The Southern Upland Way: Scotland's Coast to Coast

Abbey St Bathans to Cockburnspath through Pease Dean Nature Reserve

Tuesday 17th April
Abbey St Bathans to Cockburnspath through Pease Dean Nature Reserve. The last day of the Southern Upland Way!


Packing up our tent for the last time on the Southern Upland Way beside Whiteadder Water.	The Abbey from which Abbey St Bathans gets its name.

After quickly breaking camp we head into Abbey St Bathans for a look around. We speak to a farmer, who lives in the old Youth Hostel, who tells us that he often finds SUW walkers at his door asking to stay in the now non-existant Youth Hostel. A flyer up on a notice board invites the locals to a presentation given by a flight commander about low flying aircraft in the area. We have a look at the small Abbey from which the town gets its name before moving on towards the coast. We leave Abbey St Batthans by a suspension bridge which crosses the Whiteadder Water, and follow the path through the mixed woodland on the opposite bank. A right-angle change in direction is marked by a signpost which points all the way back, almost 200 miles, to Portpatrick where we started. Continuing on a few spots of rain alert us to the fact that we may not have blazing sun all day today, though we remark that it would be hilarious if we finished the SUW after 18 days of blissful walking in the sun, only for it to downpour as soon as we get on the bus.


The bridge leading out of Abbey St bathans	A signpost pointing all the way back to Portpatrick


A cairn in the middle of a field	Colourful rolling farmland

There's a lot of farmland walking after Abbey St Bathans, except for a small stand of Scot's pine which we pass through. In the middle of one field we pass a strangely shaped cairn with a flag of some sort on the top. It looks rather bizarre, stuck in the middle of a field with a fence round it and a bench beside. A plaque tells us that it marks the centenary of the ownership of a local farm by Cockburn family.

Although sunny again, the threat of many thunderous clouds arround us make us keep our waterproofs handy. A view towards the coast confirms our suspisions as over there it is indeed pissing it down.

We continue through colourful rolling farmland for several miles before reaching the A1 which lies in a gorse lined valley with the main east coast railway line.


Gorse covered hills surround the field we are in	Lambs bask in the sun in groups


The East Coast Railway Line	Pease Burn

After Crossing the A1, we find ourselves on an old road, jammed between the A1 and the east coast railway line. Despite the vibrant yellow from the gorse bushes and the blossoming flowers, this is not a very pleasant place to walk. A group of New-age Travellers or Gypsies have taken up residence here in caravans. Kids run around, dogs have their kennels set out on grass, but they don't seem to care much for the environment. The area is surrounded by their litter, making it look like a rubbish dump. We find the people quite intimidating and we are relieved to leave them behind.

On crossing the east coast railway, Alan decides to stop with his camera posed over the bridge waiting for that all important shot of a train passing by. It takes a full 10 minutes before this happens, much to the annoyance of Jo, who can't find anywhere non-muddy or comfortable to sit while waiting. When Alan, threatens to stay and wait for the next train because he is not quite satisfied with the photo he took, Jo takes matters into her own hands and drags him across the Pease Burn and into Penmanshiel Woods.


Soft grassy forest track	First view of sea

Penmanshiel Woods make a highlight of the days walking, and we find a suitable place for a break on the soft green carpet underfoot. For a laugh we discuss what our price would be to give up now, go home and tell everyone that we were too tired to finish walking the last few miles to the coast. Jo figures that a price cannot be put on this due to the sheer humiliation of telling everyone that she gave up having walked over 200 miles, and only had a few more to go. Alan figures he would be quite happy to live with the humiliation if he were £4000 richer.

With only a couple of miles to go before reaching the coast, we are shocked to find the SUW taking a hairpin bend to travel inland. After careful contemplation of the map, we find to our disbelief that this is indeed the real route, and not just a signpost pointing in the wrong direction. We climb steeply up through the forest for 500m before turning back to the coast. The dense forest obscures all views, though we sense we are high up. On reaching the highest point on the track, we are treated to a sudden, stunning view of the sea, which we find surprisingly close. The view is framed by tall green pine trees to the side, and by bright yellow flowering gorse bushes in the foreground. Toward the coast we can see Torness Power Station, a prominent white building, followed by the intense blue of the sea. The weather has much improved over the day, and bright sunlight intensifies the view. On closer examination, we notice that we can see several other landmarks, including the Paps of Fife, North Berwick Law and The Bass Rock


A view towards the sea with Torness power station on the coast	Torness Power Station is the white blob on the coast


The amazingly beautiful, diverse forest of Pease Dean	Pease Dean is full of wildflowers

The views are visible all the way as we head down the hill to join the road next to Pease Dean. Pease Dean is a nature reserve owned by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and consists of a densly wooded valley. We gawk at the amazing variety of tree types from the Pease Bridge, where the main road crosses over the steep sided valley of Pease Dean. The way takes us down through a haven for wildlife. Wildflowers are coming into bloom all around making this a very colourful valley. The area is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including many rare species, and the sheer diversity of plant and animal life in the reserve makes it a very beautiful place to visit. After passing through the nature reserve we find ourselves near Pease Bay, a wide expanse of beach exploited and somewhat ruined by a campsite which appears to claim ownership of it. The area leading up to the beach is covered with row upon row of caravans.


Board walks take us through the more prickly bits of Pease Dean	Pease Bay - taken over by Pease Bay Holiday Park


Looking North along the Coast	Looking South along the Coast

Having reached the coast its just a short walk along the coast, and a short walk inland to Cockburnspath before we reach the end of the Southern Upland Way. We look for and easy way down to the sea in order to complete our coast to coast, but the steep coastal cliffs make this near impossible. The wind gusts over the top of the cliffs making us quite chilly for once, but the views out to sea are spectacular. Where the SUW turns inland, we find our way down to the coast, to a place called Cove Harbour.


Cockburnspath Cove Harbour


Cove Harbour at Cockburnspath	Access to the shore here is by a tunnel.

Cove Harbour is a small harbour nestled into the rock face and protected by a man-made harbour wall. Getting onto the harbour wall is easy enough, but to get down to the bay below the cliffs we have to go through the rock face itself by a man-made tunnel. We have completed our coast to coast walk! With plenty of time to spare before our bus back home, Alan takes a panorama of the area from out on the harbour wall.

The journey to the Southern Upland Way finish is a rather uneventful one after the nature reserve and coastal walk. The path takes us over some grassy fields and we are soon in Cockburnspath. This link is probably only here as a means of taking the walker to a place where they can get public transport back home. The locals in Cockburnspath are friendly and help us find the appropriate bus stop and provide us with bus times. As we sit on the bus we realise with disbelief that over the last 18 days we have walked over 212 miles and traveled from Coast to Coast across the Southern Uplands!

The kist

Made by a sculptor who specialises in using scrap materials, this kist is in the shape of a strong box, constructed from gate hinges and is part buried by the side of the path between Longformacus and Cockburnspath.


The last stretch of the SUW is across fields as we head inland to Cockburnspath	Cockburnspath where the SUW ends.

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The Southern Upland Way: Scotland's Coast to Coast

Abbey St Bathans to Cockburnspath through Pease Dean Nature Reserve

Tuesday 17th April Abbey St Bathans to Cockburnspath through Pease Dean Nature Reserve. The last day of the Southern Upland Way!

Tuesday 17th April
Abbey St Bathans to Cockburnspath through Pease Dean Nature Reserve. The last day of the Southern Upland Way!