Fife Coastal Path: Cellardyke to Crail
On this walk (or actually, two walks) we left Cellardyke to the east, passing another of those old outdoor bathing pools. This one was apparently popular from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Nearby was the rather dilapidated looking East Neuk Outdoors – a few licks of paint needed I think.
This lady was gazing out to sea from her bench. Was she watching this little lobster fishing boat?
Or simply contemplating the view of the Isle of May, the Bass Rock, and North Berwick Law?
From here we looked back at Cellardyke:
There was bird life aplenty:
And as we neared Caiplie this rather large bull – fortunately behind a fence:
An unusual sandstone outcrop has eroded into Caiplie Caves (and arches) with early Christian crosses carved on the wall of the largest cave. We were fascinated by the shapes and colours here.
The distance from Celladyke to Crail is just under 4 miles and Caiplie is about the half way mark. On the first of these walks we had set out after lunch, and by the time we had finished exploring the caves it was gone 3 o’clock. No way could we walk to Crail and back to Cellardyke before dark (this was October) so we turned round here. A few days later, we walked out to the caves again, this time from Crail, another charming East Neuk fishing village which boasts one of the UK’s most photographed harbours.
We admired the village from its old houses (1632 is the earliest date I can read) to its topical take on the pandemic (masked garden ornaments).
So our two walks met in the middle which meant we had covered the whole section of the Fife Coastal Path from Cellardyke to Crail. Next time is also a tale of two halves with a garden and some glorious sand dunes.
PS in my last post, I mentioned the windmill and old salt pans at St Monans. I was interested to read a BBC article last week about Darren Peattie who aims to restore salt harvesting to the village, two hundred years after it ended, and also plans to reconstruct one of the nine old salt pan houses to turn it into a visitor centre.
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
I came to this from Googling Cellardyke to Crail walk,I plan to drive from Glasgow and have a good old jaunt to myself leaving my car in Crail and bus it to Cellardyke and walk back.
Anabel,your blog has given me the incentive to “do it!” instead of thinking about it, your words and nice photos of the viewpoints are very informative, thanks.
Regards,
Andy.
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Fabulous! I hope you enjoy the walk.
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I can see why you spent a long time exploring those sandstone rock formations and caves!
Jude
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They are wonderful, aren’t they!
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The mere mention of Bass Rock brings back pangs of disappointment (can you have pangs of disappointment?). It is one of the legendary places to view seabirds, not only in Britain, but around the world, and when I last visited the UK I had plans to go there and the trip was cancelled due to inclement weather. It didn’t look stormy enough to me to cancel, and the slightly rough conditions would only have enhanced the experience, but I suppose the captain has to take into account those with sensitive stomachs and less enthusiasm for a true seabirding adventure.
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I think you can have pangs of disappointment! We have never landed on Bass Rock, but we did take a trip round it a few years ago, which might interest you:
https://glasgowgallivanter.com/2015/05/10/north-berwick-2/
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I’m late here but always love reading your blog and loving these pictures. I especially love the photo of the lady on the bench.
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She looks so relaxed and content.
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Crail looks from your photos, just as beautiful to me as Robin Hoods Bay or Staithes in Yorkshire. Definitely somewhere I would love to visit. X
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I think it’s very pretty but maybe looks prettier in the sunshine!
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The bull is a bit of a mean looking creature. I like the rock formations and the colours though I have to agree with Heyjude’s comment about the harbour – it looks nice enough but I’ve seen and photographed much prettier ones.
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Probably a bit of hyperbole on the part of the tourist board there!
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That little harbor looks difficult to get one’s boat in and out of. It’s quite charming so I can see why they want to promote it. The sea salt business might help with that. Thanks for the lovely excursion!
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Thanks for coming along!
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The rock formations were very impressive! But it all looked nice to me….
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The rocks were fascinating, but I agree – the whole walk was nice.
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As always, I enjoy walking with you. Fine looking bull. The grand rock formations. And the gulls, hawk, and cormorant. Except for the sea, you could have been walking in Colorado! Glad you and John are well.
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Thanks Claudia! The red rocks do have a similarity, don’t they? But on nothing like the scale of course.
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just stunning – thoroughly enjoyed these walks with you.
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Thank you for coming along!
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Thank you for the virtual travel. I love the caves (or arches) and the bulls!
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The caves / arches are so intriguing. I’m glad the bull was securely behind a fence, but he didn’t seem too interested in us anyway. He was lying in the same position on the way out and the way back – quite a lazy bull!
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Sea salt is getting trendy again as is blue health therapy. Not been on that part of the coast for a few years now so I hope it’s still a quiet place. I must admit I was slightly scunnered when Countryfile featured Blue health benefits a few days ago on TV as I prefer my coastlines and beaches quiet and there’s not many empty places left in the UK to escape into now. That’s normally my guaranteed sunshine coast for summer visits so its strange to see it grey and cold looking.
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I hadn’t heard of the blue health concept – but I get the principle! The coast was quiet in October but a) cold and b) pandemic so might be a different story when circumstances change.
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Those sandstone formations really are intriguing. Lovely places, as always. We’re just mucking about on our muddy/icy road these days.
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So are we, so it’s very good to have this to look back on.
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Why is Crail one of the UK’s most photographed harbours? I mean it looks nice enough, but there are several Cornish ones I can think of which are much prettier. Thank you for showing me Bass Rock. When we were in Dunbar and North Berwick there was such a thick fog that we couldn’t see anything of this famous rock. I see from the map that it is actually closer to where you were.
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Well, my authority is the Welcome to Fife website! Do you think they might be a tad biased?😉
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Haha… possibly 😅
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You walks are so beautiful! The first few pictures could have been taken along the Southern California coast, then I got to the cows… not so much :). Those caves look endlessly fascinating!
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And I suspect your coast might be somewhat warmer too!
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What a good idea to complete the walk in two parts from different directions. I would enjoy wandering around these pretty villages.
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It certainly solved a problem when the days are so short!
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The caves are fascinating, Anabel. Love the colours and shapes 🙂 🙂
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Yes, spent ages just looking and admiring.
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Hi Anabel – thanks for this post of two halves – if it wasn’t the cold … it looks amazing and really interesting to see around.
Thanks for the update re the salt pan update – I saw that BBC clip – interesting it was – good luck to him.
Take care and all the best – Hilary
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Quite brave to be starting up a new company in today’s circumstances.
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I enjoyed this walk. Those outdoor bathing pools always make me wince at the very thought!
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Me too! We lived near a beach when I was a child and even then I could barely be enticed into the (cold, north) sea.
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The cobbled street in Crail caught my eye. Are there many cobbled streets in Glasgow?
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Not in Glasgow, no, though there are a few small lanes which are still cobbled. I hate walking on them! The one in Crail is very picturesque.
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Atmospheric place! And Caiplie Caves had me thinking (butterfly mind) of the caves at Worlds End in the 1960s….
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Nothing butterfly about that! They reminded me of a few other places with equally interesting formations too.
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😄😄
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It’s amazing geology along there isn’t it? I think you captured them in photos better than I did. Lovely villages along there too.
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Quite wonderful! Some of the photos are on my phone, but mostly John took them.
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Those rock formations are lovely and you captured them well. I love all the different houses, too, and the cobbled streets. Looks as though you’re getting out and about again which is good. I’m not getting around much as my macular degeneration prohibits me from driving, so I’m limited to walking only in my area as we are told to do.
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Well, this was October just before travel was restricted here. We’re currently limited to Glasgow – other than visiting my mother, who lives in Paisley just outside Glasgow, I haven’t been anywhere since this October trip. Writing about it is some compensation I suppose!
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I’d be admiring the view from that bench… and just contemplating.
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It’s an appealing idea, but I’d prefer a slightly warmer day to just sit!
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This is definitely my kind of place! I especially liked the color and formation of the caves!
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We found the caves absolutely fascinating.
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