Tuesday 1 March 2011

Spring is on the way...


Evenings are getting notably lighter by the week now, temperatures warming up a bit too, and again another stunning Saturday riding some coast here in East Lothian.
I rode the 9 miles to the seaside Town of Dunbar and met Davie and we headed to Cockburnspath and back.
Along the East Beach from the Harbour and around the Golf Course and it was a lovely morning as early rain headed east out to sea and the sky cleared.
West back to Dunbar...



Lovely colours of rocks here...


Cormorants out on the rocks, behind a small creel boat...


Engine piston washed up,from a boat wreck?...


Ahead is Whitesands Beach...


We rode around the coast of Barnes Ness and stopped at the Lighthouse...


Sand and shingle beach now all the way to Torness Nuclear Power Station...


Just past the lighthouse is the remains of a floating target that was anchored offshore during WW2 and used for firing practice...






Along towards Skateraw the beach is steep here and quite hard to keep a straightline on the loose shingle. a regular bike wouldn`t even move along here so no shame to the pugs...




Up onto the grassland for a bit to Chapel Point...



In the bay at Skateraw was a guy on a paddle board...


His dog was swimming about alongside then must of fancied a shot and got on too...


Meanwhile we were slipping all over the place on the flat rocks below the old lime kiln that were covered in a green slime, last year i rode and filmed here and it was fine...


Around the walkway at Torness past the lifeboat and out to sea it was flat calm...


Down the flat sand at Thorntonloch and ahead more riding/walking across rocks,slippery in places...


Ahead a beach sealed off below the cliffs at high tide...




Below the beach the view across the rocks and rockpools and out over the calm sea was stunning...




We stopped to soak up the view of the amazing sandstone rock arches,once headlands now eroded by wind,sand and sea...










We had to scramble over the big rocks hauling the bikes to get here to see the Arches,but worth it for the views...


Along some beach again past Bilsdean Creek, the small bay you can see between the rocks is marked on the present OS 1;25,000 map as `Standalane Otter Hole`...


Leaving the coast we rode up the track at Dunglass Dean,passing the old Oak Tree that grows out of the rock face...


And down in the Dean below the bigger Mill House is a lovely old cottage...


4 Road bridges have superseded each other over Dunglass over the years,
An important throughfare for the Great North Road from Newcastle to Edinburgh,and it still is today as the A1...


Heading back to Dunbar along the John Muir Way again in places,
here above Thortonloch towards Torness,stunning coast views today...


Back in Dunbar and a pint or 2 at the pub, a top day out on the coast...

7 comments:

  1. Know what you mean about spring on it's way. Getting the itch here in the states.

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  2. Remember if you guys are out this way there's always a cuppa on offer..........

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  3. craigers; i felt the sun on my back working today, a nice feeling after a long winter here!,

    alistair; we were heading back to the pub as friends were watching the rugby!,
    I need to spend a full day around Dunglass soon to photo stuff so will let you know when and drop by for a cuppa...

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  4. Ha - I thought one photo and a paragraph was a bit on the short side for you CK.

    Some nice photo's on the full posting. Barns Ness is where the oldest house in scotland has been identified @ 9,000 years old. Heard an article on radio Scotland about it the other day......

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  5. Some interesting shots of rock formations here.
    The last time I was in Cockburnspath was at the end of my Walk across Scotland along the Southern Upland Way.
    That walk is one of my top three favorites.

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  6. trevor; i cycled the SUW a long time ago and in the last few years often ride some of the eastern end,i love it and would also like to walk it one day and take my time to see a lot more,

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  7. Cracking tale and pics as usual Bruce! :-)

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