Fife Coastal Path

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Fife Coastal Path
Fife Coastal Path Signpost and Beach - geograph.org.uk - 400492.jpg
Fife Coastal Path signpost near Earlsferry
Length187 km (116 mi)
Location Fife, Scotland
Established2002
Designation Scotland's Great Trails
Trailheads Kincardine
56°03′58″N3°43′20″W / 56.06623°N 3.72221°W / 56.06623; -3.72221 (Fife Coastal Path (Kincardine trailhead))
Newburgh
56°20′58″N3°14′57″W / 56.34931°N 3.24905°W / 56.34931; -3.24905 (Fife Coastal Path (Newburgh trailhead))
UseHiking
Elevation gain/loss1,865 metres (6,119 ft) gain [1]
SeasonAll year
Website https://fifecoastandcountrysidetrust.co.uk/walks/fife-coastal-path/

The Fife Coastal Path is a Scottish long distance footpath that runs from Kincardine to Newburgh along the coastline of Fife. The path was created in 2002, originally running from North Queensferry to Tayport. It was extended in 2011 with a new section running from Kincardine to North Queensferry, [2] then again in 2012 from Tayport to Newburgh. [3] The path, which usually takes between one week and 10 days to walk in full, now runs for 187 kilometres (116 mi). [1] The Fife Coastal Path is managed and maintained by Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, a registered environmental charity, [4] and is designated as one of Scotland's Great Trails by NatureScot. [1] About 500,000 people use the path every year, of whom about 35,000 walk the entire route. [5]

Contents

Places of Interest

Places of historic interest along the route include Inverkeithing's Hospitum of the Grey Friars, Aberdour Castle, Macduff's Castle near East Wemyss, Wemyss Castle, and Pitmilly, a former estate associated with the Moneypenny family. On the southern bank of the river Tay between the historic rail bridge, scene of one of the greatest rail disasters in Britain and the 1960s road bridge, lies the historic town of Newport. Here you will pass the ferry terminal built by Telford, [6] before passing the historic posting house building (built 1806),[ citation needed ] which now houses the Tatha gallery, named after the Gaelic for the River Tay. Along the way a range of diverse wildlife such as porpoises, dolphins and puffins may also be seen. [7] The focal point of the Fife Coastal Path is the Harbourmaster's House, in Dysart, which was used as a location during the filming of Outlander. The building now houses a visitor centre and cafe, as well as being the head offices of the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. [8]

The path includes a short (c. 0.5 km) optional section known as the Elie Chain Walk, between Kincraig Point and Earlsferry to the west of Elie. This route, which should only be used during low tides, has chains fixed to the cliffs and rocks of the shore to assist progress, and is sometimes referred to as Scotland’s secret via ferrata. [9] At times, short vertical climbs are necessary, although most of the chains are positioned to provide support while walking. The chains were first installed in the 1920s, and were replaced in 2010. An alternative, more straightforward route runs along the clifftop above. [10]

Carlin Knowes quarry, North Queensferry has a memorial plaque commemorating the halting of the victims of the 1850 Irish Evictions from Dunfermline by quarrymen deputised by the Provost of Inverkeithing.

Running

On 5 October 2013, a team of 6 runners from Carnethy Hill Running Club in Edinburgh set a mark of 15 hours and 10 minutes running continuously in stages along the 187-km length, starting at Kincardine at 3am and finishing in Newburgh at 6.10pm. [11] This mark has subsequently been ratified by the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust.[ citation needed ]

On the evening of Friday 4 September 2020, at 11.12pm, Carnethy Hill Racing Club member, Nicola Duncan, (Edinburgh based but originally from Galway, Ireland) set off from Kincardine to run the route, finishing at Newburgh 23 hours, 16 minutes, 54 seconds later on the evening of Saturday 5 September to set the FKT (Fastest Known Time) for a solo runner to complete the entire Fife Coastal Path. [12]

Towns and villages on the path

Listed from south to north (anti-clockwise):

Approximate map

Fife coastal path map.jpg

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife</span> Council area of Scotland

Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.

Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more often refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to fjord, which has a more constrained sense in English. Bodies of water named "firths" tend to be more common on the Scottish east coast, or in the southwest of the country, although the Firth of Clyde is an exception to this. The Highland coast contains numerous estuaries, straits, and inlets of a similar kind, but not called "firth" ; instead, these are often called sea lochs. Before about 1850, the spelling "Frith" was more common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firth of Forth</span> Estuary of Scotlands River Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Queensferry</span> Human settlement in Scotland

North Queensferry is a historic coastal village in Fife, Scotland, situated on the Firth of Forth, 9 mi (14 km) from Edinburgh city centre. Located on the North Queensferry Peninsula, it is the southernmost settlement in Fife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverkeithing</span> Town in Scotland

Inverkeithing is a coastal town, parish and historic Royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth, 9½ miles northwest of Edinburgh city centre and 4 miles south of Dunfermline city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North East Fife (district)</span>

North East Fife was one of three local government districts in the Fife region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dysart, Fife</span> Human settlement in Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife Circle Line</span> Railway line in Eastern Scotland, UK

The Fife Circle Line is the local rail service north from Edinburgh. It links towns of south Fife and the coastal towns along the Firth of Forth before heading to Edinburgh. Operationally, the service is not strictly a circle route, but, rather, a point to point service that reverses at the Edinburgh end, and has a large bi-directional balloon loop at the Fife end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife Constabulary</span>

Fife Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council area of Fife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elie and Earlsferry</span> Human settlement in Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cupar railway station</span> Railway station in Fife, Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harbourmaster's House, Dysart</span> Historic site in Fife, Scotland

The Harbourmaster's House is a B-listed 18th-century building located by Dysart Harbour, near Kirkcaldy in Fife, Scotland. It houses the first coastal centre in Fife, which was opened by Gordon Brown in 2006.

The Edinburgh and Northern Railway was a railway company authorised in 1845 to connect Edinburgh to both Perth and Dundee. It relied on ferry crossings of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay, but despite those disadvantages it proved extremely successful. It took over a short railway on the southern shore of the Forth giving a direct connection to Edinburgh, and it changed its name to the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Cycle Route 76</span> Cycle route in the United Kingdom

National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 76 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Kirkcaldy. The route is 168 miles (270 km) in length and is fully open and signed in both directions. Between Dunbar and Kirkcaldy the route is known as the Round the Forth.

The Newport Railway was a Scottish railway company that built a line along the south bank of the Firth of Tay in Fife. The line was opened in 1879, and connected to the Tay Bridge, giving quick access to Dundee; daily residential travel to Dundee from Tayport became a practicality.

The Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway was a railway company founded to form part of a rail and ferry route between Dunfermline and Edinburgh, in Scotland. It was authorised in 1873 and its promoters had obtained informal promises from the larger North British Railway that the NBR would provide financial help, and also operate the ferry and the necessary railway on the southern side of the Firth of Forth.

The Forth Bridge approach railways were railway lines constructed in the period 1887 to 1890 to form new main lines on the opening of the Forth Bridge at the Queensferry crossing. Until then, only local branch lines approached the location. The North British Railway built new main lines and upgraded some existing lines.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Trails Archive". Scotland's Great Trails. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "Fife's path just got longer".
  4. ↑ "About Us". Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "Scotland's networks of paths and trails: key research findings" (PDF). Scottish Natural Heritage. August 2018. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  6. ↑ Newport-on-Tay
  7. ↑ "Wildlife". Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "Harbourmaster's House". Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "Fife Coastal Path". Scotland's Great Trails. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "Elie Chain Walk". Fife Council. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "Fife Coastal Path Relay". Carnethy Hill Running Club. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  12. ↑ Fiona Outdoors, 2020/09, Nicola runs Fife Coastal Path to raise funds for paralysed friend.
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