A walk doon the water....

The water in question is the River South Esk which starts up in the Angus Glens and enters the sea at Montrose. The walk starts at the car park near the harbour.

On the other side of the river is the old fishing village of Ferryden. Not a lot of fishing boats go out from there now.

There's another cracking walk and great views across the river  from Ferryden...

to the Scurdie Ness Lighthouse. If you're being really adventurous you can carry on to the Elephant Rock. And guess why it's called that? It looks like an Elephant! But that's another walk for another day.

The lighthouse was built in in 1870 by David and Thomas Stevenson. They were part of the Lighthouse building dynasty and also included the writer of Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson. There's a fascinating book about their lighthouse building escapades called "The Lighthouse Stevensons" by Bella Bathurst.

It has been pointed out to me by P that the lighthouse looks as if it's doing it's " Leaning Tower of Pisa impersonation" I can assure you that it is not on the cant but I obviously was when I took the photograph...

The other famous spot at the beginning of the walk is the grave of a dog called Bamse. He's was a Norwegian St Bernard stationed at Montrose during the war. The story goes that he used to round up the sailors of an evening among other doggy feats. There's been a statue erected in his memory by the harbour. If you want to know more about Bamse have a look at this link.

 Walking along the path by (whisper it) the Pharmaceutical Company Klaxo Smith Kline the river widens towards the sea.  I have purposefully not included any images of GSK in this post because

• the site is not very pretty
• I just don't like big multinationals very much..
But they are a major local employer.....

 There's quite a lot of flotsam and jetsam on the beach and beautiful pebbles which look especially good when wet. I was going to say we had acquired some but we haven't as its against the law in these parts..

The lighthouse disappears from view as the sky clouds over. It's a very windy day and the weather is unpredictable.

 
The rain cloud comes in from the north. The colour of the sky makes a grand contrast with the sand.

 The sands on this beach are very golden and several species of sea birds especially stay over the summer. Artic terns, little terns, redshanks, eider ducks, knots, cormorants, shags and oyster catchers make their home here.

And there's Freya heading off along the beach. I'll bet she's not got her ball. She expects us to pick it up for her. There's a constant refrain of "Freya, where's your ball?" We're always losing them.... Sometimes she drops them in the water and I have to go for a paddle to get them. Our dog doesn't like the water and never goes for a swim but watches other dogs from the shore.

 The birds in the distance in the above photo are gannets. They're an unusual sight in these parts so there must be something worth hunting in that part of the sea

 It's quite hard to photograph the gannets diving into the sea but you can just about see the plop.They are majestic in the air. Several of them have juvenile plumage so are obviously learning.

We spent some time watching the birds diving into the water, silhouetted against the dark sky.

So that's our river/beach walk and a rush back to the car park as the rain comes on. Notices hanging of lamp posts in the car park warn us that the area is going to be closed for several weeks for maintenance to the some of the local buildings. Ah well, we'll have to find another way along to that part of the beach.