At the end of last year, a local company completed work on a 500-metre stretch of new footpath down to Armadale Beach.
The route passes through a couple of our fields and is part of the local core footpath plan. Before the work it was just an uneven grass surface, not fenced off from livestock, with an old wooden bridge, which had seen better days and the way was not sign posted.
During the gradual easing from lockdown, when foreign travel was restricted, the north was busy with visitors and it was obvious to me that we needed to improve the access down onto the beautiful sandy beach which looks out onto the Atlantic.
Hardly a day would pass that you weren’t asked how to get to the beach, and seeing a surfer pick his route through a field of cows didn’t feel ideal to me.
Our farm advisor, Iona, made a successful funding bid on our behalf and she also made the planning application to replace the old footbridge with a new crossing made from
locally-sourced larch. Iona had enough foresight, after a farm visit, to include a couple of picnic benches overlooking the bay at the end of the path, as well as an information board and signs on the main road, at the parking area.
I love how it’s all come together and it’s been well used by local folk, dog walkers, cold water swimmers, surfers, walking groups and visitors on their holidays
It maybe a sign of my fast approaching old age, but this has been one of the most-rewarding projects we’ve done on the farm in a long time. Ian, myself and the
dogs have even taken a flask of coffee, sat on a bench – wrapped up in layers of jackets – and watched the sunset and the tide come in. Romance is still very much alive on the north coast.
Footpaths and tracks through farmland and crofts, when badly used, can have dreadful consequences.
To read the awful reports and pictures of livestock worrying is devastating for the animals and their owners. It makes me even more grateful to have been successful with this grant application, which included fencing off the path.
Good footpath networks probably aren’t that high up the list of essentials with all the financial challenges our country currently faces. There was far more work involved with putting in an accessible path to the beach than I initially thought, but good access to the outdoors delivers health and fitness benefits, as well as allowing us to connect with nature and the undeniable lift that gives our mental health.
The past two-and-a-half years, since I’ve been back riding with my Highland Pony Lulu, has brought me great joy. We’ve clocked up many miles right across the north on beaches, wind farm tracks, peat roads, forestry tracks, to quiet single-track side roads amongst the hills.
I’ve spoken to a wide range of different people on our travels, which has given me more of an insight of what enjoying outside spaces means to different people.
There’s a small army of dedicated beach cleaners who are removing tons of waste plastic every year from our coastlines. My upmost respect to them, as it’s unending and they all seem unfazed and upbeat when we meet them.
If you run into a dog walker you’re nearly guaranteed to have a conversation on their
dog, it’s name, age and personality.
My biggest shout-out goes to the wood lorry drivers we meet on forestry tracks. They will stop their engines, let you pass safely, and tell you if there are other lorries around – and they are always pretty cheery about life.
The world needs more folk like that.
Joyce Campbell farms at Armadale on the north coast.
