Shoreline Cycle

Mid week days off work, beautiful blue skies, nice cold fresh air, there was only one thing for it...
...Head for the coast !
Iv'e not been for a cycle along the coast for a while so a shore line cycle was long overdue.

Setting off for the coast I thought I'd cross the A1 dual carriageway to get onto the old Dryburn road now unused due to the dualling of the A1 & is now just used by farmers to access their fields.
Iv'e deliberately avoided this route for a while now as gypsy's have taken up residence on the old A1 trunk road where this road leads to & they have caused all sorts of bother locally. Most of the gypsy's have moved on & only a few remain so I thought it would be safe enough by now...

...Or so I thought !!!

As I approached the T junction under the railway I was utterly disgusted at what confronted me, there was nothing but toilet roll covered in you know what along the hedge line & on the road itself as well as other rubbish lying around !
As I turned onto the old A1 I could not believe my eyes at the mess lying around the area rubbish everywhere, absolutely disgusting that this is aloud to happen & being a lover of the countryside I really hate to see this sort of thing !!
But as I stopped to take a picture a dog barked at me then more dogs started barking & started to run for me, so I took off at warp factor 9 as a pack of gypsy dogs were chasing me for a good few hundred yards !!!
I normally start off my cycles by climbing steep hills to get the blood in the legs warmed up but this was a new way to get the blood up to temperature & was a change from getting chased by cows & I now know which I prefer to get chased by now !

After managing to out pedal my pursuers I turned down to Skateraw towards the beach.
 All the local beaches have these height barriers in place to stop the gypsy's parking up along the beach car parks which really annoys me as the local people who have vans or large 4x4's & genuine tourists to the area with camper vans etc cannot access the beach car parks & have to find somewhere else to park not always in a convenient place then have a potentially long walk to get to the beach all because of these people. 
 I myself suffered this when I had a van & took my dogs down the beach for a walk.
Just not fair but what can you do ?

Anyway getting my breath back after my ordeal it was nice to smell the sea & start to enjoy the ride again making my way along the shore front.

This memorial at Chapel Point down here at Skateraw is a tribute to six members of the St. Giles Boys Club, Edinburgh (later the Canongate Boys Club) who were killed in action during WWII, the boys loved to camp here at Skateraw in their youth. The memorial was re-erected in 1980 by members of the Canongate Boys Club in memory of the founder warden, The Very Rev Dr Ronald Selby Wright, with whom many of the boys camped on the shores of Skateraw. Quite tragic when you see the ages of the six boys killed at such a young age fighting for their country...

Jim Stobbie 19
Jim Stewart 19
David Adams 21
Jack Cooper 22
William Brown 23
Jimmie Dalgleish 23

Loads of seaweed washed up after the strong northerly winds earlier in the week & crossing the not so dry Dryburn.

Doesn't take a lot of guessing who could be responsible for this !!
I'll need to cover my kids eyes when we next walk down here.

The low tide left a lot of large rock pools & a good opportunity for some reflective bike shots.
 Bikes make good models & never complain.

Barns Ness lighthouse & the old wooden pontoon were very photogenic on this nice bright day.

Another barrier a bit further along at Barns Ness.

Whitesands beach where there were loads of bulky clumps of seaweed here & there after the afore mentioned northerly winds, I'll need to come down with my car & get some for my tattie & fruit gardens, the kelp makes a good mulch, is a good fertilizer boosting the nutrients in the soil & best of all is good for repelling slugs which I normally have big problems with. 

From Whitesands it was a duck for cover ride along the edge of Dunbar golf coarse where many a poorly hit ball comes within range !
The rocks on the beach looked really weird all cuboid shaped & have been tossed & rolled around a fair bit after the big northerly waves, the square boulders reminded me of an obsessive X-box game my kids play called Minecraft.

As the above photo shows a bit of damage was caused & gabions with rocks have now been placed to shore up the coastal defences.

Nearly at sunny Dunny & the Bass rock peeking up behind the battery at Dunbar harbour.

This at one time was the 'Gentleman's pool' a tidal swimming pool & the picture with my bike is the old turnstyle for the pool along at the towns east promenade.

Along the shore front in Dunbar now & again loads of washed up kelp along the towns east beach, I remember this beach being sand from end to end & was a popular place in the summer for sun seekers, swimmers & for the kids just up from the beach was an amusement arcade with helter skelter & other rides, inside fruit machines, arcade games, burgers & chips, & for your granny a bingo hall.

The harbour was very quiet today not many people around & the harbour itself very empty without the yachts moored up.

This part of Dunbar castle is called the 'Maggie' & when we were young & daft my friends & I used to climb the walls then jump into the sea below, great times they were too.

Along the west esplanade to the towns other golf coarse, Winterfield golf club & again the fairways hug the coast so a keen eye for stray golf balls is a must.

Coming off the coarse overlooking the beautiful Belhaven Bay where far in the distance I spotted a couple of paddle boarders, the bay is becoming very popular for surfers, paddle boarders, kite fliers & other beach & water sports which makes for great viewing when down here in the car scoffing a chippy.

I love it down here with the iconic 'Bridge to nowhere' & it's a very popular place with locals, so stopping for 10 minutes to re-fuel & I had to have a giggle at the old boy above, one minute he was out for the count in the land of nod & the next he was up on the bridge doing stretches & exercises ! 

With the tide being well out & checking the sand for firmness, it was good to go for skinny tyres so I decided to go over the bridge & take a cycle along the bay to get a better view of the paddle boarders.

Looks great fun & for a while I have been swithering whether to buy a kayak, but the wife says I have too many hobbies with fishing, cycling & snakes without starting another one !
Anyway it was a really nice day to be out & about with the cool air becoming milder as the day wore on & it was good just to watch the guys paddle boarding along the coast.

After a while watching the waves gently rolling in it was time to head back for home across the salt marshes.

European wigeon duck.

Natures enemies like the lion & hyena, the crows & buzzard tolerating one another although one of the crows isn't sure as he's sitting on the fence, a bit of a rebel, would of been a good picture if it was on the other fence post.

Back along by Barns Ness through the field of sheep that are brought in during the winter months to eat the rough grass which during the spring & summer encourages other wild plants to flourish. There was a plan to bring some Exmoor ponies to Barns Ness as they do a better job of chomping the coarse grasses like they are doing at both North Berwick & Traprain Laws, but with the gypsy's parked up near by it was put on hold for the time being until they left the area. 
Shame :-/

Back over the Dryburn again.

And around the perimeter of Torness power station.

It makes a change to see someone fishing sensibly here at the outflow water outlet, normally the fisherman have chest waders on & are wading as deep as they can get & often there are so many they are more or less shoulder to shoulder jockeying for the best spot. I'm amazed nobody has been killed here. 

Back across the A1 again & back to the shack just in time for T.

That's all folks cheers for visiting.