I decided I could just fit in a three day trip to the NE coast of Scotland before Christmas. I managed to get a really good deal with a hotel in Buckie where I would operate from for the three days. My route up to the NE, on this occasion, would not see me travel up the A90 from Perth and not the A9. I would also be able to make use of the new bypass around Aberdeen. In the end it took me a lot longer than if I had gone up the A9. I think it was the many roundabouts around Dundee, the Aberdeen traffic and the state of the A96.
As I slept in my hotel room I could hear the wind outside, it sounded really rough. The following day I drove the 27 miles down the A98 and A96 to Kinloss, where I would end my walk. I caught the 07:41 #31 bus to Forres, it was an expensive 6 minute ride costing £3.05. I got off in the centre of Forres and then caught the 08:05 # 10 bus to Nairn. This was a 25 minute ride and cost £3.50. I got off the bus in Nairn and immediately headed for the harbour. I was very pleased and relieved that I would have a very strong tailwind for today’s walk. By the time I started walking it was quite light, but I was still concerned as I had originally planned to walk 20 miles today, which would be quite tight with the light available.
After passing the harbour I made my way down onto the beach. Most of today’s walk would be along the shoreline, with some forest tracks and a few miles of road walking. I had excellent views across the Moray Firth to the Black Isle and the Tarbat peninsular, with the lighthouse at Tarbat Ness flashing at its regular beat. For most of today’s walk along the beach and salt marsh I would have the Culbin and Lady Culbin forests on my right side. There would be few physical features to plot my exact position, however I did pick up an offshore sand bar, called The Bar. Where The Bar joined the beach I would be able to pin point my position. This position I later found out marked my transition into the Moray Council Region and out of the Highland council. I had been walking through the Highland Region for over 2 years since 2017 when I passed from Argyll & Bute in Appin.
I was now walking along an indistinct path on the salt marsh and I wanted to cross the marsh area and scale the line of sand dunes that now stood between me and the beach. When I reached the dunes I was able to look down their length and see that they provided a continuous line all the way along the coast……or so it seemed! My printed out 1:25k map seemed to indicate a continuous line, but I was missing out a crucial 1km square, which I did not include my print. I took a gamble and found that the dune was not continuous but had a 150 metre section where the sea had come into an inlet called The Gut. In fact I later found out that this was the old route of the River Findhorn, which was now located 5Km to the east. So this meant walking back some 3Km back along his spit of land, before continuing along the salt marsh at the forest edge. It also meant walking into the head wind which had been assisting me for most of the morning. I was really annoyed at having to re-walk the section, but I was more concerned now because the extra 3 or 4 miles would mean me finishing today’s walk in the dark and on roads!
I walked back and after about 1.5hours was back at a similar position but this time on the opposite side of The Gut. Another 45 minutes of walking saw me getting close back to the beach, but the path had disappeared and I spent a good 20 minutes trying to get through some 6 – 9ft broom down to the beach. Here I was defeated again, not by the Broom but the Dog Rose that was growing amongst them! Dog Rose is really nasty stuff and will destroy your jacket and trousers if you get caught by their barbed thorns.
I picked up a path of sorts and made my way through a large area of deciduous forest where every tree, nearly all Silver Beech, where dead. The trees were just a grey/white colour which contrasted with the dark green of the nearby conifers. I found the beach again, but with time marching on I decided I needed to get through the massive Lady Culbin Forest. I followed a forest track for some distance but then came to area where logging operations where underway. It had been difficult following the tracks seen on my map, because they had long-since disappeared. After fixing my point on the map I set a bearing on my compass that would see me emerge on the western banks of The River Findhorn. Walking through the forest was very easy as the trees were all Old Scots Pine and well-spaced apart. After 20 minutes I emerged near Binsness and the track that I wanted to be on. I soon picked up the public road just as a heavy squall blowing horizontal rain hit me. I was soaked and the light was now beginning to fade fast.
I headed down the road past Mains of Moy and then onto Broom of Moy, where I picked up the Moray Coast Trail. The Bridge or rather bridges, took me to the outskirts of Forres. Here I skirted the newly constructed railway station and passed around the Distillery for Benromach. I was now on quiet roads which would take me the 3 miles back into Kinloss. It was now dark so I donned my hi-vis jacket and put my forward facing Petzl head torch to strobe and another Petzl to strobe red at my back. There were a few cars along the road, but they were not driving fast and I made it safely back to my car.
NB: I also publish all my Scottish Blog entries on the excellent Scottish Hills website, I use the same narrative, but larger photos and a few extra ones. They can be found here:
http://www.scottishhills.com/html/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=24781
Distance today = 24 miles
Total distance = 5,547 miles
Walking the Coast of Great Britain 
Well done on doing so many miles in the depths of winter! I also got caught out by the early sunset today on a walk I did (a section of Offa’s Dyke Path) and had to do the last bit in the dark.
It’s unfortunate about the dunes. Quite a bit of it was dried up when I did this in summer a few years ago so it might have been possible to get over the old river bed in summer, but not at this time of year. I ended up wandering around trying to get out of Culbin Forest to reach the coast for some time. The problem is all the tracks look exactly the same and there are far more of them on the ground than on the map so I got a bit lost. I remember coming across some sort of army assault course in there too! (With signs asking the public not to use it)
Apart from that I think we followed broadly the same route on this walk, though I did a shorter walk from Forres to Nairn (I did it in reverse) rather than from Kinloss. I planned to then take the train back but didn’t beause they were on strike so I also used the bus. If both buses are Stagecoach (I think they are) you might find it cheaper to buy one of their “day” tickets than two singles. Single bus fares are especially expensive because the amount bus company gets from the “free” pensioner passes is based on a percentage of the cost of a single ticket. So bus companies have jacked up the cost of single tickets a lot to get more from Councils. In some parts of the Lake District the cost of a single ticket is actually more than a return because of this!
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Hi Jon, thanks for that. My GPS no longer works, but having a compass really helps especially in forested areas and where you have a map and at least establish a def startiing point.
Yes the individual costs of some Stagecoach journeys are expensive, on my third day I paid an eye-watering £7.40 for a 56 min journey. I looked at the Mega-rider tickets which are based on zones, BUT I would be travelling across something like 4 or 6 zones. It was very complicated and I was unaware what the rules were re: interzonal travel. In the end I gave up trying to understand it. Even though I qualify for a bus pass, English passes cannot be used in Scotland AND even in England cannot be used before 09:30.
I did the Offa’s Dyke path back in 2001. Its a NT I may think about doing again after I complete the coastline walk. Its also relatively local running up the western side of Shropshire.
Two more trips to write up now.
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