I feel very lucky living in Edinburgh’s seaside suburb, Portobello. At the bottom of my lane, just 30 metres from the house, is the beach and beyond the sand is the expanse of the Firth of Forth. I watch the sea a lot and I love how it’s never the same on two days. It can be glassy on a day with no swell and a gentle westerly but with a strong east wind, it can be wild and rough with big waves crashing to shore. When there’s a surf, I can hear the sea from the house and the waves seem to fill the whole area with sound. But when it’s quiet, I can hear the oystercatchers piping from the shoreline, or geese or swans flying overhead. They seem to use the coastline as a handrail for navigation. Living beside the sea also enables long beach walks straight from my front door and the opportunity to launch the kayak on calmer days. Apart from all of this, one of the best things about living at the beach is the expanse of the view, even though it’s backed by the city. I can see along the East Lothian coastline where the land first rises at Falside Castle and undulates eastwards, culminating in the dome-shaped hill of North Berwick Law at the furthest point of my horizon. In the middle of the Firth is the rocky outcrop of Inchkeith Island and across the water is the coastline of Fife and the East Neuk. The view of Fife is dominated by the twin conical peaks of the Lomond Hills but latterly my eye has been drawn to a lower hill in front of the Lomonds that rises above the town of Burntisland. When I wander down to the beach in the early morning and sip my coffee wrapped in a blanket on the colder days, it is immediately opposite me. It’s called the Binn and for some reason that I can’t fathom, I had missed climbing up it all these years. So, on a breezy day that put us off bigger hills or bike rides, I set off up the Binn with my friend, Graham.
A walk up the Binn is not long so for a bigger stretch of the legs, we got off the train at Aberdour, the stop before Burntisland. It has a lovely little station that has won awards for its floral displays and they still looked beautiful on that late summer morning.
We used the Fife Coastal Path to walk from Aberdour to Burntisland. It’s a nice section that hugs the shoreline between the sea and the railway line but it also dips into shady, green woods along the way. That day, in strong sunshine, even the normally grey waters of the Firth of Forth were blues and greens in the shallows. Eventually our path flirted with the outskirts of Burntisland and here we began the climb up through the woods above town.
The Binn is only 193m high so it wasn’t long before we were breaking free of the woods and striding across open ground to the top. What was really surprising was that the Binn was not a singular top but a range of small hills and high ground, dotted with woods and stands of gorse. I wouldn’t have guessed there was so much up here from my straight-on view from Portobello. There were farmed fields as well that stretched almost to the edge of the sudden drop-off on the hill’s south side. Between the fields and the edge was a narrow footpath that undulated pleasingly along the ridge. The wheat fields were a striking gold in contrast to the blues of the sky and sea, and the black of the rain clouds that were following behind us and quickened our step.
As we wandered along the ridge, the landscape of the Forth was set out below us. To the west, where the waters narrowed, we could see the three Forth bridges. The new Queensferry Crossing catches the light beautifully as the sun glints off its sweeping, elegant lines. It’s a stunning backdrop for the iconic Rail Bridge. We could see along the full coastline of East Lothian, its undulating land and its terminus at North Berwick Law where the land turned from our view. The conical outline of the Law was a perfect match for the peaks of East and West Lomond behind us. Across the Forth was the unmistakable outline of Edinburgh. The knobbly upthrust of Arthur’s Seat and the sloping plane of Salisbury Crags added a touch of drama to the cityscape.
And of course, standing in a place that I normally see from the opposite shore, I looked across the water to Portobello. I was seeing my home in the landscape that it inhabits from a whole new perspective.
Fact File
Start: Aberdour train station
Finish: Burntisland train station
Public transport: Regular trains from Edinburgh on the Fife line stop at both stations.
My route: Exited Aberdour station on the side of the ticket office. A cycle/pedestrian path is signed to the left, along the left edge of the car park. Followed this past Aberdour Castle. Where it meets a road, crossed the road and immediately opposite a path begins signed for Silver Sands. Followed this towards the beach where it picks up the Fife Coastal Path and followed that towards Burntisland. The path approaches Burntisland at new houses on the left and for the second time it goes under the railway line. Didn’t go under the railway line but left the Coastal Path at this point, following blue cycle path sign to the left. Straight on at a mini roundabout then right at the next bigger roundabout. Crossed the road and walked up Grange Road. At the top of the hill went straight on, ignoring the “private road” sign as there is through access for walkers. At the very top there is an exit for walkers out onto the Cowdenbeath Road. Immediately opposite the footpath for the Binn is signed up into the woods. Followed the path up through the woods, across an open meadow, through a gate into an open field and just ahead there is another green walking sign pointing to the Binn. This took us to the top. We followed the ridge eastwards then descended at the far end back into woods. At the four-way crossroads in the path where there are large boulders, we turned right, following a path back down through the woods to the back end of Burntisland at the golf club. Followed our noses down to the main street where it’s worth stopping to look at the lovely old Port Buildings. Walked to the far west end of the main street and turned left for the station.
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