Carnoustie, Westhaven to Carlingheugh Bay | UK Coast

Starting from Carnoustie, Westhaven

Arriving at Carnoustie, Westhaven, it was still early in the morning. A few dog walkers, a man reading a book sitting on a bench, and a cold wind blowing off the sea. It didn't feel like the height of summer. But it felt good, refreshing, especially after the two hours of driving in the car to get here! We couldn't wait to get going! We were excited and chomping at the bit to start walking and get sand on our shoes... Sarah had to keep telling Eve to come back and 'calm down' as I prepared our backpacks, switched on the satellite trackers, and drank the last dregs from my flask.

Setting off onto the beach was like walking through your front door on a cold evening, entering a warm, cosy house... But for us, it's the other way around. We can't wait to get out the front door into the fresh, blowing air and the smell of nature. Walking into the cold, refreshing air was like freedom, and it engulfed us like a child running into their mother's or father's arms after a long time apart!

Starting to walk the coast from Carnoustie, Westhaven had a strategic purpose. To avoid the urban sprawl of Dundee and the Barry Buddon firing range. However, Dundee and the Barry Buddon firing range aren't being forgotten. We will return (hopefully soon) to walk this section. It was just, with limited days available, we wanted to make the most of them and get straight into the countryside and the wild sliver of land that hugs the coast, that Eve and I call home!

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Westhaven

Westhaven lies on the east side of Carnoustie and boasts a rich fishing history. However, over recent days, I have spent much of my time on trivial tasks, neglecting to research the area to talk to Eve about while we walk. I often regret this and really should dedicate more time to it as we prepare for our walks around the UK coast!

As we began walking, Eve ran ahead, but I find myself torn between two competing desires. One is to keep looking forward, focusing on Eve and the path ahead; the other is to keep glancing over my shoulder, trying to catch the last glimpse of Sarah or the car as they disappear from view.

Missing Sarah is undeniably the hardest and most emotional part of our outdoor and hiking lifestyle. I fear it will only get worse the further apart we are! In all the years and thousands of miles of hiking we have done, this has been the one element of long-distance hiking that has never become easier. I kept glancing behind me. I must admit that when I saw Sarah drive off, I felt a strong pang inside. But this quickly passed as I refocused on Eve, where we were and what we were doing. Eve’s energy and enthusiasm never fail to make me smile!

Eve and I walked together, hand in hand, until she suddenly spotted something that stunned me—immediately bringing to mind images from the 1980s film Jaws.

We found a dead whale... missing its head!

As we strolled along the beach, Eve spotted a whale's tail lying on the sand. At first, we both thought it was fake and had a conversation to justify to each other why we believed it was actually real! The tail (as you can see from the picture) looked as if it had been severed. The cut was so precise that nothing about it seemed natural. We took a picture with Eve's foot in the frame so you could gauge the size of the tail! After deciding it was genuine, we immediately asked each other, "Where's the rest of it?" and "Why would someone cut the tail off and leave it?" This question would soon be answered. As we continued walking, we spotted other parts of the whale, including the massive decaying torso, blubber, skin, and more. What we couldn't find anywhere on the beach was the whales head!

This morbid curiosity would influence Eve over the next few days, just as it did me. Eve desperately wanted to see a whale, alive in its natural environment. This became Eve's main focus and the key topic of our conversations during that period.

As you go through the journals, you will see many photographs of Eve gazing out to sea! She was looking for whales!

Retreating to the path

Walking along a stony, pebbled beach is exhausting. We had walked miles along the pebbles, mainly looking for remains of the whale, when we saw a young runner. The runner was running through the dunes. Moving swiftly with apparent ease, Eve and I thought there must be a path there! We headed towards the runner, up the small embankment, over the dunes, and onto a path parallel to the coast. We hadn't considered there being a path as we were so engrossed in searching for whale remains, particularly the head, which we found oddly unsettling!

As soon as we were on the path, we gave up the search for the whale head. We concluded that it was quite a morbid activity for a father and daughter to be doing, and we wanted to be doing something more, well, pleasant! As we walked along, the path soon deviated inland. We chose to retreat onto the beach to continue walking towards Arbroath.

Returning to the beach...

Eve and I had a little chat about what we should do. Continue along the path or go back onto the beach? Clearly, we decided to head back onto the beach.

As you can see from the pictures, we chose to stay at the top, walking along the edge of the fence. Despite how it might look, this was easier than walking along the soft sand or probably the beach.

What caught our attention and made us stay close to the fence was the number of rabbit holes and warren entrances. It was fascinating, and you could easily see which tunnels were active by the footprints, hair, and poo deposits. The beach below us was covered in rabbit tracks and trails. It was delightful and captivating!

We stopped for lunch after being pushed onto the beach as the dunes gradually faded into sandy shoreline. Sitting on our backpacks, behind a concrete structure, cuddled close together, we ate! I cherish these moments more than I can say, and I hold them dear!

I have no idea how long Eve will still want to snuggle her father... in public! Today’s lunch, being the first day, was a treat... sandwiches and fruit! Yum! We carried on walking when the cool wind started to bite, and we felt a shiver run through us.

After lunch, with the tide going out, we could walk over the slippery rocks towards the sea, onto the firm sand left by the retreating ocean to continue our walk! It made for some lovely walking, a joyful child, and a satisfied father!

Into Arbroath, and the search for ice cream begins!

As we headed into Arbroath, walking along the beach, I told Eve we could try somewhere to buy her an ice cream. We had recently received some donations via Buy Me a Coffee, which gave her the opportunity for a sweet treat. Thank you!

As we walked, we saw the yellow arches of a Mcdonald's, so I suggested we could pop in for a McFlurry. I wasn't sure if Arbroath had anywhere else to get an ice cream, and when walking long distances, you soon learn to grab opportunities when they present themselves. This included for an ice cream!

However, we encountered a small issue... We left the beach for the main path running between the beach and a large area of grass, used for football and other sports. Beyond the field was a wall, then the road and Mcdonald's.

We walked over the grass, searching for a way to get over the wall and onto the road, unaware that there was a railway line between the grassy area and the road! Railway line! I felt like an idiot, as I could clearly see the railway line on the map, but it hadn't registered in my mind...

I had been too busy enjoying the walk and walking with Eve. A schoolboy error. I was lucky it was something minor and not a major navigational mistake!

The search continues....

Walking past Mcdonald's felt like a failure, mainly due to my map reading mistakes; however, we were not going to be defeated. Especially when it comes to ice cream...

We continued the search, looking on Google Maps as we walked; however, the online search wasn't needed.

As we walked past the harbour, we spotted an ice cream shop. YAY. It looked good, with plenty of flavours to choose from and seating opposite the harbour. The perfect combination! We popped in and a few minutes later Eve walked out with a waffle cone filled with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce! It smelt like diabetes, exactly the way ice cream should! We sat on the bench whilst Eve ate her ice cream...

"ring ring" "ring ring"

Looking around, we saw a mobile phone on a bench, and nobody else around!

"ring ring" "ring ring" it went again... should we answer it? NO!

"ring ring" "ring ring" I'm going to answer it, I said to Eve... "go on then" Eve said.

"ring ring" "ring ring" I answered it!

On the other end of the phone was an Eastern European lady in a state of panic! She had left her phone on the bench and was on her way back to it. I explained we would be here for a while and we would keep it safe until she arrived. I hung up and noticed the phone case contained a multitude of bank cards! No wonder she was in a state of panic!

A few minutes later, the lady arrived, took her phone, said thank you in her broken English, and walked away. I was pleased we answered the phone and managed to do a good deed. Whilst we waited, a few people had walked by, and although I am sure they would have left the phone alone, who knows? Maybe they would have taken it?? We were happy to reunite it with her. Doing good deeds, as little as this might be, felt good and gave us both a warm feeling inside!

We continued plodding along the coast….

Arbroath town centre

We decided we would be fat... and as we walked past Arbroath town, deviated into the town to get a little savoury snack and quench my craving for a pint of milk to drink. Arbroath town centre made us feel sad. It looked sad. It felt like many other British seaside resorts that have passed their heyday. There was an energy to the place, but one of trying to cling onto something long gone. There were a few people milling about, walking slowly, like they had no place to be. Unfortunately, this continued until we reached the other side of Arbroath and could see the rocky cliffs of the Arbroath Cliff Trail drawing nearer.

Are we being followed...?

We walked up a slight embankment from the road below onto the Arbroath Cliff Trail, passing a man sitting on a bench. As we walked past, he got up and started to walk directly behind us, gradually catching up... I took this selfie-style image so I could get a better look before deciding what to do! For a warm(ish) day walking into a remote part of the Scottish coast, everything about him looked 'off' and felt, to me, 'odd'. I felt concerned and began to worry about his motives! As he approached, I was busy formulating a plan in my head—a plan I had run through countless times—when all of a sudden he shouted—loudly!

I couldn't make out what he was saying... or even if he was shouting at us. Then I saw them, his friends, on the cliffs. He was shouting to them in a language we didn't recognise. I felt relieved. Eve was completely unaware of the whole situation until he started shouting, making Eve jump! We continued walking, no longer being followed and enjoying the growing sense of solitude and, with it, safety.

The Abroath Cliff Trail

The Arbroath Cliff Trail is incredible—spectacular! The cliffs presented a stark contrast, even a little shocking after walking through the urban, concrete front of Arbroath. It immediately reminded us both of the South West Coastal Path (SWCP) in England.

The rock formations look mesmerising! Large flat slabs of ancient seabed, fossilised into rocks, were pushed nearly vertical over countless years of geological movement and eroded by the mighty ocean to create a landscape of jagged outcrops, stacks, and arches, partly standing, partly collapsing.

The Arbroath Cliff trail curves along the top of a geological playground, offering stunning views over the sea. We strolled, watching and listening to seabirds feed, squawk, and squabble over land and food. The sea gradually wearing away the cliffs below, as if aware of the power it wields, in this relentless struggle for dominance between cliff and sea. The cliff, most certainly and clearly, is losing that battle for supremacy!

Seaton Cliffs Wildlife Reserve

The Seaton Cliffs Wildlife Reserve forms part of the Arbroath Cliff Trail and features even more dramatic rocks shaped by the forces of wind, rain, and coastal erosion caused by the sea! It is as dramatic as you can imagine! 

Eve spotted... whales?

As we walked, Eve was gazing out to sea when she suddenly and dramatically asked, "What's that?" I looked in the general direction she was pointing and saw nothing, so she responded with something that sounded like, "Flags?" We had seen many flags along this section of coast used by fishermen to indicate crab and lobster pots, so we naively assumed this was what Eve had seen. "NO, they look like fins!" Eve insisted, but I still couldn't see them.

A few hundred metres from the cliffs, a large group of fins appeared out of the ocean, moving south, following the coast. They bobbed up and down, calm and serene. The fins didn't look like dolphins (which we had seen before), and their size also seemed too large, even considering the distance. I didn't know what they were, so, as we stood watching, I turned to the world's biggest encyclopedia—Google! Google told us they were Minke whales, but I wasn't convinced, so we posted some pictures on various forums and groups, and the consensus was that they were Pilot whales! Now... I'm no marine biologist, and these are the best photos I have. Please let me know if you have a different opinion or if you know better.

While the whales swam past, Eve sat while I stood, and we watched them rise and fall, breaking the surface of the sea and exposing their fins until all along the coast, people stood motionless on the cliffs, watching the spectacle in the water until they disappeared beyond the horizon! It was the final act of a West End performance, everyone staring, unwilling to miss a second, knowing they wouldn't have a second chance!

Seeing them, regardless of what they were, felt incredible. It was a genuine privilege and one of the highlights of this entire section of coast! Eve then spent the next four days hardly taking her eyes off the sea, desperate to see them again!

Further along Seaton Cliffs Wildlife Reserve

Walking along the coast, the cliffs grew increasingly dramatic and picturesque. We encountered fewer people the further we went, and the path gradually felt less urban and more natural.

The cliffs were shaped into more complex formations and stacks of rock, carved over the millennia by the sea's relentless weathering of the soft sandstone. Each direction we looked offered a different perspective.

Eve and I could have walked along this stretch of coast for days and never grown bored. However, Eve never took her eyes off the sea, constantly searching and talking about nothing but the whales, eager to see them again, with every ripple in the ocean bringing excitement and a moment to assess. We didn't spot any more whales, but the search continues unceasingly over the next few days!

Music on the coast (if you can read it) and descending into Carlingheugh Bay

A steep path descends into Carlingheugh Bay, where we hoped to spend the night. We had spotted Carlingheugh Bay on the map earlier in the day, hoping it would be a suitable (and fitting) place to camp, despite its proximity to the nature reserve. We had walked the last hour slowly, Eve whale-spotting, while I was captivated by the cliffs and the growing number of birds.

Reaching the top of Carlingheugh Bay feeling tired and hungry. At the top of Carlingheugh Bay, there is a fence constructed from staves with notes. I don't recall seeing a fence like this anywhere on our travels. The area around Carlingheugh Bay felt wild and quite remote, despite its closeness to roads and large towns. Seeing such an ornate fence, in such a good state of repair, looked out of place — but not in a bad way.

The music of the fence is the Christian hymn "Lord of the Dance.”

The musical fence was originally placed further along the coast but had to be relocated to its current position by the Scottish Wildlife Trust because it was "encouraging people to get too close to the cliffs".

Exploring Carlingheugh Bay

Descending into Carlingheugh Bay was the first time we got close enough to the cliffs to touch them. The cliffs are made of sandstone and conglomerate, which formed an ancient seabed. Over the years, the layers have accumulated, been compressed, bent, twisted, and pushed into the fascinating formations we see today! Seeing them up close and touching them was like stepping back in time. It filled us both with wonder to imagine what these stones might have witnessed over the millennia.

Carlingheugh Bay is a labyrinth. We explored by climbing over massive rock formations, venturing through sea arches and around hidden rocky coves. Aside from the geology and educational aspect, it was captivating and so much fun! As I hope you can see from the photographs, Eve was captivated, as was I!

Despite the fun and fascination, our stomachs were still rumbling, and our bodies were weary. So off we went, walking a little further around the bay in search of somewhere to pitch the tent and cook some dinner!

Wild camping in Carlingheugh Bay

Finding a small camping spot wasn't hard. What was tough was finding water! We found a small trickle of water coming out of the cliffs near the place where we had walked down into Carlingheugh Bay. The problem was that it was surrounded by saturated mud and rubbish. I decided to climb carefully above the rubbish to find the water's source. It was clean. However, we both agreed to only use boiled water, so we limited ourselves to hot drinks, saving the water we had carried for overnight and the morning. We've used this procedure before, and it works well. We always try to keep some spare water for emergencies like this!

Dinner tonight was our usual cold trail pizza. Eve and I sat on the rocky beach watching the tide lap the shore and listening to the seagulls as evening turned into twilight. It was a beautiful evening after a wonderful and diverse day. Eve didn't take her eyes off the coast, watching for signs of whales moving along. Retreating to our tent, we fell asleep quickly, feeling happy and privileged to be living this life!

I hope you enjoyed this journal. Please consider supporting us. Your support means so much and helps us more than I can possibly tell you. Thank you. Ian 🙏🏻
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