Leven to Forth Rail Bridge - 26 miles for Charity

[macq23]

On Saturday 1st of September, I embarked on a 26miles charity walk for MS Society, starting at Leven and following the Fife Coastal Path all the way down to the Forth Rail Bridge.
I was asked by a good friend if I wanted to do this as his sister in law has MS and does this every year for the MS Society. Of course I said yes even though it has been many, many years since I’ve walked a huge amount of miles in one day. When I’m hiking, it never tends to be more than 15 miles. So I was looking very much forward to this, doing a route that I’ve never done before and at the same time I was dreading what I was going to be like at the end of the walk…will I be able to move at all??!!

We met at Leven Links at 8:30am, was handed the rather snazzy charity t-shirt to wear, did the obligatory group photo shoot and soon we were off. The route very quickly veers away from the coast and through the town of Methil and Buckhaven. This takes you past some pubs and shops…not a great coastal view I thought!! But as you leave Buckhaven,the route takes you right back to the water and I got my first proper sense of walking along the coastal route with some nice views of the bay.

The next part of the walk took me along high above the coast, before moving down to the beach where we came across some lovely caves and red cliff faces. We also came across the first ruins of the day, MacDuff’s Castle before reaching East Weymss. Then it was onwards to West Weymss which where the War Mine Memorial is…dedicated to the locals that scacifced theirs life in preventing WWII mines from drifting into the area.

Moving on brought us to Dysart Harbour…it’s a lovely small harbour and you can feel the years of fishing history around the place. Luckily a nice couple advised us that there had been a landslip close to the harbour so we would have to detour around which we graciously do so. It also gave me the chance to take some nice pics of the harbour from above. It wasn’t long before hitting a steep hill with steps and boy….did those steps wreck my leg muscles or what?! Nothing worse than having to walk up steep steps!!

As we approached Kirkcaldy, I saw a red mining structure and this reminded me that Fife has the deep mining history. So it was nice to see a reminder of this. Soon after this it was onto the main road at Kirkcaldy where we walked past a nice church or ruins next to the cemetery. Quickly we were back onto the beach, walking along the sands….it reminded me of the beach down at Ayr, a nice long uninterrupted streach of sand. The best part of this was the burger van at the other end, which much needed fuel (in shape of a cheeseburger) was had!

The coastal path at this point for me was exactly was it was…a path on the coast with some cracking views of the sea and of Edinburgh but also with interesting ruins on the path. I was feeling great at this point, no pain and was thoroughly enjoying the walk!

We passed through Kinghorn and reached Burntisland and decided to stop here for lunch at the park. It was great to have a seat…but I started to feel my legs beginning to beg for mercy! So we were soon up and onwards…a very quick lunch indeed!

The walk towards Aberdour was fantastic. The route has you right next to the rail tracks at the water, I really did feel like at the edge of the country at times. Then came across a delightful small beach called Silversands Bay. You can get ice cream here!! We saw a TV crew doing some filming, but unfortunately my good looks and Oscar-worthy acting skills was not needed

The sun finally made its apperance as we reached Aberdour, and what a change in scenary! The vibrant green trees against the sparkly waters at the harbour made for some nice views. There were also lots of boats out which was good to see as there has been a lack of sailing boats on the water previously. Also spotted a small boat with a great name – “Playbuoy” I could not stop laughing!!!
After Aberdour, the route takes us through the country for a bit before reaching Dalgety Bay. This is some Bay, with stunning views to Long Craig, but there are some stunning houses too….I felt like I was going through the property guide, having a proper nosey at these houses!

The next place was Inverkeithing, and at this point I was really struggling…but onwards we must…its for charity! We walked past Prestonhill Quarry, and the old disused rusting jetty at the quarry was absolutely fascinating to look at….in fact, I was so fascinated by it that I forgot to take my camera out and take pictures of it! Walking through this industrial place was a welcome change of scenary, and took my mind of the pain my legs were in!
However to get to the other side of the bay, this meant walk up into Inverkeithing main road with the shops then around the bay which felt like it took forever. I have to admit at losing my spark at this point of the walk. I knew the bridge was so near yet sooooo far!!! The walk around the bay was awful, I was in a lot of pain, my legs kept seizing up, but I knew we were close!

Once we got around the bay, came across another nice secluded beach. I’m so glad that I did this walk as now I know about all these nice small beaches and definitely will make the point of taking the kids to these beaches!

Finally though, we made our destination at 6pm…the Forth Rail Bridge at North Queensferry. 26 miles of the Fife Coastal Path done…if I’m honest though, it felt like so much more. The last 10 miles or so were hard going particularly the final 3 miles. But I did it I’m now quite keen to do other parts of the Coastal Path. The path contains some lovely walks, some magnificent views, interesting ruins, and if you’re lucky some wildlife and I would recommend this to anyone. Fife has a superb gem of a path around the coast!

Please enjoy the pics below!

View from Buckhaven

Can't get lost with these signs!

The Mine War Memorial at West Wymss

The view as walking past West Wemyss

Lovely bay as we get close to Dysart

Dysart Harbour with the tide out

Ruins at Kirkcaldy Cemetery

Walking alongside Kirkcaldy Sands

The Sands

More lovely views at the Sands

Wall in ruins

Seafield Tower on the path

Burntisland...a nice spot for lunch

Waterfalls

So close to the rail tracks as we're walking along

Aberdour

Great name for a boat!

Ruins at Dalgety Bay

The view from Dalgety Bay

We can see the bridge!!! Still a bit to go though!

Another secluded beach..near North Queensferry

Magnificent view of the Bridge and we are nearly finished!

Walking under it now....this was a MASSIVE engineering feat!!

You can't help but be mighty impressed by this bridge!

Me at the end....totally pooped!!

[LDPWalker]

macq23, thanks for interesting report and nice pictures. I walked the whole of the Fife path from Edinburgh to Dundee last year, so it was nice to be reminded of all the nice places along the route. It is a really good route that goes through a series of nice fishing villages with lots of interest.

[macq23]

thanks for interesting report and nice pictures. .

You're very welcome. It is indeed a very interesting walk, with a lot of qauint villages with it's history on show.

[DarrenJeffrey]

Well done fella, I often get the train up to Burntisland from my home in South Queensferry and walk back with the dog. Great views

Congrats

DJ