuss was about.

We got onto the Sands of St Cyrus and discovered there was a quite strong wind. Jill found a couple of bits of driftwood and rolled them to the lee of a some rocks to sit and have our sandwiches. Unfortunately the sand was very fine and dry and the wind was strong and so we had sand in our sandwiches and coffee and a light covering on anything left exposed. There were quite a few people enjoying the sands.

After lunch we continued down the beach until a path leads away to a car park. The beach ends because the North River Esk cuts through to the sea at this point. We followed the road inland. I had hoped to find a path onto the old railway line but the path marked on the map no longer exists. It is possible to access the viaduct close to the A92 but that takes a longer route than crossing the river via the road bridge which is what we did. On the other side an unmarked path leaves the bridge and follows the North River Esk back to the beach.

In contrast to St Cyrus sands, the sands of Montrose Bay were deserted. We passed just a solitary man with his dogs. The tide was coming in fast and the sea reached the base of the cliffs before we did and so we had to clamber over the sea defences to the golf course to get back to where we had left the car.

Satuday 22nd July 2023

I expected today to be a bit of a mixed day and so it turned out to be. We were up early because we were moving on from the flat in Peterhead where we have been for the last five nights. We also have a long setup. Yesterday we left the Volvo at Donmouth to reduce the driving for Jill. That saved 60 miles of driving. So this morning we drove to Donmouth, collected the Volvo and drove on to Kinneff Church. We parked the Volvo there and returned to Newtonhill to resume walking. That all took 1hr 45min but we were walking by 9.30.

We walked on roads and farm tracks from Newtonhill to Muchals where I spotted a sign for the Nave Nortrail and thought it was worth following it even though it was not what I had planned.

After that sign there were no others but the intended route looked obvious on the map. Unfortunately (if we followed it correctly) it ended up in an overgrown field with little evidence of path. We returned to my original plan and continued along the road a little further to where a core path should follow the cliff – but this path is now closed due to a landslide. We did not feel inclined to try walking it in case it was a genuinely un-walkable path, particularly since we could see that an adjacent field was now being used by dog walkers. We cut across the fields to Easter Muchalls and were then back on roads, the A92 indeed. This is a fast road but on a Saturday it was reasonably quiet. After two miles of this we turned off onto a B road towards Stonehaven. After the Den of Cowie, a path led to an old cemetery and then to the cliffs.

The route as far as the cemetery was well cared for but thereafter it was very overgrown and almost impassable.

We struggled on and met pair of walkers coming towards us. The man stepped off the path and promptly fell into a hole and went right off his feet. It was a relief when we got back to the road and came into Stonehaven. I do recall seeing a path of sorts heading down to the shore and, since the tide was out, that might have been a better route. Fortunately in Stonehaven there was a café on the front and so we stopped for (rather expensive) coffee and cake.

The beach at Stonehaven is not that attractive compared with many beaches we have seen in this part of Scotland. I recall swimming here many years ago when we brought the children here and I remember a bit more sand on the beach – also the sea fog that had suddenly rolled in to curtail our time on the beach. The area around the harbour is more attractive (and sandy).

Next we headed to Dunnottar Castle along the tourist path and so there were no problems other than tripping over tourists.

The day had developed into a hot, sunny day with clear, blue skies.

Though it was lunchtime we did not wish to join the hoards on the benches at Dunnottar and we struck off along the road. It seems odd to me that there is no proper coast path in such popular holiday destination. We walked along the road for about two miles and then turned off near Uras where a side road leads to where I thought we could get back to the cliff tops. We turned along a farm track around a field of some leafy crop that was growing under fleece. This did get us back to the cliff tops. To our surprise we saw a bench and two people sitting on it. Then we spotted another bench which we bagged. Then we saw the shelter and realised we had entered the RSPB Fowlsheugh reserve without realising it. We had lunch and then spent some time looking at the birds nesting in the cliffs. There will now be a lot of bird pictures but then this was the highlight of today’s walk.

There is a very substantial (bomb-proof you might say) shelter for birdwatchers funded with a bequest by Moyra Anderson in memory of her husband George Anderson. Clearly an “Anderson Shelter”. (for those too young to understand, Google it).

We followed the RSPB cliff top path to Crawton but no further. A path descends to the beach but we could not find any path along the cliff top; it was all very overgrown. We returned to Crawton and followed the road. The small car park for the bird reserve was jam-packed and cars were parked on banks in and passing places; Fowlsheugh is a popular place on a sunny day.

Most other coast walkers have struggled with the section of coast from Dunnottar to Inverbervie. I think that in high summer it is not worth the effort of trying to force a way along cliff tops where no path exists. Although we were walking on roads we could see the sea all the time.

At Catterline we sat in the graveyard on a large tree stump and had some coffee from our flasks. The shady graveyard was delightful on such a hot day. 

After Fernieflatt we noted that the verges has been planted with an astonishing array of flowers and we came to a cottage where an elderly gentleman (Geordie Mair) was unloading plants from his car. We got chatting to him.

He used to garden at the farm but that was sold and so he had started planting around his cottage. It was really magnificent. He then showed us his veg patch which was just superb, we were rather envious. (Alan Palin “Walking the Coast of Britain”, had a similar conversation three years ago when he passed this way).

Another mile and we were back at the car at Kinneff Church.

Friday 21st July 2023

We had quite a long setup today and so we left our apartment in Peterhead soon after 7.30 but only started walking at 9.15 having left a car at Newtonhill, our finishing point.

We walked over the Bridge of Don and down the other side to Aberdeen beach. From a walker’s point of view the beach is a dead loss. The receding tide leaves a lot of puddled sand but more critically there are groynes very frequently along the entire length of the beach. It seems odd to me that this 1½ miles requires so many breakwaters when there were none at all for the entire ten miles we walked yesterday the other side of the River Don.

At the end of the beach we came to the port area but just before the port is a little area called Fittie (Foot of Dee). We had been there before many years ago with the children but completely forgotten about it. It is a grid of small, fishermen’s cottages with narrow roads and passageways and little squares with sheds which were probably coal stores or privies once upon a time. Now of course they are slightly romanticised, twee cottages but there is still a community spirit there.

Onwards we walked around the harbour which one can really only see through the railings. There was a big offshore tug/supply boat called Highland Defender (seems odd) and there was a tall ship the Bima Suci. This sail, training ship owned by the Indonesian Navy was only built in 2017. Who knew a modern navy needs such things?

Aberdeen is in the process of building a new harbour, Aberdeen South Harbour; it is always good to keep the name simple. Unfortunately this means that the road around Girdle Ness and any path, if ever there was one, are now well and truly closed. I guess we could have walked along the north side and then cut back through the golf course. Interestingly the digital OS maps have just been updated and show that the road around Girdle Ness no longer goes all the way round.

So we eventually got back to the sea at Doonies Hill where Aberdeen City Council has constructed a cycle way but also a coast path that goes all the way to Cove. The coast path faithfully follows the tops of the cliffs. Though the path is narrow, allowing us only to walk in single file, it has a grit and sand base which has largely resisted vegetation from taking hold making it quite walkable. There are a number of geos and one or two rock stacks and some sea caves. Sadly some of the cliffs had very few seabirds for the amount of guano on them; avian flu again.

We found a convenient rock to sit on and have our, rather late morning coffee, admiring the view.  Just before Cove, the grit and gravel path just ends. Perhaps it is the the limit of the Aberdeen City Council responsibility. A path does continue but it is a little more overgrown and leads to Cove Harbour.

The next few miles of cliff are not readily accessible to walkers. There is a huge quarry which extends to the cliff edges and there is a railway line to contend with. We decided to follow Cycle Route 1 to Findon (which is a core path) where we would return to the cliffs. The walk along the road was initially along pavement and then along very quiet country lanes.

From Findon an access road leads to St Ternan’s Well and “Survitec Survival Craft” which Jill, quite reasonably thought, might be an “Outward Bound” type training organisation but is, infact, an important manufacturer of sea survival craft.

From there a path goes round the edge of the factory and when we were there the path was being maintained by a local maintenance company (including one man using a Dutch hoe to remove small weeds from the gravel path) but as soon as the path leaves their property it was extremely overgrown.

Indeed it was so overgrown that I asked Jill if she really wanted to struggle through it. Jill was inclined to give it a go to save having to retrace our steps. We made our way very gingerly along the path which then started to descend more steeply and we realised that there were steps hidden in the vegetation and so we felt for the edge of each step with our feet and made slow progress.

We were descending to a gully where the Burn of Findon flows and we could see that on the other side a much better path would take us up steps to the cliff tops once more. We pressed on and got to the new bridge over the burn.

The bridge could only be a couple of years old and so it seemed a pity that they had not maintained the path as well – or come to an agreement with the firm maintaining the survival craft site to strim as far as the bridge.

We followed the cliff top path to Portlethen Village. Here for the first time we encountered some way-markers for Nave Nortrail. This trail is incomplete but is intended to be a coastal trail along the North Sea coast of all countries that border it.

We were happy enough to follow this being better than a non-existent path along the cliff tops. We followed farm tracks close to the cliffs until we came to Cran Hill and on the south side a path leads along field edges down to Elsick Burn.

The burn can be crossed near the beach or higher up there is a footbridge. After that there was a short climb to the village where we had left the car.

Thursday 20th July 2023

Yesterday’s walk had left us both feeling quite tired and a bit stiff this morning and so we were hoping for an easier day. We would have a couple of miles of cliff walking before being on the shore for the rest of the day and so it was largely a question of whether the sand would be firm or soft.

We left one car at the beach car park at Bridge of Don and returned to Collieston and started walking at about 9.15. Collieston is quite an attractive village with a small beach and harbour and cottages ranged around the bay.

We walked through the village and up to the footpath which is part of the Forvie National Nature Reserve. For this reason the path is well maintained and has been engineered a good deal.

Nevertheless it was a pleasant walk past Hackley Bay. This entire area is shown on the OS map as being dunes though they are are obviously very old, well-established dunes.

After two miles, at Rockend, the path descends and divides; one part goes directly over the dunes to Waterside Bridge and the other goes down to the shore. There is a triangular area of dunes and we were going to walk two sides of the triangle. At this time of the year the tip of the reserve is out of bounds because it is an important ternery (that is a place where terns nest).

The beach was easy walking with firm sand and half a mile before the tip is a series of posts and a string connecting them all and ample messages asking people to stay out.

As we turned inland, Jill could make out seals hauled up on the sandbanks. A short path crosses the spit of sand and brings you to the estuary of the River Ythan. These dunes are more recent and less stable with some areas of pure sand.

This is, in particular, a sanctuary for Eiders. We walked up the side of the estuary along an easy sandy path.

We passed an impressive carved bench. Rashly, I had told Jill that there was a café in Newburgh and on Google it claimed to be open so stopping at the bench for coffee was not required.

We headed up to Waterside Bridge which crosses the River Ythan and then down the other side of the estuary into Newburgh.

It was with some relief that I found the Trellis Café to be open and it was very good. (Note: it is closed on Monday and Tuesday.)

After coffee, we crossed the footbridge over Foveran Burn and into the golf course by which means we returned to the shore.

From here to Bridge of Don is over ten miles of uninterrupted beach walking. The coast here is remarkably straight with no headlands and no rocky outcrops. To the landward side there are uninterrupted sand dunes and on the seaward side it is sand the entire way. We set off and there were a few walkers and one or two family groups but before long we were accompanied only by the transitory impressions of those who had walked here recently.

As we walked along the beach we spotted a solitary young seal on a sand bar. We guessed it was unwell and separated from the colony. We were going to notify local seal protection organisation but it had shuffled off into the sea before we had found their number. We hoped it made contact with the colony that was only a mile or two up the coast.

Along the way there were a number of burns that struggled to reach the sea. At low tide most of these streams would have expired in the sand before embracing the waves from which they were spawned in the great life-cycle of water. Today, at almost high tide, several were just making it to meet the sea and we stepped through or across their miniature deltas. One which was just a little bigger was meeting waves which were driving up the sand channel and it was fascinating to see incoming sea-water  flowing up the channel on each side whilst the steam was flowing in the opposite direction down the deeper centre of the channel. It was not something I have observed before.

Out to sea we could see wind turbines of the Aberdeen Windfarm and there were a number of ships anchored off-shore from Aberdeen. For all we could tell from the beach there was nothing on the landward side but of course every patch of land is given over to something. So, fortunately, we missed the Trump International Golf Links.  We missed the Balmedie Country Park and we missed the Blackdog MOD rifle ranges. We had checked they would not be firing today and, as we entered the range, there were no red flags. We missed two more golf courses.

Sadly there were a number of seabird of all species carcasses washed up. Jill relieved some of the tedium of the very long beach walk by collecting sea glass and had a quite a pocketful by the end of the walk.

Meanwhile I was pondering over the shape and size of grains of sand and wondering just how small grains could become and what happened to them. Do they become sediment somewhere and, if so, why not on the beach? Eventually the sand became busy with footprints and, before long, dog walkers and family groups appeared as we approached the River Don. 

Somehow we had escaped any significant rain for the whole day but, when we called in at the M&S Food Hall at Bridge of Don on our way back, there was a massive cloudburst and within a matter of a few minutes the entrance to the food hall was under several inches of water.