John Muir Link and the Berwickshire Coastal Path

Monday 1st September 2025

Two day before this walk I finished the one hundred thirty-four mile trail that runs across Scotland from Helensburgh, on the mouth of the Clyde, to Dunbar, the birthplace of John Muir, the father of the conservation movement. However, previously the John Muir Way was a much shorter trail solely within the county of East Lothian and while most of this older route is within the much longer, newer trail, there is a section of the old route that is not and extends the trail to the Scottish Borders at Cockburnspath. These ten miles are now known as the John Muir Link, with the word “Link” often pasted over the word “Way” on the signposts, and it provides an important connection with two Scottish “Great Trails” that start or end at Cockburnspath. I had originally planned on doing the John Muir Link on the day after I finished the John Muir Way but with no buses running on a Sunday to bring me back to Dunbar I was forced to take a day off, which I greatly appreciated as the John Muir Way had left me exhausted and with very large blisters. However, this left me with a very long day to do both the previous day’s walk and the one originally planned for this day, so I got up extra early and set off from Dunbar, soon walking beside the coast, though with the inevitable golf course inland. Fortunately, since I was so early, the only person on the course was the grounds keeper and no one was playing their nonsensical game. 

It is usual to do a long distance trail in Britain heading north and/or east so the prevailing winds and the sun are behind you, but on this second week of my holiday I was heading south, so I had the sun ahead of me into a brisk wind. Since this was a long walk I tried to maintain a brisk pace, particularly at first to get past the golf course, while behind me I had good views towards Dunbar, while ahead of me the views were less appealing with the tall chimney of a cement works dominating the skyline and the vast buildings of Torness Nuclear Power Station in the distance. Eventually I passed Barns Ness Lighthouse and along the concrete breakwater that surrounds the power station, all while enjoying extensive views out to sea and along the coast. After negotiating a caravan park I enjoyed a walk along the beach and atop a grass bank which afforded me with better views up and down the coast. There was an interesting crossing of the mouth of Bilsdean Burn, though there was hardly any water coming over the falls, and not long after that I finally came off the beach to pass under the Great Old North Road Bridge that spans the deep valley of Dunglass Dean. Several more bridges followed, one of which I crossed taking me into the Scottish Borders, so this was the actual point where the original John Muir Way ended, but a steady climb brought me out of the wooded valley and into the village of Cockburnspath where the John Muir Link now ends. 

Knowing I had a long walk ahead of me, I had considered missing out the diversion inland to Cockburnspath, but I appreciated the views from higher up and it was great for me to be back in the centre of the village where I had ended the Southern Upland Way two years earlier. The Berwickshire Coastal Path also begins at that point, so, after having something to eat I set off along the trail, initially retracing my steps along the Southern Upland Way. I enjoyed remembering that trail as I passed under the A1 bypass and the railway line to reach the coast at Cove Harbour and walk above awesome cliffs with stunning views back to the power station. The poor weather that was passing overhead when I reached Cockburnspath had soon gone to reveal lovely sunshine, though this also did not last long as dark clouds began to cover the sky again. When I reached Pease Burn I said goodbye to the Southern Upland Way and climbed the hillside to Greenheugh Point with views back over the bay spoilt by a cramped-looking caravan park. Soon, I turned inland to reach a track that led me towards a large industrial complex, but fortunately I turned off the track before I reached the buildings to continue climbing up to a road. A prolonged spell of walking along the road brought me to Redheugh Farm and beyond there I was climbing again, further away from the sea. I was becoming frustrated that this coastal path was nowhere near the coast!

The benefit of climbing so high was that I now had stunning views back north, up the coast with the nuclear power station and the cement works far in the distance. Later, the trail took to a narrow path through heather and bracken above a steep slope falling precipitously all the down to the sea while poor weather, including rain, passed overhead. By the time the rain had stopped I was passing Dowlaw and descended grassy fields, across Dowlaw Burn and finally returned to the coast above Rough Heugh. I now had impressive views ahead of me along the coast towards St Abb’s Head, but undulating terrain meant that it was not going to be easy for me to get there. A steep descent brought me down to Westerside Dean and an even steeper ascent brought me back up the hill to Tun Law where a dramatic walk followed above sea cliffs with the promontory before me. Finally a steady descent brought me to a road and this took me up onto St Abb’s Head and the lighthouse. I wasn’t particularly excited by the nature reserve, perhaps because of the strong winds, which had been present all day, and because of the overcast skies. The top of the promontory was covered in grass, so there was no interest there, and the sea cliffs were difficult for me to see and nothing I hadn’t seen all day. 

A grassy path led me back down the hill beside the crags and continued with a short section of spectacular coastal scenery that had me rethinking my opinion of St Abb’s Head, which could simply have been due to my fatigue after a long walk. Soon I reached the village of St Abbs where I waited for a bus to take me to my accommodation in Berwick-upon-Tweed. This was an epic walk of twenty-five miles that was curiously satisfying and exhilarating. The coastline was always spectacular but the weather was not as it was frequently changeable, which didn’t help with the views. The main problem I had with the weather was the strong winds, which I really don’t like walking in, so the best bits on this walk were when I was sheltered from the wind.

John Muir Way: North Berwick to Dunbar

Saturday 30th August 2025

The Saturday before this walk I had started the John Muir Way, a one hundred thirty-four miles long distance trail that traverses Scotland, coast to coast, starting from Helensburgh on the Clyde estuary. Now, I was at the start of the final stage of the John Muir Way, which would lead me to the birthplace of John Muir, father of the environmental movement, in Dunbar. I was in North Berwick on the southern shore of the mouth of the Firth of Forth and at the start of the day I paused above the golden sands of West Bay Beach to take in the view that included the islands of Craigleith and Lamb under clear blue skies that unfortunately would not last. I reflected that I must have been pushing myself to complete the whole trail in eight days. Generally, it is usual to do a hundred miles a week on a trail, but I had taken the flat terrain as an opportunity to do the whole route in less than the recommended eleven days, though it hadn’t been without problems, most notably the blisters I had acquired while traversing Edinburgh, which is unusual for me, but possibly a reflection of the large amount of tarmac walking. Turning my back on the view out to sea I headed through the gardens of North Berwick Lodge towards the notable hill of North Berwick Law, which had been dominating the view for many miles. The John Muir Way skirts the western slopes, but with a relatively short day and good weather I felt I had to take the opportunity to climb it, so after hiding my rucksack in the undergrowth I skipped along the rocky path which snakes up the steep hillside and soon afforded me with views over the Firth of Forth.

A brisk wind was blowing at the top, but I loved the steep climb which I had missed on the John Muir Way and was my main attraction of visiting the hill since the views were spoilt by the houses of North Berwick while clouds also deprived me of sunshine at that point. After the satisfying ascent I came back down and retrieved my rucksack before heading south following the edge of fields for a long tedious walk with few highlights. I had an interesting walk through a patch of woodland near Balgone House, which continued through Craigmoor Wood where the sun came out again and when I emerged from the trees I had extensive views that stretched all the way to the Lammermuir Hills. I was reminded of the Southern Upland Way, which I did in 2023, but since that crosses the southern edge of the range those were not exactly the hills that I could now see. Eventually, after climbing over Drylaw Hill I dropped onto the road that passes through East Linton where I stopped to have my lunch and a rest after coming so far through tedium. With my blisters giving me renewed problems I left the village to walk along the bank of the River Tyne, however, the scenery was still too agricultural while the river was not wide enough to provide interest and eventually I left the river at Tyninghame Bridge to follow a wide track, the Ware Road, which led me to a sudden view across the mud and sands of the Tyne estuary. 

The route took me along an embankment, which was decorated with concrete blocks from World War Two, until, after crossing Hedderwick Burn, I entered what appeared to be a conifer plantation, but is actually part of the John Muir Country Park. I followed a fence beside the pine woods, with an animal park on the other side, before passing Bellhaven Bay to reach the outskirts of Dunbar, but then the trail took me onto a spectacular clifftop path. However, by this point it had started to rain while on my right was a golf course where the golfists still wanted to play their stupid game while being interrupted by innocent walkers just trying to follow a legitimate footpath. I didn’t know what I supposed to do. The poor weather and the golfists ruined the end of the John Muir Way for me so it was a relief when I finally left the clifftop path and came into the centre of Dunbar to reach the birthplace of John Muir. With the rain still falling I walked into the museum where I proudly proclaimed that I had just completed the John Muir Way, but I didn’t enjoy the trail, solely because it was too flat for me as a hill walker and I most enjoyed those sections that climbed up to visit the Antonine Roman wall. 

The following day I remained in Dunbar, which provided me with an opportunity to recover from the trail and with much better weather than I had endured at the end of the John Muir Way I took the opportunity to retrace my steps along the clifftop path and I had a much more pleasant walk, uninterrupted by anyone else, while admiring the spectacular cliffs. It was a very relaxing day.