Berwick Walls

February 15, 2020

Dodging The Storm,

A fair few weeks have passed since our first walk – and the weather each weekend had been atrocious. Deciding to roll the dice, we booked a place to stay in 📌Eyemouth across Valentines weekend and to walk the Berwick Walls and Holy Island routes from our book – come rain or shine.

Following on from Storm Ciara the week previous which ravaged the UK, we were thrilled to be greeted by her little brother Storm Dennis during our visit on Feb 15th…

Start/End

Parking

#1 - Berwick Parish Church

#2 - King's Mount

#3 - Berwick Lighthouse

#3 - Coastguard Station

#4 Lord's Mount

Route Details

4km (2 hours)
Map OS Explorer 346
Parking Parking Disc & EV Charging

Checking into the Old Coach House Inn,

It was clear that all the locals were incredibly friendly in this historic harbour town. Even the Seagulls weren’t shy – one cockily decided to stand on the bonnet of my car to say hello 👋.

Arriving at 2PM to miserable weather, we decided to gather supplies quickly from the local shops (none of which were Slimming World friendly) before shooting out to tackle the Berwick Walls before the weather and light got worse.

Make yourself comfortable pal…

Arriving at the Castle Gate Car Park, which only requires a parking disc for a short stay (discs can be purchased from a dispenser for £1 if you don’t have one) we switched shoes, wrapped up and headed out into wind, rain and grey skies.

After squeezing through a small metal gate and up a short set of steps we were able to overlook the car park and coincidentally check the car was locked before we consulted our guide to plan our route.

We headed East along the ramparts and past the concealed cannons until we arrived at Berwick Parish church. I ventured towards the edge of the Ramparts a couple of times in search of a better angle from which to photograph but had to abandon the idea as the wife was having a mild heart attack through concern for my safety.

Berwick Walls Parish church

Magdalene Fields Golf Course

With stunning views along the Magdalene Fields Golf Course overlooking the North Sea, we battled into the wind along a dirt path passing the Castle, Barracks and Main Guard as we progressed.

If memory serves me correctly – An English Heritage information board stated 📌The Barracks was the oldest example of its type in Britain.

A step too soon, missing out on King’s Mount

After taking a left at an impressive set of steps we realised we’d turned too soon and missed 📌King’s Mount. We decided against climbing the steps to seek it out in favour of pressing forward due to the sideways rain and gale force winds that were beginning to build.

The descent from the cottages to pier road

Lighthouse approach

Berwick Lighthouse – Not worth dying for

As we battled down the southern edge of the landscape towards Berwick Lighthouse, the wife pleaded with me to not attempt to reach it.

Defiant, I told her to wait on the road whilst I went to get a close up picture – despite being perched above an increasingly rough tide below.

As I got closer, my defiance converted to compliance, as I too came to the conclusion that the ends did not justfiy the means and settled for taking a snap from distance before turning around and heading back to safer ground.

After exiting the pier, we stumbled upon the inspiration for L.S Lowry’s 🖼 On the Sands. In Rachael’s case, stumbled in the literal sense twisting her ankle, using me to break her fall, headbutting my shoulder and bashing her nose 🙄.

After a few minutes sympathy and a hug, we scaled a short hill and arrived at the tee-off for hole number 16 of the golf course before joining the public footpath that follows the eastern cliff-face.

The wind had died down briefly, the rain had stopped and the sun was trying it’s best to poke through the clouds to provide picturesque views in all 360 degrees.

After we arrived at the Coastguard lookout which gave me distinct Firewatch vibes I turned to face the sea where the grey depressing backdrop had to dissolved to present a picture-perfect sky.

The digital image taken of the North Sea and sky does not do the real life sight justice – it was much more impressive in person. Nevertheless, Rachael has still stolen the image for her Social Media header…

Coastguard lookout post

Berwick-upon-Tweed beach front

Lord’s Mount near the Bell Tower

After passing the beachfront and a minor argument about our heading at the tip of the Golf Course, we pressed on towards Lord’s Mount and the Bell Tower. This was used by Henry VIII for defence and warning of invaders from the land and sea.

After heading back down towards the car park, we scaled the same initial steps from the beginning of the walk onto the Ramparts to take a look at the city, sea, viaducts, and industry from Meg’s Mount.

Sadly the images from this point failed to store correctly on my phone – but given the rain, wind, grey and diminishing light, it’s possibly a blessing in disguise.

Berwick Walls done. 2 down, 18 to go.