I can’t believe how fast the time is flying – we’re very nearly into Spring already! I can’t wait for Winter to go back to being a distant memory – while we get the odd beautiful winter day, the majority of these seem to be while we’re stuck at work, so I’m very much looking forward to weekends which aren’t spent continually watching the weather forecast to find somewhere with a dry window.
That being said, we have managed a few walks with clear blue skies over the last few months, including a lovely jaunt along the Berwickshire coast from the tiny hamlet of Cove. We were up in the Borders for a weekend just after New Year, having been invited to stay at Lazyday Cottages as part of our roving reporter duties for Dog Friendly Destinations – you can read my full review of these fantastic Scandi lodges on the Dog Friendly Destinations website.
The Scottish Borders are often unfairly overlooked in favour of the wilder, more dramatic Highlands. Visitors tend to make a beeline for the north, missing out on all the Borders have to offer. Charming historic towns, rolling countryside and rugged coastline, the Borders have something for everyone.
After our previous trip to Berwickshire in April 2022, I was really looking forwards to getting back to explore some of the places we just hadn’t managed to cram in last time. We set off on Friday afternoon and arrived in just a few hours – the cottages are in a wonderfully accessible location not far from Berwick-upon-Tweed. A quick dip in the hot tub was the perfect way to start our stay, and after debating the merits of various walks, we decided that the next day we’d head over to the coast to explore the area around Cove: a nice quick walk to make the most of the weather window in the morning.
We followed a short circular route we found on the Walkhighlands website – this is a fantastic free resource if you’re planning any walking trips to Scotland. The walk is just shy of three miles and follows the Berwickshire coast path down to Pease Bay, a popular surfing spot, before returning inland along a very quiet road.
The views along the coast are great, especially if you get a clear sunny day like we did. Look out for some interesting rock stacks just off the coast. Originally, we thought we’d just walk along the coast as an out and back to cut out the road section, getting the views in both directions, but quickly changed our minds after about 5 minutes on the coast path as it was horrendously muddy. Not the kind of mud that coats your boots and clothes – that we could live with – but the really slippy kind of mud where you have to inch your way along the path, clinging to any convenient plant life to avoid falling flat on your face. Not the most relaxing terrain when you’re walking along cliffs!
Dog friendly rating – 2/5. Leads should be on for all of this walk due to steep drops or being on the road, although we didn’t have any stiles to negotiate. After we finished this walk we hopped back in the car and drove down to the dog friendly Apple Inn in Lucker, a fab little pub with great food, and who couldn’t have been more accommodating of Coal’s reactivity (I phoned ahead and asked to have a quiet out of the way table). I’d definitely recommend stopping off here if you’re ever in Northumberland or the Borders.
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