Season: winter
Kingsbarns has a two miles long sandy beach, which is backed by dunes and a golf course. It’s a natural paradise, with the rock pools showcasing shore and hermit crabs, anemones and small fish. Gulls fly above and there are wading birds, such as oystercatchers and redshanks. This is a spectacular beach, natural and unspoilt.
The associations that the beach holds for Georgina.
The outstanding natural beauty of the beach at Kingsbarns.
Our guests cannot believe how beautiful and peaceful this beach is all year round and rarely busy.
It’s a favourite walk of ours – park at the Kingsbarns Beach car park. Walk along the beach towards the woodland at Cambo where the woodland walk from Cambo House reaches the sea. Then follow the woodland walk in towards Cambo House for a warming cup of coffee or hot chocolate, before returning back through the woods and along the coast again.
To me, Kingsbarns beach means taking a huge gamble. When my parents passed away I bought, with my entire inheritance, a dilapidated 250 year old cottage in dire need of some tender loving care.
I drove up myself and spent the first night wondering what on earth I had done! It was cold, damp with no signal on my mobile or the TV.
Next morning the family came up with some furniture belonging to my parents and wondered what I had done.
An architect friend followed and said the cottage was sound and gave us some ideas.
In short, it became a haven to return to year in year out with the beach so close to the cottage that even a few days was enough to transform, relax and at the same time energise.
At the time we had a new puppy a German shorthaired pointer called Hazel and for the next sixteen years we spent amazing times on Kingsbarns beach. I retired 5 years ago and made it a holiday house and it became my pension. What to call the cottage was not difficult. It was obviously Hazel’s cottage and became Hazel Cottage.
We had 16 years of fun on the beach and her favourite game was playing chase with other dogs who in the end gave up because she was so fast that no dog could keep up with her!
Best of all was when she would have the beach to herself and to see her run with complete joy, in and out of the water, returning to the cottage exhausted, falling asleep in front of the fire having doggy dreams. Maybe the beach!
Buying the cottage was the best thing I ever did and I know my parents would have been pleased since it was a favourite beach for them and their grandchildren for many years.
I now get a great deal of pleasure having Hazel Cottage as a holiday cottage so other people and their dogs can also enjoy Kingsbarns beach and many return each year.
Sadly we had to let Hazel go at the ripe old age of sixteen and a half years and scattered her ashes where she was happiest, Kingsbarns beach.