“The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.”

Four months of lockdown, four months for staying indoors, four months of thanking my good fortune that brought me back home on the last flight back, four months of spending time rediscovering myself, rediscovering the corner of the countryside close to home which I never knew existed, four months of catching up with my reading, spending quality time with my little furry companion Sisko.

The thought of being stuck at home has been hard to deal with for many people who missed the social life, going to the mall and shopping, and jet setting to other lands for holidays in the sun. But me, I love my company, love the solitude, love the fact that I live in a such a beautiful part of the world and have been fortunate enough to have a garden which bloomed so well with the lovely weather we had in those months.

When the restrictions were lifted and we were permitted to go further than 5 miles, I had to visit my favourite de-stressing location – the North Sea coast and the St. Cyrus Nature reserve. But everyone around had the same idea so revisited another place on the southern bank of the North Esk river, the Kinnaber woods. You park in the clearing just south of Montrose and opposite the Charleton Farm entrance. The path that leads past the woods has large gorse bushes on either side and also surprising a lot of heather which I had never seen growing in sandy soil so close to the shore. Usually heather is doting on higher ground which gives the Scottish hills their iconic look.

Located along the route are some abandoned buildings which were owned by RAF Montrose and also described to be part of the US Microwave Relay station associated with the monitoring station at RAF Edzell which is a few miles to the north west.  This would have been operated and maintained by US Navy personnel until the station closed in 1977, after which it would have returned to British control. This relay station is said to have been returned in January 1993. These abandoned buildings are being slowly taken over by nature with the plants growing into the walls and over the fences.

The path runs parallel to the beach and splits into two – the left takes you to the North Water Viaduct which is the disused railway line over the River North Esk and is now a cycle route and the right to the southern bank of the estuary of the North Esk river where it is joins the North Sea. It is best to check the tides as the high tides covers most of the beach and you are left with just a narrow strip of shingle (if you are lucky) to find your way to safety. The beach extends from the estuary on the left to the Montrose Bay where the river South Esk meets the North Sea.

It was a wonderful way to end the self imposed exile and even though we missed the transformation of the land from spring to summer, we get the chance to see how the earth has recovered and blossomed into the wonderful landscape we see today. Hopefully we will continue to be able to enjoy the outdoors like it is meant to be.