Angus
Published: Monday 7th September 2026
This blog page is to share our end of summer trip to Angus, Scotland. We love Scotland and generally like to head north at times of year when the weather could be hot. This summer has been a bit of a sizzler, so we are looking forward to some cool Scottish coastal air!
Jump straight to:
- South Shields
- Eyemouth
- Yellowcraig Beach
- National Museum of Flight
- Forfar Lochside Caravan and Motorhome Club site
- Forfar Meffan Museum
- Montrose Basin Visitor Centre
- South Links Holiday Park
- Bamse
- Montrose Museum
- Montrose Beach
- Arbroath Abbey
- Inchcape Park Motorhome Aire
- Arbroath Signal Museum
- Riverside Park
- Lochore Meadows Country Park
- The Hollies
Getting ready
So first off, let's see where we're going. The main destination is Angus and we're splitting most of our time between Forfar, Montrose and Arbroath. To break the journey there, we're having a day in a couple of our favourite places: South Shields and Eyemouth. As we get into Scotland, we're also going to visit the National Museum of Flight.
You can also view our Wanderlog trip journal 
The journey north
Day 1 - South Shields
Good morning! Anyone who lives in England will know that we've had the hottest, driest summer on record. Now, you know me - I'm grateful that the heat has subsided. I much prefer the cooler weather. However, it looks like an entire summer's worth of rain is going to join us on our holiday. I'm less impressed with that!
We're all loaded up and ready to go. The sun is just rising (behind a lot of cloud) and we are looking forward to visiting one of my favourite seaside towns. I hope the journey isn't too wet and windy and I pray for a safe and uneventful drive up the A1.
South Shields is usually a work trip for me, and it's usually just Liggy and me. I'm looking forward to spending the day there with Neil, and we have a lunch reservation at Colman's Seafood Temple, one of the best seafood restaurants in the country. I plan to have Lindisgfarne oysters and I'll see what local fish they have on the main menu today.
After lunch, weather allowing, we will take Liggy on the beach for a walk and a nice playtime. She's been having a pretty rough few weeks with her arthritis, particularly in her front paws, so I hope a beach visit will top up her happy tank.
This evening, we are staying just outside Newcastle, at Backworth Aire. We've stayed here before and it's a really peaceful stopover, with some basic facilities (water, toilet emptying) and lots of places to walk.
Today went really well. Neil wasn't feeling too good but I drove all the way to South Shields and we got there just in time for lunch. Lunch was amazing! It gave me a rare opportunity to enjoy an oyster and the fish and chips were really special!
After lunch, we had a walk on the beach... or, rather, next to the beach. Dogs aren't allowed on the beach during the day, so we stayed on the prom. Fortunately for Liggy, a lot of sand was on the prom, so she thought it was the beach. We had a play on a grassy area at the far end of the prom and we played a little with Liggy and her ball.
After a little while resting in the motorhome, we headed a little further north, under the Tyne Tunnel, to Backworth Aire, where we are staying the night. It was quiet, which allowed me to get my drone out and take some aerial photos.
There are only three units here. One is a huge motorhome with pop-out sides. We haven't seen anybody in it though, so I wonder if someone has left it here and gone somewhere else. The other is a small campervan with a couple about our age. They were really friendly. They came over to ask if we minded them using a generator (can be a bit noisy) whilst they cooked dinner. We didn't mind at all. I asked if they minded me using my drone. They were really interested in it. They'd never seen one before and wanted to see what it could do. I gave them a demo and they loved it. I bet they look into buying one now!
Day 2 - Eyemouth
Good morning from Backworth Aire! It's a beautiful morning! It's cold and crisp, with clear skies and hardly any wind at all. Neil is sleeping, and as we have no time constraints today, I'll just let him sleep until he wakes.
When we leave here, we're heading further north towards North Berwick. We have two stops planned. The first is to Sunnyhills Farm Shop. It's just off the A1 in Northumberland. They allow motorhome stopovers but we have been there before just to pick up nice treats for dinner. We'll call in and see what tempts us. Then we're going to Eyemouth for the day. We've been there before too. It's a lovely little town with a harbour, beach and an interesting history.
When we're done in Eyemouth, we're heading to Yellowcraig Caravan and Motorhome Club site. It's a full facilities site and we've got a night there to break the journey before driving that final section to Angus.
Well, that was the plan. At this point, I should quote Scotland's bard - Robert Burns:
The best laid plans of mice and men
Often go awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!
Okay, grief and pain might be a big strong, but I was a little disappointed with the day. We stopped at Sunnyhills and picked up some food for the day, but the car park, which was huge the last time we came, has now largely become a housing estate. We decided to be quick and then head off to Eyemouth.
Last time we visited Eyemouth, it was very quiet, in spite of being a bank holiday weekend. When we arrived though, the car park was completely full and we couldn't get in. As that is the only suitable parking, we had to abandon our visit and just move on. Parking is definitely the biggest downside of travelling in a large vehicle. I have to plan ahead and find suitable places. Some towns are more welcoming than others. If there isn't a space though, the responsible thing to do is drive on.
Fortunately, we had picked up a rather posh sausage roll each at Sunnyhills Farm Shop, so we had those with salad, parked up in a layby on the A1, just past Eyemouth. It was sunny and a very pleasant temperature, so we just sat and chilled for a while before driving to Yellowcraig.
Yellowcraig Beach
The plus side of having our day curtailed, is that we arrived at Yellowcraig Caravan and Motorhome Club site much earlier than planned. That gave us an afternoon to go to the beach. I really enjoyed the walk to the beach. There is a path through a wooded area, which was nice and wide. It felt very accessible. The only tricky bit was the path onto the beach itself. The sand was really soft and my wheels just sink. I had to get out and walk, using my chair as a walker. It was only a short path though and quite level, so we quickly got settled on the beach.
I have got some lovely photos and video (I hope) of Liggy playing. However, my SD card reader has broken so I can't currently get my photos off the SD card. I've ordered a new adapter, which should be delivered to a Shell Station in Forfar, for me to collect this evening... so let's see if that works. We've barely got any internet here though either, so I probably couldn't have uploaded anything much.
Update: The SD card adapter was delayed and I had to cancel the order, but we found a lovely electronics shop in Forfar and bought one there.
Suffice to say, our arthritic old lady found her inner puppy whilst on the beach, and enjoyed running between me and the sea, demanding ball play (which is strictly limited) and trying every trick in the book to get Neil to throw her ball again. I'll be amazed if she can still walk in the morning!
We have found a game that Liggy loves, that does at least get her in the water, which should help her joints. Neil throws the ball into the sea, Liggy goes in and gets it, which takes a while as she doesn't like getting her head wet. Then she brings it part way back before dropping the ball to shake off the water. That gets the wet ball covered in sand, which she then shakes all over herself before giving use the ball. The ball is now covered in sand, so we have to throw it in the sea to clean it... and so on...
Just off the coast is a rather pretty island. If I had a boat, I would love to go and explore it!
National Museum of Flight
Good morning from a very wet and rainy Yellowcraig! This morning, we are heading just down the road, to the National Museum of Flight. I pre-ordered tickets and my research found enormous parking areas, so I'm really hoping that today will go to plan.
It was only a 20 minute drive to the museum, and the roads were quiet. We were the first to arrive, so we got parked very easily. Being early also meant we could look around the Concorde Experience before it got busy.
Concorde Alpha Alpha was retired from service in 2000, shortly after the Paris disaster. Some of the fleet were upgraded and flew for another year or so, but this one wasn't. Her final flight was from New York to London Heathrow. It was then moved to the Museum by sea and road. I would have loved to see that!
After a good hour and a half learning about Concorde, we headed outside and across to the far end of the site, to the conservation hangar. This was full of dilapidated aeroplanes that were being lovingly restored. You couldn't get up close but there was a viewing area that Neil could use to see more.
Outside the conservation hangar, there's a Vulcan. We saw one of the last Vulcan flights, in June 2015 at Armed Forces Day in Scarborough.
After a lovely lunch in the cafe, we explored an interactive gallery called Fantastic Flight. This was all about the science of flight, how aeroplanes are made and fly and things like lift, resistance and balance. Then we visited two more hangars: the military hangar and the civil aviation hangar. There were some interesting videos and stories in these and lots of aircraft to look at.
Overall, we had a really enjoyable day out at the National Museum of Flight. We didn't get time to do everything and would love to come back again some day. However, we had a long drive north and wanted to get to Forfar by dinner time.
Forfar
Forfar Lochside Caravan and Motorhome Club site
We made it to Forfar and arrived at the campsite just before 17:00, which was perfect timing. The site is flat and is right next to the loch, which we can see from the motorhome. After dinner, we went for a short walk by the loch and at some point, I hope to go all the way round, which is about 2.5 miles. That will be a good opportunity to use the eTrike that I've hired.
So what about that SD card adapter? Well, not one of Amazon's finest moments! It got delayed in transit and I got an email telling me not to worry and that it would arrive on 1 September. Well that is no good to me because we leave Forfar that morning for our next destination. So I spent dinnertime on chat with customer support, getting the order cancelled and refunded. This morning, we are heading into Forfar, so maybe we can pick one up somewhere.
Forfar Meffan Museum
Forfar Meffan Museum is an art gallery and local history museum. It was very accessible, with automatic doors, a lift and lovely wide spaces. We really enjoyed a morning looking around and learning a bit about the history of the area.
I particularly liked the Forfar Vennel, a reconstructed street with shops and other businesses. They had sounds and models of people doing different jobs. I was glad I had my freewheel though, as it was heavily cobbled!
When exploring history, there is always something that shocks and disturbs me. Here it was the story of the Forfar witch trials. It sounds like most women were at risk of being accused. To get a confession, they used an instrument of torture that went over their head and had a large spike that went in their mouth. Once they had confessed, they were imprisoned and not allowed to sleep until their execution, which was often being burned at the stake or in a barrel. I just cannot get my head around such cruelty!
We have had a very peaceful couple of days in Forfar. We arrived in mist and rain but the weather brightened up and we've had a very enjoyable time here. We sampled the Forfar Bridie, a massive meat and onion pasty, which is the local dish. We also enjoyed shortbread and cinnamon heckles, a rather tasty biscuit.
This morning (Tuesday), we are moving on and heading East to Montrose. We're booked on a campsite there for two nights. This afternoon, on our way there, we'll call in at the Montrose Basin Visitor Centre.
Montrose
We've actually changed our route plan since I made the following video. That's because motorhome parking in Brechin seems non-existent, so we'll take a shorter route via the Basin Visitor Centre.
Montrose Basin Visitor Centre
We left Forfar around 10:30 and drove East towards Montrose. Just before you get into Montrose, you get to the Montrose Basin Visitor Centre . We weren't sure whether we'd be able to park the motorhome here and the car park was quite small. It was quiet though, so Neil parked sideways across several spaces. Then he took a photo of his parking and went into the visitor centre and asked if we would be okay there. They were lovely! They were happy for us to park there and showed Neil the facilities. He came back to the motorhome, sounding really positive. He said I would love it!
The lady who greeted us told us all about the Montrose Basin. It's the largest inland estuary, with 750 hectares in area. It's tidal and we were there at low tide, so you could see the mud flats. She told us that is the best time to visit. At high tide, on a still day, she explained that you can see the difference in the water between the sea water and the River Esk.
As well as loads of information boards, there was a panoramic viewing area, kitted out with several telescopes, binoculars and bird books. Apparently, somebody had seen an osprey earlier in the day, so we were keen to start twitching.
Our first session, we didn't see the osprey, but we did see:
- Lapwing
- Curlew
- Oystercatchers
- Heron
- Goldfinches (in the garden just in front of us)
- Seals (lots of them)
It was really good that they had the telescopes set up. These were pretty powerful and really easy to adjust. Looking through them, I felt like I could reach out and touch the birds and seals, it felt so close. In reality, even with my big lens on my camera, I couldn't get great photos as they were a long way off.
The seals barely moved all day. Occasionally, one would lift its head to look around but they were quite happy just lying there in the sunshine. They did make a good landmark though for people to share other sightings. When someone spotted something of interest, they would begin with, Where the seals are, look... from there...
As we were all gazing out across the basin, one of the staff suddenly spotted a couple of goldfinches, in the bushes, right in front of us. Rather frustratingly, they stayed in the bushes, just out of sight for a while, but then they came out and started pecking around on the steps, allowing me to get a quick photo.
After lunch, Neil took Liggy for a walk, whilst I went back to birdwatching. That was when all the excitement happened. There was just me and another lady. She saw it first and gave me directions via the seals. There was an osprey standing on a mud flat. I managed to find it and keep it in my telescope. Then it took off and flew. I tracked it as it flew for about 5 minutes. It was clearly hunting for fish, and I was really hoping that I might see it dive, but no, it just kept flying for ages.
If I'd taken my eye off it, I'd have lost it, so I didn't even try to get a photo. My camera isn't powerful enough anyway. Later though, when Neil got back, we saw two more osprey standing on a mud flat. They were there for ages and lots of people came in, saw them and left. I did try to get a photo but they were too far away to pick up. As a souvenir of the day, I bought myself a soft toy osprey, which I have named Montrose. He will live in the motorhome to remind me of a very special day.
We had only intended popping in for a quick visit but ended up spending several hours at the Montrose Basin. Apart from the osprey sighting, which I will treasure, my memories will mainly be of the staff, who were so kind and helpful. Their knowledge of the basin and the wildlife was fantastic and they had put so much effort and investment into making the place accessible. It was a really great day out!
South Links Holiday Park
Good morning from a cold but sunny Montrose! It's Wednesday morning and we have the whole day to explore Montrose. We're staying on a council run campsite. It's called a Holiday Park but I get the feeling that many people live here. There are lots of statics and caravans that look like they've not moved in a long time.
Right now (half past 7 in the morning), it is very quiet and peaceful. When we arrived and into the evening, there were a lot of yappy dogs, making more noise than we would like. It's always a balancing act though. We're within walking distance of town and the beach. That means we don't need to move the motorhome today and we don't need to plan routes or parking.
Bamse
I love the story of Bamse and hope one day to visit his birthplace in Norway.
Bamse was a St Bernard dog that lived during the second world war. His owner was captain of a minesweeper called Thorodd, and Bamse lived onboard and was a listed member of the crew. He had his own tin hat, which he wore during raids. He was well loved by all onboard and also in the town of Montrose, where Thorodd was often stationed.
Bamse had a bus pass for Montrose, which he wore around his neck. If the driver saw him, he would stop to let him board. Bamse was very popular in the town. He took care of the sailors, breaking up fights and making sure they were all back onboard by curfew.
He saved the lives of two sailors. One fell overboard, and Bamse dragged him back to the ship. Another was attacked by a man with a knife. Bamse jumped up and pushed the attacker overboard. He was known for being kind, loyal and very brave.
Bamse died in Montrose on 24th July 1944. He was on the dockside when he had a heart attack. He was buried with full military honours and every ten years, his death is remembered with a formal ceremony. As well as his grave, there is a statue of Bamse looking towards his hometown in Norway. A similar statue in Honningsvag looks towards Montrose.
Montrose Museum
The Montrose Museum, like the Forfar Meffan, is run by Angus council and is free to enter. It tells the history of Montrose, beginning with the Stone Age and going through to modern day. Much of the downstairs exhibition was about the Jacobites and their various battles with the Stuarts. It struck me that the theme of Catholics versus Protestants was a major issue that divided people. This makes me feel so sad! I can't comprehend it at all.
Most of the museum was stuff in glass cases and information boards, but there were a couple of tables with things you could pick up, touch, explore... I love these. I like to imagine how the artefacts were used and who might have owned them.
I particularly liked the animal skulls on this table. I like to look at the shape and the teeth to guess what animal it might have been. On this table, there were little cards to turn over and read what each thing was.
The museum has accessible toilets and a lift to get upstairs. It's all very light and airy, with plenty of space to move about.
Montrose Beach
After lunch and a visit to Aldi, we walked around the north of the town towards the golf course. The path by the golf course leads to the beach. It is a vast sandy beach and we had most of it to ourselves.
The main beach has steps down but we found a more remote beach that had duckboarding, which allowed me to get right down to the sand. I sat in my chair, looked after all our stuff and watched Neil and Liggy playing.
The tide was quite a way out, so we mostly just played on the sand. Liggy never gets bored of playing on the beach. It is definitely her happy place!
Arbroath
Good morning from a very sunny South Links, Montrose! This morning, we are packing up and moving onto our final Angus destination, Arbroath. We have tickets to visit the Abbey this morning. I'm hoping we'll be able to find street parking nearby. Then we're heading to Inchcape Park Motorhome Aire. We can't book there, so we just have to hope there's space - all prayers appreciated! I'll update you later!
Arbroath Abbey
We left Montrose, stopping off briefly at Bamse's statue (see above), and then driving down the coast to Arbroath. First stop was the Abbey. We managed to find street parking very close to the Abbey, which gave us an hour and a half to explore.
I hadn't realised that there was a museum there too. It was really interesting, telling the story of Robert the Bruce and the Declaration of Arbroath .
I hadn't realised how important this letter and the events surrounding it are to Scotland's history. It seems the issue of Scottish independence is nothing new!
Arbroath Abbey is now owned by Historic Scotland. Like many of their sites, they are having problems with falling masonry and sections are fenced off as they are not safe. However, the grounds are largely open to walk around and enjoy, and the ruins are magnificent!
Inchcape Park Motorhome Aire
Angus Council have provided five or six free motorhome spaces in Inchcape Park, overlooking the sea. Unfortunately, I don't think it will last long, as many people are ignoring the signs and parking outside of the designated area. I think last night, there were about 30 units parked up. We were lucky! We got the last space in the designated area.
We spent a fair bit of time just gazing out to sea, watching the sea birds and, later, looking at ships and lighthouses off the coast. There were many gulls, oystercatchers, cormorants and shags, and even one solitary heron.
I can't remember the last time I woke up to an east-facing sea view... and of course that should mean amazing sunrise photos. Sadly, it was cloudy at 6:19 when the sun rose, so it wasn't as spectacular as I'd hoped. Also, Arbroath isn't actually east-facing, so the sun rose over the hill rather than at sea. Never mind, it was lovely to enjoy the peaceful surroundings.
Arbroath Signal Museum
The Signal Museum is right next door to the aire, so it was a very easy place to visit. It is mostly accessible and is also owned by Angus Council, with free entry for all. I have to say, they do a fantastic job with their museums!
The museum explains a lot about the dangers at sea and the different ways that we have tried to make it safer throughout history. Just off the coast, is the Reef of Inchcape, often known as the Bell Rock. This was a particularly hazardous island, causing many wrecks. They built a lighthouse on it, designed by Robert Stephenson and that lighthouse was connected to the signal tower in Arbroath Harbour.
One thing I learned was that all lighthouses emit a slightly different signal, so that sailors can identify each one. That and their nautical maps help them to navigate better.
The journey home
Good morning (Friday) from a very sunny and windy Arbroath! This morning, we leave Angus and begin the long journey home. Today, we drive via Dundee to Lochore Meadows Country Park, where we are booked to stay the night. We hope to stop off for a while in Dundee and have a walk along the River Tay waterfront, but it will depend on the weather. The wind is due to get quite strong around midday and we don't want to be driving in 45 mph winds... so we're going to leave here early and just play it by ear.
Riverside Park
The day didn't go as planned. We got away nice and early, and made it to Dundee by just after half past nine, but there was a lot of construction work going on in the docks area, and many roads were closed. After a couple of times of TomTom telling us to turn, only to find the road closed off, Neil decided to head out over the Tay Bridge and leave Dundee altogether.
I needed a wee, so we pulled over into a layby. We stopped a while there to decide what to do next. We looked at the map to see what places were between our layby and the next stopover, and we noticed Glenrothes. I checked Search4Sites and found a car park at Riverside Park. It had good reviews and looked like a nice place to go for a walk.
We took the trike, as it looked hilly and I wanted to test the electric assist out a little. This turned out to be a good move. The paths varied between tarmac, gravel, mud and puddle. It was also hilly and, in places, overgrown. The trike made my life so much easier!
The weather was a little mixed too. We set off in quite a heavy shower and the wind made it rain sideways. When the sun came out though, it was quite warm. The walk was just what we needed though, so I'm actually quite glad we didn't stop in Dundee, and that we found this little place.
Lochore Meadows Country Park
We arrived at Lochore Meadows just before check-in opened, at about ten to twelve. Now, if that had been a club site, we'd have been told off and made to leave and come back at the correct time, but the lady here wasn't bothered at all. We got checked in and drove round to the motorhome site.
The site is really lovely! It's quiet and when we arrived, there weren't many people here. It was full overnight though. The service point is clean and well organised. My only criticism is that there is no recycling. Everything goes in one big bin. These days, recycling should be the norm.
In the afternoon and in the evening, we took Liggy for walks in the country park. There is a short walk to an old castle, which seemed better than attempting the much longer walk around the loch. The weather was still a bit variable and it was really really windy. We didn't want to push my arms and shoulders or Liggy's paws and shoulders too far!
The Hollies
Good morning (Friday) from a much calmer Lochore Meadows! The wind has abated for a while and the sun is shining. I slept incredibly well, not waking until seven o' clock! This morning, we're taking it slowly because today will be the main drive back south. We've got a good three to four hours of solid driving ahead of us, so we need to be relaxed and ready.
This evening's stopover can only be described as experimental! I found it on Search4Sites and I think it's just a hotel car park. We've got electric hook-up though and drinking water, though no waste facilities. That should be fine though, as it's our last stop and we can do a full empty and clean out at home.
We're planning to stop off at Annandale Water Services on the M74. We often stop there. It's a good service station, with walks around the lake. Parking tends to be easy there, so it's a popular stopping place.
Good morning from The Hollies! Today, is our final leg of the journey. Yesterday, we did the longest stretch of driving, from North of Edinburgh to Appleby-in-Westmorland. We stopped off at Annandale Services, which turned out to be quite eventful, for all the wrong reasons.
Neil popped into the services and picked up both up a McDonalds for lunch. It's never going to be anything special but at least it's a known entity. Then we got my trike out and went for a walk around the lake. The path started out quite well but just over half way round, the nettles started being more intrusive and I couldn't get through. Neil saved the day and made a way through but got stung, which I feel bad about.
Back in the motorhome, I made us both a coffee and we sat and relaxed for a while. We were watching the comings and goings and noticed that the parking situation was not the best. Caravans and motorhomes usually park with coaches or HGVs at service stations, but here, you had to drive through the main car park to the back corner and park amongst the cars. Bays were still car sized, which made finding a space tricky. We'd arrived earlier but by now, it was getting busy.
Then we heard a really loud bang and started looking to see if something had fallen outside. To our rear left, there was a motorhome parked and a caravan had hit it as it tried to turn a corner. I can only assume the driver was really concentrating on his front end and hadn't realised the back wasn't going to make it.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt and I think the damage was less than the bang suggested but the 25-plate Chausson is going to cost a lot to repair and we know the stress that even a small knock causes. I just felt so sorry for them and wished we could have done something to help. What annoys me though, is that when I put a review on Google Maps, I found similar incidents and reviews going back at least 7 years. The services are partly at fault, forcing long vehicles to park in such a tight space. Meanwhile the HGV and coach areas were almost empty!
The Hollies has been a nice overnight stop. It's nothing special and I haven't even taken any photos... though I might before we leave. I'm currently enjoying my morning coffee before waking Neil and heading home.
Although it was a little rainy, we had a good final leg of our journey and got home safely, just before lunch.
Final Stats
Length of journey: 721 miles
Total cost: £732.82 (mostly split between campsites, fuel and food)
