Last year, before our first walk along this stretch of East Lothian’s coast, if you’d asked whether we knew Yellowcraig well, I’d have said yes, absolutely. We’ve walked at Yellowcraig for years and this is one of our favourite beaches. And not just the beach but through the woods, across the grassland, and along the dunes. This is a very familiar place to us.
Yet somehow, over the years, we’ve missed this walk, heading west from Yellowcraig in the direction of Gullane. It’s amazing how simply taking a different direction one day – in this case, heading left when you reach the beach rather than right – can lead to a completely new perspective of a familiar setting, with new views to Fidra, and the discovery of a stretch of coastline that has now become one of our favourite walks.
To be fair, we had tried this route before, walking to Longskelly Rocks (second photo above) and deciding that perhaps this stretch of shoreline was a bit too rocky for us with two long hounds. But what we hadn’t appreciated at that time was the coastal path that leads above the shore – and above the rocks. A path that links Longskelly beach – the first beach you come to – with Eyebroughy beach beyond – where many of these photos were taken – and then on, along the winding pathways that lead through the dunes and that connect one small rocky shore to the next sandy beach and on, all the way to Gullane.
It’s a fantastic walk and one we’ve done several times now – never all the way to Gullane, as that’s always seemed a little long for Harris and Bracken, but far enough to really enjoy this stretch of coastline. These photos are from one of our first walks along this route on a blustery and blue-skied day back in November.
If you enjoy coastal textures as much as I do, then this pebble-lined beach at Eyebroughy is texture heaven. There’s also a cave called the Fortress of Solitude within the rocks towards the east end of the beach – a cave we haven’t explored up close yet – and a memorial cairn that stands just above the shore, which I’ll share in a later post. But on this walk we were simply enjoying the views to Fidra. We perched on the rocks at one of the beach to watch the waves roll in, and then walked on a little further, through the dunes, before heading back, retracing our steps along this beach and on along the coastal path back to Yellowcraig. This has become our walk for those days when Yellowcraig feels a bit too busy, or when it’s high tide and there isn’t a beach to walk on there, but we can still walk here, through the dunes.
From Yellowcraig to Eyebroughy, November 2021.
