Carnoustie Beach Where it all began!

Carnoustie Beach
Parking	Small car park shown on map. Easy to access from town centre. No parking charges
Distance	Variable depending on how far you want to walk along the beach
Height / Ascent	0 - It' a beach
Bogginess	1 / 5
Strenuosity	1 / 5
Other Info	None

Introduction

It all started on a rainy day last year in April. I was over at Mike's and we needed something to do. We could stay inside and play through the Ramones back catalogue on the guitars again or we could maybe do something different. So we came up with the idea of going out and taking some photos. We both had a passing interest in photography but had never taken it very seriously so it seemed like a top plan.  Next we had to pick a destination. A quick look outside told us the weather was shit. The usual dull, dreary day you get used to here, so we decided it was best not to venture too far in case it started lashing down with rain. So we plumped for a trip down to Carnoustie beach. It was nearby and surely had some potential for interesting snaps even when the weather was crap. So we grabbed our cameras, jumped in the car and set off....

Getting Parked

 
First off we had to get down to the beach. It's really simple to find as it's down on the coast (surprise, surprise). If you get on the main street through Carnoustie, the A930 (or Dundee Street as it is more affectionately known) you just have to take one of the turn offs down to the coast. The signposts tell you to turn down Station Road at the east side of the town but you have to go over a level crossing down there so there is a chance of getting stuck for a while if the gates are down. Ferrier Street or Links Avenue a bit further to the west are better options as they have underpasses under the rail line.

A word of note:  Carnoustie is terrible to drive through. The main street (the A930) realistically can only accommodate the width of two cars. The Council have marked out many bays for on-street parking at the side of the street, bottlenecking the traffic down to a single lane in many places. This trend can also be seen down many other of the town's narrow streets, so be prepared for a frustrating stop-start journey driving down to the beach (or getting to anywhere else in Carnoustie for that matter)

Anyhow, back to the directions. Once you take one of the roads down to the coast you will hit Links Parade which is the road running along the coast of the town. The car park is located on this road near the train station. It's marked on the map above and you really can't miss it. It's actually pretty good as far as car parks go. It's spacious, well surfaced and free. Top marks to the Council this time.

So anyway, me and Mike haul ass down to the beach car park which was unsuprisingly quite empty on this rainy weekday. Once there, we grab our cameras and head out to brave the elements.

Down on the Beach - What's There?

 

Once we jump out of the car we are greeted with a nicely manicured footpath. This footpath runs all the way along the front in Carnoustie and continues on beside the golf course to the west. Beyond that lies the beach itself. Good stuff! We have a little wander down the path and are greeted by a bunch of giant lorries. The carny's are in town! I'm sure the kids will love it.

The footpath along the top of the beach. 
The carnival was in town today

Further along to the west we notice a playpark. As tempting as a shot on the roundabout seemed, we thought we would give it a miss and head off the path and down onto the beach itself.

Looking west towards Barry. The
playpark off in the distance.

Once on the beach we were pleasantly surprised. It's a pretty decent beach. Wide streches of golden sand, not too rocky and relatively clean. That being said, although a clean beach is nice to see, a bit of junk lying around provides some good photographic opportunites. Although it was misty, there were still good views back to Carnoustie to the east and westward along the more craggy shoreline. We were certainly getting our flll and snapping away like there was no tomorrow at everything we could find.

Looking east back to Carnoustie

We walked further along to the west and came across this small stream and a metal bridge. Again a nice photo opportunity so snappity snap we went. By the time we reached here the weather was really closing in and we had run out of things to photograph (there really wasn't that many to begin with on reflection) so we decided to call it a day and head back.

A small stream and footpath bridge

 

Heading Home - Relection

 

It was a fairly short journey but after we got back we congratulated ourselves on a job well done and we looked with anticipation at the photos we had taken. Unfortunately, they weren't that great. The poor weather didn't help leaving the photos quite lifeless and dull. However, we also realised we needed a lot more skill and practise with a camera to get top notch shots as we were making some amateurish mistakes. Not least, snapping like crazy at stuff that really doesn't make for a great photo. However, all in all it was a good day and we were pretty fired up about where we could head out to on our next journey.

Worth a visit?

 

Carnoustie has a pretty good beach. It is fairly clean and isn't covered in rocks. There is a playpark and other visitor attractions so it's well geared up for family outings. Over and above that there isnt really much to see and not much to photograph other than the beach itself with some pleasant, if not particularly exciting, views down the coast.