Ex-resident raps 'Kripton Factor' path

Michael Alexander, The Courier, 9 January 2001

If Fife Council officials doubt the need for a major maintenance programme on a section of the coastal path between St Andrews and Boarhills, a local rambler has urged them to try negotiating the cliff-top route for themselves.

Only then, he said, would they see that parts of the path comprise obstacles “like something out of the Krypton Factor.”

Yesterday former St Andrews man Michael Donaldson said he had been “shocked and stunned” by the state of the coastal path while out for a walk with his wife June on Sunday.

As someone who used the path regularly before moving away from St Andrews in the early 1990s, he said he was aware of recent articles in The Courier which highlighted the rapidly deteriorating condition of the route, particularly where it passes Kinkell Braes caravan site.

St Andrews Community Council and several members of the public have pointed out that serious subsidence had made the path very dangerous in places, while other parts of the route were “like a jungle,” “swampy and muddy” or both.

Mr Donaldson said it was only when he saw the path for himself that he realised how bad the situation had become. The most daunting part for him was the now notorious 10-metre stretch which has subsided next to the caravan site and he backed calls for this section to be realigned as soon as possible.

He said, “I used to walk this path all the time with my dog, usually several times a week. I remember there was a landslide next to the caravan site that dropped a section of the path by a few feet but it was still no problem getting past. The paths further out were also easy to negotiate, at all times of the year.

“I hadn’t been along for about five years and on Sunday afternoon my wife and I decided to go for a walk, for old times’ sake. So I was quite shocked to discover what a truly awful state the path is now in.

“I used to watch the Krypton Factor on TV and I always said it would be good to have a go of an army assault course. But who needs to go to Barry Buddon when St Andrews folk have got the Kinkell Braes path on their doorstep?”

For several years walkers have had to clamber up and down makeshift steps to proceed along the path’s sunken section beside the caravan site. But Mr Donaldson noted that even these steps had now subsided, leaving the wire fence at the side of the path high in the air.

He also noted the path leading from the lower level cliff path to the Maiden Rock beach was a “muddy, dangerous disgrace” and it was also now difficult to negotiate eroded sections in the area around the Rock and Spindle.

He added, “I believe the community council has already warned that maintenance, upgrading and part-realignment of the coastal path are urgently required if it is to be retained as a safe and enjoyable right of way for walkers - and I couldn’t agree with them more. This is one of the most beautiful walks in Fife and yet if we’re not careful, it seems we could lose it altogether.”

St Andrews Community Council has already raised the issue with Fife Council and Scottish Enterprise Fife.

It has also drawn attention to the poor condition of the section of the path leading uphill to the caravan park from the seashore and the East Sands Leisure Centre, a particularly busy path in summer when the facility is packed with tourists.

Fife Council has pointed out that the St Andrews-Crail route is not part of the official Kingdom of Fife coastal path network, despite it being very popular with many local people. However, the council has acknowledged the problems at hand and has said that negotiations are under way with the caravan site to see if this section of path can be realigned in any way.