The Lein – Shingle, Pillboxes and a View from Binn Hill
West of the mouth of the Spey, the shingle of the Lein runs along the shore from Kingston, the village that shipbuilders from Hull founded in 1784.
This walk crosses the shingle past wartime pillboxes and climbs Binn Hill for a view along the Moray coast. Lunch is at a coffee roastery in Garmouth, the old port a mile up the river.
The walk
Park in the Lein car park on Beach Road, west of Kingston; there are height barriers, so take care in a 4x4. The loop round the Lein is about 2.5 miles (4 km) on shingle and earth paths, an hour and a half or so; adding Binn Hill makes a walk of about 5.3 miles (8.6 km), two hours or so.
The steeper path through the trees climbs to a bench with a view along the coast from Lossiemouth to Buckie and across the firth to the pointed top of Morven. Second World War pillboxes and tank traps still stand along the beach, and the sea has claimed a few.
In summer, ospreys fish the river mouth. The loop passes a rifle range: when red flags fly, keep out.
If it rains
The paths are slippery in places when wet: on a wet day, leave out Binn Hill and keep to the shingle.
Afterwards
4 min by car
Speyside Coffee Roasting Co
Lunch
Back at the car, it's 4 minutes' drive to Speyside Coffee Roasting Co on South Road in Garmouth. Lunch, from 11am to 2pm, is home-made soup or a toasted panini, and there are bacon rolls and bakes to go with coffee roasted here. It opens Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 3pm; Tuesday is takeaway coffee only, until 2pm. Indoors is small, with more seats outside, some under a canopy; dogs are welcome outside on a lead. There's a disabled-friendly toilet and baby changing.
More about Speyside Coffee Roasting Co
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For further reading, before you go.
Photographs by Chris Thornton and Speyside Coffee Roasting Co. via Google