I’m really not the kind of person who should be tackling Scotland’s answer to a via ferrata.
I don’t like heights and my sense of balance isn’t that great.
Lulled into a false sense of security that the Elie Chain Walk would be a doddle, I decided I’d give it a shot.
An offshoot of the Fife Coastal Path which runs for almost 100 miles along the east coast the Chain Walk is only half a mile long, but utterly daunting.
I arranged to meet up with Crispin Heath, who runs East Neuk Outdoors in Cellardyke. I couldn’t be in safer hands; Crispin has led guided walks along the route literally hundreds of times.
“Have you done much climbing?” is his first question. I’ve scaled various hills and Munros but I’ve never used harnesses, ropes and hooks.
“We usually start people off on our wee climbing wall, see how they get on and then judge whether they’re up to it,” Crispin tells me. I guess he assumed that being The Courier’s Great Outdoors person, I’d have a fair idea what I was doing. Not so!
It was perhaps at this point that I should’ve turned back and gone for a coffee instead. But with Crispin marching off in the direction of the cliffs beyond Earlsferry Beach, it might have been awkward.
A warning sign at the start shows a trio of unfortunate stick figures trapped by the tide, struck by cascading rocks and falling off cliffs. This does nothing to boost my confidence. Nevertheless, I don helmet and harness, and off we go.
A short scramble over rough rock brings us to the first chain. It’s a short ascent but when I reach the top and turn the corner, there’s a real sense of exposure; a long section of chain descends into an inlet and then runs along the side of the cliff, with nothing but rocks and sea crashing below.
At some points, the drop is a little over 50ft; one slip and you could end up seriously injured or worse.
My legs are shaking, heart racing, as we climb out of the inlet, the chain angled awkwardly against the cliff.
The route involves a combination of walking, scrambling, crawling and in my case, sitting!
Many people do the walk alone, but I’d recommend going with a guide, unless you really know what you’re doing.
Check out my experience in more detail in The Courier’s November 22 Weekend magazine.