It always amazes me that the Scottish Borders get so chronically overlooked. Within that I’m even more amazed that its remarkable coastline gets so little attention. We are talking a littoral alive with wildlife, epic scenery and a deep sense of history, a coastline once alive with smugglers, and today still busy with fishermen. At its heart is the engaging town of Eyemouth, a brilliant place for a break.
1. The Beach
Eyemouth’s sweeping sandy beach is popular year round, whether it is swimming in summer, or bracing dog walks in winter. The local wild swimmers I met when I was there take a dip year-round. The sands are backed up by The Bantry, a sea wall and promenade. It’s a dramatic place when the North Sea is at its most furious and huge surf spays right over, forming a new beach in the town. The striking bronze ‘Widows and Bairns’ memorial at its southern end is dedicated to the horror in October 1881 when a violent storm killed 129 Eyemouth men leaving countless widows and fatherless children, with few families untouched by tragedy. Gazing through the memorial to the crags of the Hukar Rocks, where many of the men died, is a sobering experience.
2. Eyemouth Harbour
Eyemouth still sports a working fish harbour bobbing with boats and friendly seals. You get a real flavour of it walking around it as the harbour makes its way inland alongside the Eye Water. There are still some trawlers, but the biggest catch these days is coastal shellfish from the local waters, hauled ashore by a flotilla of smaller fishing boats. You can see them busying around the harbour. Also look out for the striking new operations centre for the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm. It will power almost 400,000 homes and provide 50 local jobs. Then there is D.R Collin Fish, a superb fishmonger. You can grab a snack, or picnic lunch of locally smoked salmon or dressed crab. If home isn’t too far away maybe snare some boat-fresh seafood to cook up a storm with back home? The Eyemouth Harbour Trust have big plans for the harbour and the development of Eyemouth as their Euan Scott told me, so watch this space.
3. Community Spirit
The sense of community spirit in Eyemouth is palpable. I found its cheery, welcoming face at Re-Tweed. This brilliant community initiative teaches local women skills for free and then they make use of them to fashion the goods that they sell on site, from purses to cushions. The proceeds then go back into staging the classes. Visitors are more than welcome with additional weekend classes that you can book ahead, with your tuition fees going back into the community. Look out for their big future plans. They are also entwined with the ambitious International Tartans initiative in Eyemouth that aims to open up tartan to all. They’ve created over 100 official tartans for everyone from American states to African nations, and on to a Berwickshire tartan and even one for Samaritans called Samaritartan. These are both really exciting community led and community facing projects that appeal to visitors too.
4. Smugglers Ahoy!
Across the Eye Water from the historic core of Eyemouth stands an unmistakable building. It is Gunsgreen House, for me probably the cheekiest house in Scotland. John Nisbet was a ‘merchant’ who was not keen on paying the 119% tax on tea. So he smuggled tea in via the Baltic Sea and then found ways to sneak it around this coast and around the ingenious grand house he had purpose-built. There are secret doors, hidden cellars, little hiding holes and – most impressive of all – a multi-floor tea shute for his contraband. The house is currently being revamped, but you can stay here self-catering, or just enjoy one of their one off events, like afternoon teas. You can buy their Gunsgreen Gin too, which is smuggled across the Border from Northumberland. If that is not enough follow the 20-stop 3km Smuggler’s Trail around Eyemouth.
5. Restaurants to Savour
With such a rich bounty of local seafood it’s no surprise that there are some good places to eat in Eyemouth. I liked cosy The Ship, where I savoured a bowl of delicious steamed mussels, before a lemon-tinged prawn risotto. At the fun Rialto Coffee Co. they promised and delivered superb coffee, plus a vegan ‘lobster’. These lettuce hearts were delicious served with a lobster-style sauce in a sandwich. Oblo Bar and Bistro brought more seafood, and also superb pizzas and the excellent Giacopazzi’s ice cream from the sister business downstairs. Last – but certainly not least – The Contented Sole offered up a platter of fried seafood in lively pub surrounds.
6. Eyemouth Museum
It’s worth coming to Eyemouth Museum alone to see the epic tapestry that was woven locally to commemorate the terrible fishing disaster of 1881. The rest of the exhibits swirl around the remarkable history of a town that first emerged as a port for the religious community of Coldingham, then prospered as the most southerly Scottish port after the English stole Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1296. History buffs should also slip out of town to Paxton House, a glorious country pile alive with Chippendale furniture, a gorgeous costume collection, fine art and bountiful grounds by the River Tweed.
7. RIB Trips
Eyemouth RIB Trips whisk you out of Eyemouth on their speedboat in search of the best parts of the Berwickshire coast. They offer a number of options, from the one-hour ‘Coastal Explorer’, through to the a shuttle to St Abbs and on to whole boat hire for groups of up to 12. It is a great way to see the coastline and the caves where smugglers hid away from the authorities, as well as the local seals dolphins and even whales. These RIB tours open up the voluntary Berwickshire Marine Reserve, the only one of its kind in Scotland.
8. Berwickshire Coastal Path
This coastal walking artery sweeps for 45 kilometres all the way from Berwick-upon-Tweed across the border to Cocksburnpath, where it links with the coast-to-coast Southern Upland Way and on towards the John Muir Way. One of ‘Scotland’s Great Trails’, the Berwickshire Coastal Path is a sheer joy to walk, alive with epic scenery and wildlife.
9. St Abbs
Follow your Marvel heroes to ‘New Asgard’ – yes scenes were filmed using this postcard-pretty wee fishing village. Today St Abbs is a charming wee place that is also great for walkers. The yomp up along the cliffs to St Abbs Head is one of the finest in the Scottish Borders – on this most recent walk Mark Nicol from Discover Scottish Borders guided me and shared the bountiful local wildlife. We came across seals with their pups below the cliffs, which I appreciated from a respectful distance. St Abbs Head is also famous for its bountiful seabirds in summer and for scuba diving too. The reserve offers world-class scuba diving, just another reason to come to this seriously underrated coastline.
Further Information
This post comes in conjunction with Scotland Starts Here. All views and impressions of places expressed are entirely our own.
