Category Archives: East Lothian

Bass Rock

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Bass Rock

“One of the wildlife wonders of the world” is how Sir David Attenborough once described the Bass Rock, and if you take the short boat trip out from North Berwick you’ll see why.

This volcanic lump of rock that sits just off the southern coast of the mouth of the Firth of Forth has the world’s largest colony of Northern Gannets.

The latest count estimates that there are 150,000 of these birds that make ‘The Bass’ their home during the summer.

During June, July and August the numbers are swollen with the arrival of a new batch of chicks, and September sees the birds start to leave for the Bay of Biscay and West Africa. By the end of October most of them have gone, and then start to return again at the end of January.

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Originally posted 2018-12-13 07:32:40.

North Berwick

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North Berwick

A half-hour train journey from Waverley along the East Lothian coast will bring you to the smashing little seaside town of North Berwick.

The first time I came here I immediately fell in love with it. Little did I know at the time that it was one of the most expensive seaside towns to live in Scotland.

It doesn’t have an outward appearance of wealth or anything like that, in fact it’s quite an unassuming sort of place in many ways.

It doesn’t have much in the way of seaside attractions in the conventional sense, but more in the way of natural attractions. A conical volcanic hill known as North Berwick Law overlooks the town, its beaches and small harbour, but its location overlooking a handful of small islands in the Firth of Forth is what makes it a bit special.

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Originally posted 2018-12-12 22:22:16.