Sun, Sea And The Scottish Border

Embrace nature's beauty and curative powers on Northumberland's coastal paths. 

The sun outside burns your flesh and your clothes merely act as walls to keep the heat in and boil you alive. You get indoors but there’s no relief, no respite. The ghastly, gas giant has turned your home into a slow cooker and you sit there melting, your tiny fan doing nothing to ease the suffering. If only there was a solution. If only you could find the answer. An affordable and effective one. 

But the answer is there, it has been all along! Put on a T-shirt and shorts, pack a small bag of essentials and head out that front door with your head held high. Because mother nature has answered your distress call and the flaming enemy in the sky has just become your fiery friend. 

Start by cooling

Head straight to the beach. For me, the closest is Spittal Beach but I don’t want a busy beach. I want calm and quiet, cut-off from the outside world. And boy, did I find it. For six miles south of Berwick-upon-Tweed lies Goswick Beach. Greatness in the form of golden sand. 

Dump your bag on the bright, hot sand and run into the water. Feel the water cool your body temperature and counterbalance the effect of the sun. Walk around in the shallow parts of the sea. Take a stroll out and look to your left. A stone’s throw away lies Cocklawburn Beach. Another throw of the stone and you reach Berwick-upon-Tweed. So close you could almost reach out and touch it. Leave the sea and enjoy the sun, your body’s equilibrium now perfect. 

Time to travel

But why stay in one place? If Berwick is a stone’s throw away, why not walk over? Leave the beach and join the England Coast Path heading north. Here you are, sandwiched between beautiful sand dunes to the right of you and the mighty East Coast Mainline to the left of you. Trains roar past, packed with people, heading to destinations far away. 

But stop next to a pond. Take it in, the mesmerising water rippling in the gentle breeze. A frog stares at you and you stare back, locked in a standoff like the cowboys of the Wild West, until one of you gets bored and blinks first. 

Carrying on and the heat is getting intense again. Perhaps it’s time to stop at Cocklawburn Beach and restore the balance of your body temperature? It’s beautiful for sure. Or maybe you’d like to continue along the coastal path to Berwick? The path between Cocklawburn and Berwick is amazing as you walk along grass covered cliffs with farms and fields to your left behind the railway line and the majestic North Sea to your right. But be careful! Farmers sometimes let their cows on this section of the footpath so it isn’t always safe. If ever I had a reason to dismiss the warnings, seeing a cow run up behind a man and head-butt him in the backside soon put that reason to bed. 

Berwick and beyond

Eventually you reach a decline and at the bottom is Spittal, a rural village-like area taped to the side of Berwick. Keep straight on for the main street and either the pubs, shop and the trees and foliage - or go right and down a steeper decline for the promenade. There you can walk along the Spittal Beach, enjoy a hot dog and a '99' and sit on one of the many benches - or in the shelter and enjoy a nice, cold drink. 

But leave Spittal and go into Berwick itself. From the breath-taking Barracks Museum and the wondrous town walls to the old castle ruins by the river and the Lowry Trail, the town will not leave you bored or disappointed. 

If that’s not enough: Go North. Follow the England Coast Path, a path that seems to go on forever, and you will reach another country. The Scottish border amongst the finest of flora. The grass sways majestically in the breeze as you approach the border and beside you, birds rustle and chirp in the hedges. And then you get there, not just to the border but to the most northern point in England itself. Take a moment and stand there, just by the gate and look south, knowing that everyone else, the whole of England, is to your south and that no-one anywhere in the country can be further north than you in England. 

So, there it is. Northumberland’s coastal paths. So much to offer, so much to see and the perfect cure for a hot day. But in truth, it merely scratches the surface...because if you think Goswick to the border is good, you’ve seen nothing yet! 

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All images: James Jobson

Header Image: The path between Spittal and Cocklawburn Beach in Northumberland, heading towards Cocklawburn