Paddles with an Anas acuta...... unashamedly biased toward the sea kayak of that name (actually the voyages of two boats, one 'traffic over gold', one 'quill')

Sunday 12 August 2012

Berwick to Pease bay

 Although the coast north from Berwick looks a bit dull on the map, with the A1 and the railway following the coast all the way. Below the cliffs it is full of interest.
One cannot leave the openings in the sandstone unexplored.
 Penetrating deep into the cliffs.
It looks as if around HW is the best time for entering the caves.
Fine arches and tunnels.
 Nearing St Abbs,
and its harbour (low water).
Delightful passages amongst the blocks of hard igneous and metamorphic rocks.


Pettico Wick one of the few easy lunch spots.
More lovely coast towards Fast Castle Head and our finish at Pease Bay.
 World class rock hoping around Fast Castle Head, the sea was almost flat so maximum up and down in the swell around 1.5m in the rocks, with a 1m swell on the sea it must be superb.
As it was, only one spot of gelcoat left behind in an unanticipated suck-dry.
This old boathouse, near the celebrated Hutton's unconformity, a place of pilgrimage for geologists, had been partially inundated by a landslide. Iain had thought of bivouacing inside in September, so the landslide was this winter. It would have been scary to be inside as the hill above slumped down. Check out Iain's post for more details of this stretch of coast.

All that remained was to fetch the car. Perrymans has an hourly bus service along this coast, nearest stop to Pease Bay; about 30 minutes walk at Cockburnspath. The buses are often late according to fellow travellers, so don't worry if it seems a bit tight to catch the bus. However, they soon make up time, the bus ride a thrill in itself. Cheaper than a single fairground ride and it lasts longer!

We camped at High View/ Drone Hill campsite with its plethora of type 27 pillboxes. Just the ticket for the pillbox enthusiast. Even for us, the top of the pillboxes was a refuge from the midges. Good views of the wind farm as well. The place has mixed reviews on the web, we can say we found it cheap, comfortable, well equipped and very friendly.

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