Ride - Tentsmuir Forest

Tentsmuir forest is located on the south shore of the River Tay estuary and extends down the coast towards the Leuchars military base.  The forest itself consists mostly of pine and is a very easy flat ride where miles can be cycled at a decent clip.  There's an extensive network of grid-patterned gravel roads through the trees that look like they are used by Forestry Commission vehicles.  There are also a few single-track trails through the trees that look like they've been created by riders.  The beach is also very rideable with fat tires and low gears.  The dunes between the beach and the trees are also navigable but I tend to avoid them as much as possible to avoid erosion.

I attempted to park in the southern Forestry Commission parking lot but was thwarted by lack of cash for their two pound entry fee.  I drove to Tayport where I parked for free and rode the quarter mile or so to the edge of the forest.

The beaches along the Tay and extending south down the Fife coast still show signs of the defences erected after the withdrawal of British troops from Dunkirk and the ensuing defence of the country against Nazi Germany.  The sandy beaches at Tentsmuir would have made an ideal landing location for invasion troops, so defending the coast was essential.

Locals helped by the Polish Army built a system of concrete anti-vehicle blocks and pill-boxes from which to mount machine-gun defences as part of the overall plan to protect Britain from enemy invasion. The defences ran north from Leuchars Airfield, also a prime target for attack, to Lundin Bridge.

At low tide, you can still see the remains of long, wooden poles erected vertically to prevent enemy gliders from easily landing behind defence lines.

The Polish soldiers constructed, and lived in, a camp at the forest. Once they had constructed the defences, many remained to man the guns and patrol the area.