Dog-friendly walk
Small Parking area on minor road running parallel to St Colme Avenue. It is the road South from the B9157/A921 roundabout (nearest post code KY3 0RX). Closest bus stop is on A921/Couston House, 0.2 mile walk from start point.
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Cross into the trees next to the parking area, onto a wide footpath. Turn right and follow it until it reaches Beech Avenue. Turn left here to continue alongside Aberdour Golf Course and on reaching High Street turn right. Take the second right onto Shore Road and follow this residential street all the way down to the picturesque Black Sands beach. Turn left and continue around the harbour, sticking to the footpath closest to the water (Ladies Walk). On reaching a road cross over and use the steps to emerge from the trees on slightly higher ground. At a small parking area turn left along the road towards Silver Sands Beach. Follow the path along the edge of the beach and where it ends at the far side turn left onto an earth/grassy track through a row of trees. Move onto the road when this track ends. Turn right onto Hawkcraig Road and after passing Aberdour Primary School turn left to walk through the walled garden of Aberdour Castle and then out past the castle itself. Continue onto High Street, taking the third left onto Beech Avenue. Retrace your steps past the golf course to the parking area.
WALK REPORT: 27th August 2017
This walk turned out to be excellent considering we planned out the route only minutes before leaving home. Thank you once again to my mobile mapping app!
I actually have no idea how we came to park where we did, but it worked really well and the walk along the golf course was beautiful. That view! Surely a distraction to even the most focused of golfers?!
Usually one to shy away from walks which take in residential or urban areas, the mansions of Aberdour appealed to my nosey nature! Shore Road in particular held some impressive sea-view properties, leaving us wondering ‘who lives in houses like these?’
Golden sandy beaches soon replaced them and we paused for a moment to take in the views. It wasn’t long until we reached the small harbour. For some reason it sticks in my mind that at this exact point we were discussing chocolate! My birthday was coming up and having asked what she could buy me as a gift, my suggestion to my friend was to find the biggest bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel she could find and that would be just perfect. I had become a little obsessed with said chocolate bar of late! Good thing I walk it off….. 😮
Several families were out enjoying the last of the summer weather at Silver Sands Beach and I was amused by the fact that it had 2 lifeguards on duty. It looked like a scene from Baywatch! Sporting red shorts and yellow t-shirts, the two of them stood next to their matching stripy flag, life vests slung over their shoulders ready for action. One woman was swimming in the water before them…. 😀
Heading inland for the return leg of the walk, we took a wrong turn trying to find a shortcut onto the grounds of Aberdour Castle and ended up on a dead end. Once in the walled garden I imparted my recently-learned bee knowledge to my friend as we watched them buzz from flower to flower. I’d recently taken part in a pollinator survey at my local Dean Castle Country Park where I volunteer a few times a month. I was fairly chuffed at being able to ID at least two species and explain that in fact it is only the females that collect the pollen for the nest whilst the males just fly around all day eating it for themselves. I wonder why I remembered that particular fact….! We spent some time looking around the remains of Aberdour Castle before making our way back to the car. Pretty impressive!
