Aberdour is just across the forth bridge from Edinburgh eighteen miles away by road. Dumfries is the nearest town approximately seven miles away inland. It’s on the north shore of the Firth of Forth overlooking Inchcolm and Inchcolm Abbey.
As is so often the case with seaside villages, the origins of the village lie with its harbour, which is situated where the Dour Burn enters the River Forth. Aberdour used to be two villages being Wester Aberdour and Easter Aberdour, one being either side of the Dour Burn. Consequently. Aberdour has a feeling of being a village of two halves with some amenities being present either side of the burn. The old Wester Aberdour has the more olde worlde feel to it, featuring a narrow through road and a more closely packed feel, hemmed in by shops and hotels.
Centrally located is Aberdour Castle, which was built in the 1200s overlooking the Dour Burn. The castle was continuously updated and developed to create more modern accommodation for various earls of Morton. Due it is said to a fire in the late 1600s, the Morton family bought Aberdour House to live in, and the castle is now cared for by Historic Environment Scotland and open to the public. At some point, Aberdour House was left to dereliction but was then developed into residential use in the early part of the twentieth century.
Aberdour’s harbour was improved in the 1700s mainly by adding a stone pier to help with the movement of the coal traffic from nearby collieries. Then, in the 1850s, the type of sea traffic changed dramatically, and Aberdour Harbour became a popular destination for pleasure steamers from Leith. Consequently, a deeper water pier was created a little around the bay at Hawkhead.
The main street of Aberdour village is a little inland from the coast, and there is a range of shops including a bakery, convenience store, post office and delicatessen as well as various boutiques at Aberdour.
There are a few things that make Aberdour special; partly the character of the once two villages growing and becoming a single village, partly the location of the castle being central to the village and partly what we haven’t explored yet is the two beaches.
So let’s take a look at the beaches at Aberdour, Silver Sands Beach and Black Sands Beach:
Silver Sands Beach is to the east of the village and has been a holder of the Blue Flag clean beach award. It is a mostly sandy beach with rocky outcrops, and it offers lifeguards in the summer and has a beachfront café, toilets, and first aid point. It is a popular family beach.
The bay provides safety from the difficult currents, and Silver Sands is popular all year round with open water swimmers, many who swim there daily.
The Black Sands Beach is also known as West Beach, is not all black sand, but it does have darker sand and more rocky patches. It’s a small, quiet, sandy bay close to the harbour. Black Sands were winners of the Keep Scotland Beautiful 2018 Beach Award and gained a Platinum award for Loo of the Year in 2019. This beach is loved for its peaceful and tranquil surroundings and by dog walkers who are welcome there all year round.
Although separate, the two beaches are linked by a footpath that is part of the Fife Coastal Path, which also takes you past the harbour and the Hawkcraig should you wish to explore.
Image Aberdour Castle by Richard Mechen.