Low Tide 12:44pm, 1.7 meters height
Sunday i had planned to do some WW2 research on foot but again fat bikes took priority and dragged me to the coast...
It was the weather forecast that did it; after the overcast heavy skies on Saturday, Sunday dawned with a clearing sky as forecast, and unusually a light 6mph wind, and it was warm for February with temperatures of 8-10 Celsius... how warm?! -:) time for 3/4 shorts and thinner top!...
So it was out for a solo ride today, a little `me time` and Seacliff is the perfect place to spend some me time on the coast with so much to see and do.
Seacliff is an amazing coastlline of scenic beauty...
From the Worlds smallest comercial harbour...
A ruin of an old fortified house and the ruins of a former Mansion house...
Views of Tantallon and the Bass Rock...
Steeped in history, folklore, an abundance of coastal wildlife, and the noise of the sea on the rocks makes a visit to Seacliff always special...
And then for the rock hopping happy fat biker there are miles of rocks exposed at low tide which provide as hard a challlange as you want to make your ride along the coast here.
In 5 years of cycling the coast on my fatbike i still have not ridden what seems to be an unlimited choice of lines through the Car Rocks ...
Sunday was a low tide at midday so it was perfect.
I knew it would be busy today on the coast being a Sunday with this freak weather forecast after a lot of overcast skies of late so i made no plans to film but hoped to get some nice coastal pics...
Weekend on at work, just an hour and a bit but least i got to see an amazing sunrise over Dunbar with the light reflecting on the high tide in the River Tyne Estuary at Tyninghame...
I took the Pugsley today despite The Moonlander being a better choice for riding the exposed rocks as i rode the Moonie yesterday and i like to ride both bikes over a weekend...
Then on the road past Leuchie i saw a flash of white in the roadside verge, i pulled the camera out the frame bag and a Stoat ran across the road...
I see Stoats all the time at work on the Golf Course, and so i see them in winter when their coats change to white, often a sign of cold weather coming... however they are usually not pure white but often still with some brown & black fur (The tip of the tail always remains black) but this wee fellow was pure white! not seen a pure white stoat for years...
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View from Auldhame farm...
Down to Seacliff and a look around the ruins of Auldhame Castle...
An artists impression of what this castle would have once looked like...
Today i never visited the other larger ruin here at Seacliff shown above , the remains of Seacliff House, which was destroyed in a fire in 1907. You can view a photo shoot of the ruin and its history here on a previous post; The Ruins of Seacliff House
From the cliff top nearby are great views west to Tantallon Castle, out to sea to the Bass Rock, and east over the Car Rocks and down the coast towards Tyninghame...
Today's plan was to ride east along and through the Car Rocks exposed at low tide,
But first i was waiting for the retreating tide to try and ride out to the navigation marker on the point at St Baldreds Boat...
Yep...out here! walked out but never cycled out...
Still to do a film on the hardest bit of coast to ride, from Canty Bay around under the cliffs at Gin Head and then Tantallon. Only ridden this twice and it it a hard workout with some portage up and down steep rocks into stone covered gullys.
It is a dangerous ride and real techy as in two coves you would be cut off at high tide by the cliffs, so an injury from a fall could all turn a bit nasty...
Inshore lifeboat from North Berwick was out, probably training...
Down to the wee harbour...
Kittiwakes, there call is their giveaway...
Perched on top of the headland of the same name is the former WW2 Research Station Gin Head...
Gordon from East Fortune Microlights who i did my Microlight Flight with...flew over,
a QuikR 912s, G-CGAZ , Pink and blue wings...
Must be a great view over the coast up there today as it was stunning here at sea level...
Along Seacliff beach and to do what i cannot do come the spring and summer as signs are put up asking to avoid the rocks out to the navigation marker at St Balreds Boat because of nesting sea birds...
Looks flat from the Ariel pics but it was very techy, here though was some sand on top of the rocks...
It was about 70 percent ride able until i reached this drop down that i rode but was stumped by the rock gully and facing 6ft wall. i threw the Pugsley up on top then climbed up...
I thought i would climb up the rungs for some pics, using the bike to get up onto the first rung i went ok until the six rung when there was a loud crack noise...
Best not risk an injury out here, be a heli job... and worse than personal injury is they would probably not lift the pugsley... that would be a disaster!...
Great views from out here anyway!...
I did a 360 view with the compact anyway...
Riding back to the coastline and along the rocky tide line were Turnstones...
A film out here would really show where and what a fat bike can be ridden over, all this is ride able...
Back to the tide line and just off shore i rode east along the Car Rocks and found some new routes through i have not ridden before...
The Author Robert Lewis Stevenson was a friend of the Dale family who still own the land and farms around Seacliff and he wrote about a book in 1892 called `The Wreckers` based on the `Pagans of Scoughall` (pronounce Scoughall as `Skoal` as in the Lager!)
The wreckers lured ships onto the rocks in bad weather using a lantern tied on a rope between a horses head and front leg. Walking the horse would give the bobbing motion of a lantern on a boat at mooring to a ship out at sea looking for somewhere to moor...
Flat calm the reflective winter sun was amazing...
Here on the coast in 1864 a French Schooner called `Louise`ran aground on the rocks here a Scoughall during a storm, its contents was 110 tons of Brandy!
As you can imagine the locals had a field day!, and the Customs officers had a job on their hands!
I too blogged the story which you can read here; East Lothians own Whisky Galore Story...
Came across some fat bike tracks at the high tide line, a pair of Nates, Only Colin, Gavin and myself ride a pair of Nates around here... so who is this mystery fat biker?
Dave at Law Cycles maybe provided the answer, Jez has a pair of Nates on Saltymans old pugsley and was in NB last Friday -:)
Bicycle Detective work -:)
More rock riding across the Scoughall Rocks...
Very techy but all ride able...
Cormorant or Shag? not sure at this distance...The Shag has a larger beak...
At Scoughall i came across some pugsley tracks on the tide line, i guess this is the family from Tyninghame who got some pugsleys, as one set of tracks go side to side as much as forward - how children cycle! -:)
Awesome light...
Onto Peffersands and an easy cruise down the beach... and rest the wrists and legs after the rock riding of the last couple of miles...
Even the chunky 3.8 Nates leave less footprint than humans on sand... -:)
What fantastic light today... this has to be one of the best days i have had on the coast ever...
It`s a hard life but someone has to do it...
The crucifix on the stone above i discovered when i lifted it off the wall to move the trail inside the wall as the coastline has been eroded on the left of the picture.
I wonder who inscribed it.. is it old? or maybe a WW2 soldier posted here on the coastal defences?, or is it a modern folly?...
This trail connected the various WW2 Anti Aircraft battery's and Machine Gun Pill boxes here.
As a kid i remember it as an overgrown faint path i walked with my dad when he was the County Ranger and we explored the WW2 defences around the coast here.
Looking at my old blog pics along here it is obvious how much more used the path is today.
A recent Geocash site has increased use of it which also helps keep the trail well walked and hard pack, which makes it better to cycle...
Out across the rocks of St Baldreds cradle looked stunning...
So i rode down and out across the low tide exposed landscape...
No one seems to know what exactly this line of rocks is, notice they have flat edges carved by tools, so maybe they are a wall which was once part of a fish trap...
Coast, Pines, Blue Sky... perfect...
And i wonder what year did the last horse and cart come over the rocks here onto the coast to collect seaweed which helped make these cart wheel tracks cut through the rock from years of use in an industry that has disappeared from our East Lothian coast. The cut marks will be here for years to come to tell the story....
Today was one of the best days i have spent cycling on the coast.
I say this as it was a fantastic day with the weather and the light.
And it is the light that brings the coast to light, the glow from sea spray as the sun shines on it, and the reflections on the still pools in the rocks is fantastic...
Topped off with stunning coastal scenery here of the Seacliff harbour, Tantallon Castle, Bass Rock Offshore, expanse of rocks at low tide and the wide flat sands of Peffersands, and the pine woods at Tyninghame...
And this days ride apart from going out to the Navigation marker is part of the Sunday ride of `Forth Fat` UK gathering in April...
And this bike, the Surly Pugsley, a bike that has brought so much cycling happiness by opening up a whole new world of riding here on the coast of East Lothian...
Something i will never take for granted, we are really very lucky to live here in a real special part of Scotland
Excellent post Bruce. It certainly was a fantastic day. Well done on getting Pugsley out to the marker. I've walked out there before so know what it's like. Btw there are now more Nates than you think! I'll be in touch for some build advice...
ReplyDeleteYour very lucky to have such a great location to ride. I wish I had 1/10th of the riding that you have.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, that bike stand is very cool. I'm going to have to build several of those for my bikes.
Keep up the great posts ;-)
Kaetwo
del,
ReplyDeleteAye, there are a few pairs on other bikes it seems. Catch up again soon!
Kaetwo;
We are indeed very lucky having these ofen deserted parts of coastline that are only a half hours drive from the City of Edinburgh!
The stand was made from off cuts of wood pulled out a builders skip!
Thanks for looking in on the blog!