The Fife Coastal Path: Crail to St. Andrews

Friday 27th August 2021

To resume my trek along the Fife Coastal Path, I caught a bus from Leven, where I had been staying at Silverburn Park, to reach the village of Crail, where I had left the trail the previous day. Unfortunately, the bus schedule in that part of Fife is so infrequent that I had to catch a relatively late bus which meant I didn’t reach Crail until half ten, halfway through the morning. I had some confusion about the route of the Fife Coastal Path through Crail with some maps indicating that it heads towards the harbour, however the Footprint map that I was using directed me to the parish church and then down the narrow lane of Kirkwynd to the coast at a viewpoint that looks out to the North Sea. Passing through Sauchope Links Caravan Park there was a very cold wind coming off the sea that prompted me to wrap up and even to put on my gloves for the first (and only) time on this holiday. Beyond the caravan park, the trail passes through Kilminning Coast Wildlife Reserve before reaching Fife Ness where the coastline turns its back on the Firth of Forth, and the cold winds, to head towards St. Andrews Bay and the Firth of Tay, but on the way I had to negotiate a lot of golf courses. I had already encountered many courses on the trail before this day and now I came across many more with the two courses of the Crail Golfing Society the first that I had to avoid.

Immediately after Fife Ness, the coastal path passes perilously close to Balcomie Links, though it also passes Constantine’s Cave, which is close to the fourteenth hole. To avoid the golf balls, I came off the trail and onto Balcomie Sands, though I was soon back on the path and having to keep a constant look out for anyone who might be teeing off as I was passing. This section between Crail and St. Andrews is very challenging with several places where it is impossible to pass at high tide and there are no facilities near the route, which was in stark contrast to the earlier sections of the trail that for long stretches was on tarmac. Near Randerston Castle, I descended onto the beach on the first stretch of the trail that would be impassable at high tide, but was not a problem for me as the tides were perfectly timed for me on this holiday. When the Fife Coastal Path finally came back off the seaweed-filled beach, I had another golf course to negotiate, Kingsbarns Golf Links, but this time I was diverted around the golf course heading inland before passing through the delightful wooded valley of Cambo Burn. Beyond this point I could have kept away from the golfers by descending onto Cambo Sands, but instead I decided to keep to the clear path between the golf course and the sands that brought me to a car park beside the old Kingsbarn harbour.

The overcast skies that had stubbornly refused to clear during the morning now broke to reveal clear blue skies and bright sunshine that made the golden sands at Airbow Point look particularly stunning. The whole coastline now looked fabulous with the craggy foreshore that I had admired the day before now repeated along the coast all the way to St. Andrews. Upon reaching Kenly Water, I turned inland to follow the stream along a delightful path through a wooded valley that was more keenly appreciated because woodland had been rare on the coastal path since before Leven. After climbing away from Kenly Water, the trail could have been tedious as it passes over Chesterhill, but this was compensated by the warm sunshine before descending back down to the coast near Buddo Rock. This prominent stack has a wide crack that I explored thinking that it would be easy way to get up to the top of the rock, but I soon stopped myself attempting the climb for fear that might I get into difficulty, so I hastily retreated and continued along what is a sensational section of the Fife Coastal Path.

Although there are three golf courses beside this stretch of the coast, the path is safely away from danger partly down the steep escarpment and negotiates an interesting route through a wild landscape climbing up and down the steep terrain on well-weathered steps. This was an absolute delight to traverse with many wildflowers at my feet and great views across the rocky coastline including the tantalising view of the University town of St. Andrews in the distance. The constant movement of the path up and down provided me with good exercise that got my heart pumping and my excitement jumping. When I finally came back down to the coast I passed the curious rock feature of the Rock and Spindle and was now so close to St. Andrews that I eagerly made my way along the path and into the town. After enjoying the view across East Sands, I crossed Kinness Burn and passed the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral and the castle. This was a short walk compared with the previous few days, but the late start and the rugged nature of the path had compensated for that. I thoroughly enjoyed this walk that passes through fabulously remote and rugged scenery and I now appreciated why the Fife Coastal Path is so highly acclaimed, but I wasn’t optimistic about the next two days as I suspected the best of the trail was now past.

The Fife Coastal Path: Leven to Crail

Thursday 26th August 2021

To continue my trek along the Fife Coastal Path on this day I didn’t need to catch a bus anywhere since on the previous day I had finished the walk in Leven, which is where I stayed for the whole of my time in the Kingdom of Fife. Therefore, all I needed to do was to return to the seafront and I would immediately be able to continue along the coastal path. Earlier in the week the days had started misty and foggy and only cleared later, but on this walk there was no fog and just a little cloud that eventually cleared to reveal a gorgeous sunny day with clear blue skies to accompany the fabulous scenery on this stretch of the coast. When I had reached Leven the previous day the tide had been in, but now the tide was on its way out so I was able to walk out onto the sands for a lovely walk along the sandy beach, before eventually coming off back onto the footpath and across a golf course into the small village of Lundin Links that merges into the village of Lower Largo. After passing a statue of Alexander Selkirk who was the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe and was born in Lower Largo, I left the village on the course of the Fife Coastal Railway until I reached Dumbarnie Links Wildlife Reserve. There I dropped back down onto the beach and was unable to resist the opportunity to cross the sands right up to the gently lapping sea thereby cutting the corner, slightly, of the wide sweep of Largo Bay.

I had tremendous views across the sands and thoroughly enjoyed my walk beside the sea, but eventually crossed the sands again to take a path that crosses Cocklemill Burn and through a line of trees to pass through Elie Holiday Park. On the far side of the caravan park the path continues around Shell Bay to Kincraig Point where I had an awesome view before me of a complex, rocky coastline. The path climbs above the crags to the top of Kincraig Hill, but there is an alternative route through the rocky inlets, though at first I missed the steep path down. When I spotted the chains on the route far below me, I retraced my steps and slithered down the eroded path to the start of the Elie Chainwalk. This unique scramble crosses the craggy coastline with the aid of large chains that have been anchored to the rocks and provided me with some exhilarating adventure. The rocky terrain was very grippy and has steps cut into it, but I could not have easily got over the vertical rock faces without the help of the chains. I had never come across this sort of thing before, though they are common in the Alps where they are known as via ferrata, though this chainwalk is relatively easy and does not require the usual equipment (lanyards, helmet, and harness).

I found the Elie Chainwalk exciting, though scary in places and nerve-wracking, but utterly thrilling. It seemed to go on for a long time with no sign of where the route went next, so it was always reassuring when I discovered the next set of chains and towards the end I was wondering how much further it had to go. Eventually the sands of West Bay came into view and I was able to walk away from the Elie Chainwalk having survived the challenge. After crossing the sands of West Bay I climbed up off the beach and around the headland of Chapel Ness into Earlsferry where a prolonged section of road walking took me through the popular harbour town of Elie. Branching off the coastal path I walked around Elie Ness passing a lighthouse and the ruin of Lady’s Tower before continuing along the trail past Sauchar Point. The coast was now very complex and craggy, which I found utterly spellbinding. The sun was bright overhead lighting the stunning scenery of the craggy shoreline perfectly as I made my way beside the coast and this mesmerising landscape would continue for the rest of the day as with every turn more delights opened up before me.

The stunning coastline was punctuated by the occasional village and St. Monans came after Elie and after that was Pittenweem and Anstruther. This last village was slightly larger and more crowded where another prolonged section of road walking was required before I eventually left the narrow streets behind and was back beside the same rocky coastline. The inland scenery was now less wild and more agricultural, or to put it another way: it was more bland. This detracted from the craggy coastline to my right and even this was becoming tedious as it was more of the same that I had been seeing for many miles. The only relief from the monotony was the Cailplie Caves, which are made of red sandstone reminiscent of Wemyss Caves that I had seen earlier in the trail. Eventually I entered the village of Crail and since I had now walked at least twenty miles I decided it was time to head back to Leven. When I checked the time of the next bus I discovered that it wasn’t for another twenty minutes, so I descended to the harbour to have a moment looking out over the sea before climbing back up to the main road to wait for the bus back to Leven.

This was the Fife Coastal Path at its best and fully justified my devoting a whole week of my holiday to walking its length. I was fortunate to have stunning weather and to have the tides falling perfectly that enabled me to explore the sands throughout. The constant tarmac of my first couple of days on the trail was now a distant memory as the delights of the coastal path continued to enthral me. The highlight of this walk was clearly the Elie Chainwalk, which I found to be exciting, terrifying and utterly thrilling. Significantly I was now more than half way along the Fife Coastal Path and I had little more than fifty miles left to go.