Join The Chain Gang
Fed up with relaxing strolls in unchallenging countryside? Turn things up a notch with a scramble along the East Neuk’s Elie Chain Walk
THE next time someone suggests we exist in a world of “health and safety gone mad”, suggest they take themselves off to the Elie Chain Walk. Because if our lives were really being bled dry by an absence of risk and an over-abundance of common sense, this unique stretch of Fife coastline would have been ruled out of bounds long ago.
The Elie Chain Walk features a series of chains and poles attached to the cliffs high – and sometimes not that high – above the North Sea.
Think of it as a bracing day out by the seaside, but with added jeopardy.
Constructed by locals in the early part of the
20th century, the walk – part of the Fife Coastal Path – stretches for barely half a kilometre between Shell Bay and Kincraig Point in the East Neuk.
It packs a lot in, though. There are coves and caves, bays and beaches, geological features and loads to see along the way. There are eight chains in total, some steep and vertical, and warning signs alert visitors to a range of risks – including rock falls and slippery surfaces.
It all makes for an exhilarating experience, albeit one that is ever so slightly bonkers and absolutely not for the faint-hearted.
Ross Cunningham is an outdoors enthusiast and proud Fifer, whose Mountains Mend Minds project advocates for the physical and mental health benefits of walking, fresh air and that buzz that comes from accomplishing a new challenge.
The Elie Chain Walk ticks all of his boxes.
“It really is a bit different and not something you would expect to find on the region’s coastline,” he says.
“It’s one of Fife’s most interesting spaces” and exhilarating outdoor
“It takes around 25 minutes to get from one end of the route to the other and it does involve some exposure – you’ll need for a head for heights.
“The name is a bit misleading, it isn’t a walk, it’s very much a scramble, and it should only be attempted when the rock is dry and the tide is completely out.”
It’s recommended you allow at least a couple of hours before high tide – check the times for Anstruther Easter and Methil on either side.
As well as a head for heights, you’ll need decent footwear. A waterproof jacket and warm clothes are advisable, too.
The Anstruther RNLI crew are called out a handful of times each year to rescue adventurers who have come a cropper on the Elie Chain Walk, usually either due to injury or rising tides.
The frequency has even led some locals to suggest the route should be closed.
Ross wouldn’t go that far, but he does advise day-trippers to make sure they know what they’re getting into and to put their safety first.
“It would be very easy to get caught out, so please make sure you research tide conditions when planning this route,” he says.
“But it is definitely one of Fife’s most interesting and exhilarating outdoor spaces.”
The Elie Chain Walk isn’t suitable for wheelchairs, pushchairs or dogs, and it’s not recommended for very young children. But there are plenty of other routes across Fife which can be tackled by people of all abilities.
The Fife Coast and Countryside Trust recommends a wide variety of walks, from hikes in the Lomond Hills to fun for all the family at Lochore Meadows Country Park – Fife’s most visited outdoor attraction.
There are breathtaking beaches, from the famous east and west sands of St Andrews to quieter spots such as Pettycur Bay and Aberdour’s Black Sands and Silver Sands.
And for time-travellers, there’s the Fife Pilgrim Way – a 103-kilometre (64 miles) route from Culross and North Queensferry to St Andrews, taking in Scotland’s newest city, Dunfermline, and some of the unsung charms of inland Fife.
Launched in 2019, it follows the paths of the medieval pilgrimages which set out to venerate the shrines of St Margaret in Dunfermline and St Andrew in St Andrews between the 14th and 16th centuries.
There are castles, abbeys, churches, woods, wells, caves, lochs and beautiful countryside as far as the eye can see.
But it is also a fascinating journey through more recent aspects of the kingdom’s industrial and social past, including the West Fife coalfields and the new town of Glenrothes.