The Fife Coastal Path: Newport-on-Tay to Newburgh

Sunday 29th August 2021

I started my trek along the Fife Coastal Path on the Monday before this walk, and at the end of the sixth day on the trail I had reached the village of Newport-on-Tay. After walking ninety-eight miles, I had just over eighteen miles left to go, but first I had to get back to Newport-on-Tay and since it was a Sunday morning I was not going to get there early. The only way I could do it was to catch a bus from Leven to Dundee on the far side of the Firth of Tay and then catch another bus back across the Tay Road Bridge to Newport-on-Tay where I was finally able to begin my last stage on the Fife Coastal Path. Unfortunately, this initially involved simply walking along the pavement beside the B946 road out of the village, which is something I seem to have done a lot on the Fife Coastal Path, though the other bits had more than make up for it. Eventually, I came to the end of the road beside Wormit Bay, soon after passing underneath the Tay Rail Bridge, where there is a memorial to the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879 when the original bridge collapsed killing all on board the train that was passing over it.

From my vantage point beside Wormit Bay, I had good views of the replacement bridge and of the piers for the original bridge alongside. Beyond this point the trail continues beside the Firth of Tay on an interesting path that undulates beside thick hedges before crossing a small ravine near Jock’s Hole to enter Scurr Wood and reach the tiny community of Balmerino. Beyond there the path enters Oak Wood, which is a fabulous place that I loved immensely. It was full of vegetation that made the whole place seem like a sea of green, while the path weaved up and down through the delightful surroundings. This was such a wonderful woodland walk that I almost forgot I was supposed to doing a coastal walk until the path briefly dropped down to the shore before climbing back up the side of the hill and I would not be back beside the shore for many hours. The gorgeous scenery was eventually left behind, much to my distress, as I slowly climbed the hillside to rise far higher than the trail had ever done previously. Relentlessly I continued to climb along a gravel track until I reached a quiet road where I decided to stop to catch my breath and to have my lunch before proceeding along the road for several miles of tedious walking.

The lovely green-overload of Oak Wood was a brief respite from the grey, overcast skies overhead and now that I had moved away from the coast there was no incentive for me to take any more pictures until Newburgh was in sight. The views while walking on the road were not exciting as I passed beside green fields until eventually I turned off the road onto a track that climbs towards Norman’s Law, but before I reached the top I turned right onto a track that skirts around the hill passing the highest point on the Fife Coastal Path before gradually descending through conifer woodland as the sun finally began to break through the clouds. After the tracks had taken me down the hill, I passed through farmland before climbing once again around the eastern slopes of Glenduckie Hill and up the grassy slopes of Higham Hill to the top where the view opened up across the Firth of Tay and I was rewarded with a stunning sight. Before me was the wide estuary of the Firth of Tay where various mud banks and the reed-filled Mugdrum Island could be seen looking splendid in the sunlight as I made my final descent into Newburgh beside Lindores Hill.

Once I was at the bottom of the hill, I came up to the shore of the Firth of Tay for a final, celebratory walk beside the estuary that provided me with a taste of coastal walking that I had been missing for many miles on the Fife Coastal Path before finally I reached Mugdrum Park where I passed under the arch that marks the end of the trail. The last two days on the Fife Coastal Path were not great, though Oak Wood is a fabulous example of ancient woodland that was a joy to walk through and the descent into Newburgh with the wide views over the estuary also made up for the earlier road walking. Looking at the whole trail and there were some fantastic moments that justify the acclaim that is given to the Fife Coastal Path though these are mainly beside Aberdour and St. Andrews while outside of those areas there is not enough coastal walking and too much tarmac. Originally the trail ran from North Queensferry to Tayport and I don’t think anything has been gained by extending it to the borders of the county in Kincardine and Newburgh. I am most astonished by my fortune in the weather during my seven days on the trail during which it never rained, which is rare in Scotland. It was a very tiring walk with high mileages each day, but it was a very enjoyable even at its most tedious when it was still very relaxing.