Moray Coast; Burghead to Findhorn....

 

A cold clear dawn, but importantly dry!, todays forecast was rain pm, and clouds gathered as we cycled out from Burghead along a 7 mile coast that today would be a rewarding cycle with both lovely sand and woodland sandy trails and impressive WW2 Coastal defences to look at,

Research for here came from a must have book by Gordon Barclay;

The book covers all the Scottish East Coast defences rapidly constructed between May 1940 and 1941, types of defences deployed and the troops that constructed them.

From Machine Pill boxe types...

To Tank traps...

And other defences to slow attacking troops to buy time to mobile what was a serious lack of defending troops and equipment following the with Dunkirk retreat...

Burghead Bay was a prime site ideal suited as an invasion site with nearby airfields that could be captured by Paratroopers tp secure the vital aircraft fuel needed to return flights back and forward from Norway, and move on capturing Aberdeen Port to allow troop and vehicles to be landed while  U-boats offshore kept the Royal Navy engaged...

As the plan here showed there was a lot of defences...

Moved by 80 years of storms and tidal sand movement the defences are in the whole still visible today...

Inland were superb sandy trails....

Back along the coast above the high water we followed the Moray Coastal trail to Findhorn village...

We would return along the coast as the retreating morning high tide would reveal more of the defences...

Skirting around the perimeter fence of RAF Kinloss...

And around Findhorn Point to stop for some lunch at it's well photographed beach huts...

We film of an excellent beach ride, prime coastal cycling!

Song is `Apogee` by Tycho,

More soon...