I knew it would be a long one, a hard trudge. The Boar's Head Rock enticed, drew me forward, as a gannet feeding ground. The shorter walk would be from Kingston, but I'll leave that for another day. Parking at Lossiemouth meant I knew there were facilities available on my return, but more importantly I had the opportunity to rest in the quiet hide at Spynie Loch, possibly with some squirrel action at the feeders.
My usual route through the forest would not do for this one. I needed to be on the north bank of the river. Across that new bridge; sand, and dunes. Never easy walking. I kept to the river bank, but the tide had been pretty full, meaning long meanders.
I took the direct route, along the dunes, and eventually on to the shingle bank. Looking back the town seemed no further distant; looking ahead revealed only lines of surf rolling sand onto shingle. Inland the forest thickened, leaving the river behind.
I was familiar with wartime defences dotted through the forest, on the south side of the river, but not prepared for what lay ahead. A pillbox appeared between shingle bank and forest. Through the gun slits there was now no sight of the sea. That shingle bank had risen over the years.
Beyond the pillbox a long and straight line of anti-tank blocks marched onwards, all the way to Kingston. At the Kingston end sentry towers remain.
I never did see a gannet on that walk. My focus shifted to what had gone before. I mused on the return leg, taking the path through the forest where the line of concrete blocks and periodic pillboxes continued in the depths of the woods, rather than back over the shingle bank and the dunes,
The sight of a Graf Zeppelin photographing the low lying coastline resulted in hasty planning for defences against possible invasion. In 1940 the Polish Army Engineer Corps started work. Today we are left with a 5 mile line, still intact. Back then it was the 227th Battery, 501 Coastal Regiment, that manned the defences.
The planting of the forest clearly came later. Tall Scots pine, Corsican pine too, extend for over 800ha. Signed paths give trails for walkers and cyclists, access to the beach, to that shingle bank. Clumps of lichen spread on the fringes, heather too. On the shingle itself stunted pines take root, and the full exposure to the coast.
The shingle bank, which provides a soundscape along at Spey Bay itself, extends almost as far as Lossiemouth, melding into the shifting dunes. The shingle too shifts. Icostatic Uplift. The land rises slowly, up to 1.5mm each year, over and above the pebbles shifted and banked by the tides. And so today we see banks of shingle rise above the wartime defences. No view of the waters and possible landing craft from the pillbox, and a deep forest behind.
The pillboxes and anti-tank blocks now deep in forest make a strange experience; long lines of concrete flanked by long lines of growing timber.
The coast is dotted with remnants of those wartime days. Gun emplacements remain, once manned with 6" Mark II guns rescued from WWI naval vessels. Battery Observation Posts, pillboxes, and those miles of concrete blocks. Laid by the Polish Army.
Shingle and timber have meant that the concrete has been protected from erosion. The sea is held back. The blocks remain.
And so, exhausted, gannet-less, I made my weary way to Spynie.
Where the kingfisher sat waiting; the marsh harrier made a welcoming and languid flight along the far side of the loch. Where three otters had played just half an hour before my arrival.
Amongst the nature though, it was concrete, and reflections of days gone by, that I took with me. If you go down to the woods today...
As always when looking for directions, maps and general input then Walk Highlands is the place to go. Put the App on your phone; take the whole resource with you. In addition to the hosts own detailed routes, the forums also have walks submitted by readers.
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=38895&p=223223&hilit=moray+coastal+trail#p223223
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