Berwickshire Coastal Path

Tuesday 2nd September 2025

While waiting for the bus in Berwick-upon-Tweed to take me back to the village of St. Abbs, so I could resume my walk along the Berwickshire Coastal Path, I had a wander around the town walls while enjoying the gorgeous, warm sunshine. The weather was still fantastic when the bus eventually deposited me in St. Abbs with the strong winds of the day before now much lighter. On that day I had started the Berwickshire Coastal Path from the village of Cockburnspath covering about half the total distance to reach St Abbs, which left me with the rest of the trail to do this day, while taking my time to relax and enjoy the walk. After dropping down to the pretty little harbour I made my way back up the hill, but soon I was feeling very tired and weak, possibly due to a poor night’s sleep. It wasn’t long before the trail took me down to the sands of Coldingham Bay and eventually I just had to stop, sit on a rock beside the beach and have a rest while trying to summon up some energy from somewhere. When I felt refreshed I set off again to climb steeply off the beach through a cleft in the rocks to reach the top of the cliffs and head towards the village of Eyemouth. My route was diverted around a caravan park before finally I descended to the beach where I took advantage of the many facilities in Eyemouth including getting something for my lunch and topping up my water. 

After eating some of my lunch, and having another rest, I set off again to walk around the harbour at the mouth of the Eye Water before following a road for a tedious few moments until I could take a footpath that led me back onto the coast. With stunning sea cliffs to my left and the ubiquitous golf course to my right I enjoyed the fabulous weather and the easy walking along an undulating path that always offered me with amazing views along the coast. Eyemouth Golf Club was soon left behind and a steady climb brought me to the top of Blaikie Heugh with the cliff top walking continuing until I turned inland to reach Burnmouth where a lovely, overgrown path brought me down to the harbour and an even better, overgrown path took me steeply back up, away from the sea to reach the railway line, the East Coast Main Line, which I have travelled along many times. Flat, easy walking led me to what I consider to be the most scenic section of the whole line and I was thrilled to be now walking beside it. The line at that point runs along the edge of the cliffs with stunning views out to sea across craggy headlands. I loved every moment when a train came zooming through at high speed and took loads of pictures, though the sun and the trains never appeared together, which frustrated my artistic eye. 

A low, craggy ridge of red sandstone runs between the railway line and the sea affording the passenger with fleeting glimpses out to sea, which just makes the whole scene even more enticing. Eventually the dark clouds that had been spoiling my pictures started to drop rain, though it was never heavy, and I finally came to the English border. I was now leaving Scotland behind including all the stunning scenery that is inherent in that beautiful country, however the stunning coastline continued and even though the Berwickshire Coastal Path technically ends at the border, in practice it keeps going into Berwick-upon-Tweed. Tall cliffs provided me with fabulous views up the coast when I was not negotiating a caravan park at Marshall Meadows or another golf course, which shows that the Scottish obsession with golf is not unique. Fortunately no one was playing there so I was able to safely walk past until I reached another caravan park with the stunning coastline ignoring such trivial man-made intrusions and continued to provide me with amazing views around Sharpers’ Head. As the weather worsened again, the golf course reappeared on the other side of the caravan park to get in my way before I finally descended onto a road and turned right past the mouth of the Tweed and into Berwick-upon-Tweed.

I enjoyed walking along the Berwickshire Coastal Path, though my walk this day was marred by my lack of sleep. I was never in a hurry so I was able to stop frequently to take a rest and walk slowly, keeping at the pace that I was able to maintain. The coastline was stunning and occasionally there were some truly wild stretches of path, which I enjoyed, as well as seeing the trains on the railway line while walking beside the best section of the whole East Coast Main Line. Even though I was now in England that didn’t mean the coastal walking had stopped because I was now in Northumberland which also has a famous coastal path and I was looking forward to starting that next.