D6: English Coastal Path

D6: EYEMOUTH to BERWICK-UPON-TWEED

Saturday 12th May 2018

Today miles: 9.7              Total miles: 98.6

I was woken up early by the thousands of screeching gannets on the nearby Hurkers Haven cliffs and was quickly packed away and walking before 7am. It’s less than 10 miles today so should arrived in Berwick before lunchtime. It’s a beaut8ful morning and the ground is dry despite the overnight rain. Like much of the Berwickshire Coastal path the area around Burnmouth is stunning with its cliff top scenery and I stopped often to look around at my surroundings. A minor road led me downhill to Burnmouth Harbour and I had another short break. I wanted to sit even longer but there was an awful smell of rotting fish moving in from the direction of the harbour and it was making me nauseous.

I made a quick ascent up to Ross Point and spent the next two hours walking along the edge of the East Coast mainline with the thunder of a high speed train shaking the ground every 10-15 minutes. I was looking down to the cliffs for the ruins of the Lamberton Skerrs fishery, eventually spotting it I sat down with my legs dangling over the cliff edge. As with many old buildings the true history of this ruin is shrouded in mystery and a bit sketchy. Whatever the truth is, there’s no doubt that it’s set in a beautiful location looking out across the North Sea.

Twenty minutes later and just before reaching Marshall Meadows caravan park I cross the Scottish/ English border. I thought it a bit odd that there’s a large sign on the English side complete with the Scottish saltire ( St Andrews Cross) welcoming people walking North into Scotland but there is nothing similar on the opposite side to welcome weary walkers moving South into England. I’m now on the Northern fringes of Berwick-Upon-Tweed and the large caravan park which takes several minutes to cross.

I spent 2 years working in Berwick between 2011-2013 and didn’t appreciate the wonderful coastline until I walked the Berwickshire Coastal path many years later. On reaching the town I took to walking along the old ramparts. These ancient fortifications were last reinforced in the 17th and 18th under instruction of Queen Elizabeth I and if your inclined to do so you can walk around the entire town along this grassy wall. I’ll leave that for another day.

For today I’m just heading along the ramparts to reach the section where they meet the mouth of the River Tweed and the old Berwick bridge. On arrival at the pier I bumped into an old friend from Alnwick who now lives in Berwick and was out walking her dogs. I’ve not seen her for a few years so we had a good catch up as we strolled slowly along the ramparts. I’ve managed to pick up a couple of blisters on my left foot and I’m putting that down to the hot weather and sweaty feet. I’m not usually one for picking up blisters but during the last three long days I’ve picked them up on each occasion. Not sure what’s going on with my feet and I’ll need to sort this out. I ended today’s walking at the Berwick side of the old bridge just after 12    o’clock and headed into the town centre.

I had a little bit of trouble getting my vehicle back from the police car park. I don’t have a key with me to access the car park and was a bit embarrassed that I had to call for somebody to open the gate electronically. Was home in time for a late lunch with Gemma, sitting in the back garden with my feet up on the lounger and enjoying a sandwich and a cold beer. Time for a snooze.