Berwickshire Coastal Path Perambulation (August 2025)
- webmasteribex
- Sep 7
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 8
10 Ibexers set off on the last Tuesday in August to walk the Berwickshire Coastal Path over three days. This followed directly from the College Valley Bank Holiday weekend in Northumberland and the group make-up was similar. 8 of us (David, Susan, Patrick, Karen W, Judith, Heather, Anya and me) were staying in the quirky but comfortable Pot-a-Doodle Do (don’t ask) Wigwam Village at Scremerston near Berwick-upon-Tweed. Patricia was in a cottage nearby and Linda was staying in the Berwick YHA.
Day 1 began (as did Days 2 and 3) with a car shuttle into Scotland followed by a short walk to the start of the 30-mile waymarked route at Cockburnspath (where the Southern Upland Way across Scotland also ends). The village hall hosted a community café on Tuesday mornings in summer, and we were lucky to arrive on the last day of the season. Suitably refreshed, we walked 7.5 miles largely in sunshine, past fields and along the rocky coast, followed by a bonus walk to the ruins of Fast Castle perched on a headland above steep cliffs.
On Day 2, which was again dry and mainly sunny, Heather and Anya opted for tourism on Lindisfarne due to Heather’s blisters. They headed home the next day. The path took us 10 undulating miles along the cliffs past the bulk of St Abbs Head with its lighthouse. We walked down to the small village of St Abbs with a mandatory stop at the excellent café. We ended the walk in the picturesque port of Eyemouth where there is a memorial to the 129 local fishermen drowned in the great storm of October 1881. This led to the loss of 191 lives in all: a tragic reminder of the destructive potential of the sea.
The final 12.5-mile day was rather more blustery and showery. We continued south to Berwick, passing sea stacks and rock arches created by erosion, undistinguished mobile home parks and manicured golf courses. At frequent intervals, trains from the LNER Azuma service hurtled past on the railway line and we crossed the border back to England. Judith did the day’s walk from south to north because following a nasty tumble on Day 2 she was (in the event needlessly) concerned about holding the group up. Before long it was time for the final photo near the ramparts of Berwick where the path morphs into the Northumberland section of the King Charles III Coastal Path. At that moment the heavens opened but we had achieved our objective.
We had eaten in a different pub every night and for the last night it was the turn of the Fishers Arms Community Pub in Horncliffe, the most northerly village in England. We had a delicious meal followed by celebratory prosecco back at Pot-a-Doodle Do.
Many thanks to David and Susan for organising a very enjoyable and successful trip and to all the drivers for ferrying us about. Next stop the 62-mile coastal path south to Cresswell!
Author: Phinella
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