A Taste of Lossiemouth

19/10/24

Lossiemouth is one of those places you see mentioned often in facebook groups. A stopover enjoyed by many whether due to the tourist facilities, the beach or the opportunity to see planes flying to and from the nearby RAF base.

Motorhome Parking in Lossiemouth

We drove to Lossiemouth in the morning. With a choice between the west and east for motorhome parking we decided on the west. It had a bigger parking area, although it was slightly further from the town amenities.

The parking wasn’t very enticing when we arrived. A large puddle at the entrance to the car park had to be navigated, and a covering of scattered cobbles had been thrown up from the beach. It made me wonder whether it was even safe to park. What if the winds picked up later? It was certainly tricky to manoeuvre with the cobbles sliding around under our wheels and liable to ping out in random directions.

Parked up at Lossiemouth West Beach

We were so early that the cafe wasn’t even open yet. When the gates were finally swung wide I popped in to pay our parking donation. They put it in an envelope with our registration on it.  A browse of the breakfast menu was tempting enough that we went back in a few minutes later to have a lovely breakfast. With Paul a fan of a fry up, and me less so, it’s always nice to find somewhere with a few alternatives on the menu.

Covesea Lighthouse

After filling ourselves up we walked westwards between the beach and the golf course, accompanied by a long row of anti tank sea defences. Some were still standing on the dunes but many had been undercut by the sea, toppled over like ancient monuments. We passed by the fetid remains of an unknown cetacean on the beach, a sad sight. The outer markers for the airfield are incongruously placed through the golf course, an extra hazard for the golfers, or maybe they get points if they manage to hit them.

Sea defences and airfield outer beacons at the coast

At the far end of the long beach was a lighthouse standing on a cave riddled cliff. The caves were used by travelling families until the early 20th century and are quite deep. While we explored them we watched a walker try to navigate the top of the cliff. The wall of the lighthouse compound is very close to the edge of the friable rock of the cliffs, as we saw when we walked up there, I would definitely not consider trying to walk around the outside of it.

The lighthouse here – Covesea lighthouse – is no longer in use. It was replaced by a buoy beacon some years ago. But you can go up and walk around the compound, you can even stay in the keepers cottages on a self catering holiday. Tours are only available if they are pre-booked.

Lossiemouth East Beach

We returned to Lossiemouth the way we had come. The weather was very fine and as it was Scottish half term holidays the beach was increasingly busy with families, some of whom were probably staying on the large holiday park near the lighthouse.

It was too nice to sit in the van and so we walked in the other direction, around the coast to the harbour and the impressive new pedestrian bridge over the River Lossie. The remains of the old bridge, which only closed in 2019, can be seen. It must have been a long walk across to the sand and dunes of the East Beach. On this gorgeous October afternoon there were swimmers in the river braving it’s strong currents. We sat with a gorgeous ice cream from Rizza’s and watched everyone enjoying themselves.

An evening swim

When we returned to the van it was nearly high tide and  I was inspired to go for a swim in the lovely sheltered may in front of the van. Paul didn’t want to join me this time, but it was all right because three other groups ended up swimming so I wasn’t alone. It was such a lovely mild day. I had never been expecting to be swimming in Scotland in October.

After a swim

Night in Lossiemouth

That evening as the sun set we watched the lights of the RAF base brighten and the lighthouse was lit up, a glowing purple tower. The full moon added to the ambient light and we were able to walk on the beach without the need for a torch. There were other people out on the beach in the dark. We could hear laughter and the voices of adults and children. Intrigued we wandered towards the family groups who had torches and were carrying buckets. The explained they were collecting winkles from the rocks around the sea defences, a family tradition when in Lossiemouth on holiday..

Night in Lossiemouth