Eyemouth Sector Manager
Eyemouth Sector is the first Sector on the south east coast of Scotland. It starts at the England/Scotland border, and runs in a mainly North-Westerly direction until it reaches the Firth of Forth at Gin Head, then it runs West then South West to Aberlady Bay.
England/Scotland border – Grid Reference Sheet 75, 980 576
Aberlady Bay Grid Reference Sheet 66, 472 806
England/Scotland border – Lat 55 48.7N 002 01.9W
Aberlady Bay Lat 56.00.7N 002 57.3W
From the border to Burnmouth, (approx 2.5 miles) the terrain is very high cliffs , up to 300ft in places, with limited access. The main east coast railway line runs along the cliff top, at times the line is very close to the edge. The A1 trunk road is only about a mile inland. There is a path all along the cliff top; however this path is not always easily `walkable’.
Coastal villages and towns in Eyemouth Sector
The first village in Eyemouth Sector from the south is the small fishing village of Burnmouth. The harbour lies at the bottom of a very steep hill, and is home to 3 full time creel boats. There are also a couple of other small boats which fish a few creels during the summer months only. The harbour dries at about half ebb, and is unsafe to enter in a strong South-Easterly. However, it is sheltered from any North or North Easterly gales and has, in the past, been used by the Eyemouth Lifeboat when Eyemouth harbour has been closed due to bad weather.
Although a small harbour with only basic facilities, Burnmouth. The fishermen of Burnmouth (in comparison to the white fish men in the sector) remain cautiously optimistic as to the sustainability of their targeted species.
There are no Coastguard Rescue Facilities, RNLI craft, Police, Fire or Ambulance resources at Burnmouth
From Burnmouth to Eyemouth is approximately 1.5 miles and has very high cliffs all the way along. On the cliff top at Eyemouth is an 18 hole golf course which is popular with locals and visitors alike. A path runs along the top which is walkable, and attracts a small number of bird watchers. The cliff edge is easily accessible from the road which runs between Eyemouth and Burnmouth.
Eyemouth
Eyemouth, in common with many coastal communities throughout the UK, was built and prospered on the fishing industry. These days however, although fishing is still carried out , it is on a much smaller scale than 20 years ago, when, on a Sunday afternoon before the fleet sailed, it was possible to `walk across the harbour’ over the boats. A brand new dock for landing fish, fuelling, and icing the boats was built at Eyemouth about 9 years ago, but is very much these days the proverbial `white elephant’. A fleet consisting of about 6 trawlers work the offshore grounds, whilst about the same number work inshore for prawns.
The inshore fleet normally go to the West coast during the late spring – early summer returning about September. A few visiting boats from Northumberland come to Eyemouth in the autumn for the prawn fishing, which is mainly prosecuted off St. Abbs head.
Around 6 small boats work creels from Eyemouth, along with 2 or 3 part-timers. Eyemouth is however, becoming more popular with visiting yachts during the summer.
Spring 2004 saw the introduction of brand new pontoons for leisure craft to lie alongside to try to tap more into the market for diving and angling. At present one boat (North Star II) is commercially taking divers and anglers to sea, but the potential is there for more. A lot more RIB’s are now launching from Eyemouth, (due to the congestion at St. Abbs!) and a dive and advice shop (Aqua Stars) has opened under the new fish market.
Eyemouth is also becoming increasingly popular with visiting yachts during the summer.
The harbour faces due north, and is unsafe to enter in any strong winds from the North West round to East. The actual entrance itself is known as the `canyon’ with good reason, being only about 50 foot wide. A reef of rocks, known as the Hurkars lie outside the harbour, they are visible except at high water springs.
Located behind the Sector Base is a large caravan site, which is extremely busy during the season. The cliff edge is very close to the site, and although fenced off has proved in the past to be a magnet for incidents. A large quantity of MCA PR material is supplied to the site owners for distribution to visitors, especially children as they check in.
Eyemouth is home to the Sector base, co-located with Eyemouth Coast Rescue Team. The team are equipped with full cliff rescue and search gear, with a Toyota Crewcab 4 x 4 vehicle. There is also a Ford Focus for use by, but not exclusively, the Sector Manager.
The RNLI have a Trent class lifeboat at Eyemouth, she lies afloat and is available for use except at low water springs when she is unable to get out of the harbour.
The lifeboat will sometimes `self launch’ to escort the boats back into the harbour during the onset of bad weather.
There is a Police station and Fire Station at Eyemouth, although both are not continuously manned.
North of Eyemouth to Coldingham are high cliffs, and again is walkable along the cliff top with care. The village of Coldingham lies about a mile inland, and leads down to Coldingham Sands.
Coldingham sands are very popular during the summer with surfers and windsurfers, being the only large stretch of sand for miles. There is a lifeguard on duty during the summer months.
St. Abbs
The village of St. Abbs is about a mile North West from Coldingham Sands. It is a very picturesque place, with a fleet of 3 full time creel boats with the usual assortment of part-timers summer fishing only. Two small prawn trawlers are currently also working out of the harbour.
St. Abbs claim to fame however, is the amount of diving from both shore and boats which takes place there. The waters around St. Abbs have been declared a Site of Specific Scientific interest, and have what must be the clearest waters for diving anywhere. An unwritten code between divers and fishermen whereas divers will not interfere with creels is largely observed, however, conflict does arise sometimes. The village can, during some weekends resemble a large football match with cars and trailers parked anywhere and everywhere and crowds of divers coming and going. Access to the harbour for emergency vehicles can be sometimes impossible without physically man handling vehicles aside. Moves are afoot to alleviate the parking problem by implementing draconian measures!
There have, unfortunately, been fatalities amongst the visiting divers, and seldom is there a weekend in the summer where casualties do not occur, mainly `bent’ divers and divers being washed ashore due to tides and swell.
Coastguard resources at St. Abbs are a 3 person IRT (Initial Response Team). The team do not have a Coastguard vehicle but carry basic gear in their own cars. At this time (April 06). None of the team actually lives in St. Abbs, one lives at Coldingham, one in Eyemouth and one works in Coldingham.
The RNLI have an Atlantic 75 lifeboat housed at St. Abbs. The Honorary Secretary of the lifeboat is an ex-fisherman who runs his own dive boat, called `Lady G’Diva’
St. Abbs is also unique in the fact there are no public houses in the village. A well known Edinborough brewing family, touched by the plight of the fisher folk in the late 18th century, rebuilt the harbour on the condition that no licensed premises would ever be opened in the village.
There are no Police, Ambulance or Fire resources at St. Abbs. (or public houses!
St. Abbs to Cocksburnpath encompasses the most remote areas of the Sector. Cliffs rise to over 250ft, and access can be extremely difficult except from seaward. St. Abbs Head is the highest point, and has a lighthouse which also houses a Coastguard aerial site. There are also two very popular shore diving sites at Petticowick and Little Burnmouth in the area.
Bird watching is very popular throughout the St Abbs head area, which is designated as a National Nature Reserve, while the inshore waters from Eyemouth to Petticowick and three miles out to sea are a Voluntary Marine Reserve, which means trawling is not carried out in the area.
This part of the coast is also very popular with shore anglers, some of whom must have close genetic ties with monkeys, as some of the precarious positions they choose to fish from are unbelievable.
Inland at Crosslaw is a remote aerial site, this site can be inaccessible in bad weather.
Pease Bay lies just to the South East of Cockburnspath, and there is a large, well run, sea safety conscious caravan site there. The last few years have seen a large influx of surfers to the bay, and the beach is also popular with canoeists and for family days out.
Cockburnspath
The village of Cocksburnpath lies about half a mile inland from the harbour at Cove. Cove harbour is privately owned, very small, has no facilities and only two full time creel boats work out of it. The harbour itself is inaccessible except for 4 wheeled vehicles, or on foot. It is in a poor state of repair and suffers from a large surge in any swell from the North West to the South East.
Cove hamlet is only 500 yards from the A1 trunk road, but as stated above, the harbour is very difficult to get to.
Local knowledge is essential for anyone attempting to enter Cove harbour, therefore any visiting boat wishing to enter Cove should, unless absolutely flat calm and competently manned, be dissuaded from doing so.
There are no Coastguard Rescue Facilities, RNLI craft, Police Fire or Ambulance resources at Cove
To the North West of Cove, the terrain quickly becomes flatter with sandy beaches interspersed with small cliffs of about 50 -70 ft. A public footpath leads from the A1 to the beach at Bilsdean, but access is dangerous as the team(s) would have to carry all the gear over the main road. Access therefore is from either Cove, or Thorntonloch with the corresponding increase in `on scene’ time. Thorntonloch caravan site is just to the south-east of Torness power station, this site is extremely Coastguard friendly, and any 999 call from here should be treated as genuine.Torness Nuclear power station itself is situated about 2.5 miles from Cove, and is unmissable from sea or landward. There is a man made harbour at Torness where the Dunbar Lifeboat is moored. No fishing or private craft are allowed to moor in the harbour. At the other side of the harbour at Skateraw there is a small slipway for launching and recovering small boats. Barns Ness lighthouse lies about halfway between Torness and the Cement works on the outskirts of Dunbar. The cement works are another large collection of buildings, very prominent again from sea. The shoreline in this area is sandy with grassy hillocks; it is fairly popular with picnickers and bird watchers.
Dunbar
Dunbar is a small town with a thriving inshore fishing fleet. There are about 6 small trawlers and the same number of creel boats using the harbour. Dunbar is also a popular summer yacht harbour, with a thriving local fleet and an increasing number of visiting boats. The harbour is also popular in the summer with dive boats and dinghy sailors.
The entrance to the harbour is, however, extremely narrow and dangerous to take in any swell, as outlying rocks make the leading marks and lights difficult to see. In 2003, a large Dutch yacht was wrecked in the entrance, fortunately due to professionalism of the Coastguard Rescue Team (who were awarded the Chief Coastguards Commendation for the rescue) no-one was lost.
Dunbar harbour actually consists of three separate small docks, the outer one used by the fishermen and yachtsmen, the other two are used for repairs and laying up etc.
Dunbar has over the last few years become very popular with outsiders, and the harbour area, once derelict, has been transformed by the renovation of the old buildings into desirable and expensive housing.
Dunbar Coast Rescue Team is fully equipped for cliff rescue and carries full search gear. Their vehicle is a Toyota Crewcab, which along with all the gear is housed close to the harbour.
The RNLI keep an ILB housed at Dunbar harbour, whilst the ALB, (Trent) is moored at Torness. The crew are transported to Torness if called out, by an RNLI Landrover. A point to notice, the journey takes about 10 minutes (depending on the driver!)
There is a Police Station at Dunbar, manned 24 hours, and a part time fire station.
From Dunbar to Gin Head, the terrain is mostly flat beaches until Tantallon Castle where it rises again. Just outside of Dunbar is Bellhaven Bay, a beautiful expanse of clean sand. Belhaven Bay has become increasingly popular of late, with such diverse activities as horse riding, dog walking, surfing, shore angling and bird watching increasing. A small stream bisects the sand, there is an iron bridge over it, but when it is in spate it is impassable. The North Western end of the bay is mossy ground, the tide comes in around the back of the sand and tidal cut offs are a possibility during spring tides. John Muir Country park is adjacent to Bellhaven Bay, and this area is popular with families, dog walkers etc. a small river, the Tyne (not the Tyne!) runs out close by, once again if this is in spate it is impassable. Peffer Sands lie further up, this again is a lovely beach but very sparsely used, possibly due to its accessibility. Road access to these areas is possible. A small beach at Seacliffe is very popular with families, horse riders and anglers etc, however access is a single track road with a toll to pay (key in the North Berwick vehicle) Just to the west of here is a small harbour called the `Geggan’ which is only used by one or two local potting boats and only in settled weather.
At Tantallon Castle, the cliffs rise to about 200ft, the castle itself dating back centuries. Just offshore Tantallon is the Bass Rock, this rock houses the largest colony of Gannets in the UK. It was once used to house French Prisoners of war during Napoleonic times. (The good old days eh?!) There is a lighthouse on the Bass, unmanned of course. Trips to and from the Bass are carried out during the summer by the vessel Sula 2 from North Berwick.
Gin Head stands at the turn of the coast into the Firth of Forth, once a sneaky beaky establishment it is now used by Forth Ports and is an excellent `look out’ vantage point
From Gin Head to North Berwick the land quickly falls away again to sandy beaches with a Caravan Site and golf course on the outskirts of North Berwick itself.
North Berwick
North Berwick is a small town with a tiny harbour. Golf courses become very noticeable and a general air of wellbeing pervades the town. The harbour itself has only 4 small creel boats, and about 40-50 private craft. During the summer months, boats are also on moorings outside the harbour. The harbour is open to the West round to South East, and can be closed by lowering baulks of timber across the entrance. The entrance itself can only be at the most 30ft across, As mentioned above, trips are run to the Bass from here.
The Scottish Sea Bird Centre is located at the harbour, and from there people can watch the Gannets on the Bass by CCTV.
The Coastguard facilities at North Berwick consist of a 10 man enhanced search team with a Nissan Terrano. They carry full stabilising descent gear which means they have the capability to lower to a casualty and make him/her secure. However, unless the casualty can be lowered safely to the cliff bottom, the nearest full cliff team (Dunbar) must be called to effect recovery to the cliff top.
The team moved (May 2004) to a brand new building, the old premises being unsuitable to house them.
As at Dunbar, the run down harbour buildings have been converted to upmarket housing, the fairly close proximity of Edinburgh ensuring a buoyant economy in the town. Fortunately, for the time being anyway, the fishermen still retain `fishermen’s hall’ on the harbour for making and repairing creels and storage of gear.
Lying just off the harbour are the uninhabited islands of Craigleath, The Lamb and Fidra.
There is an RNLI ILB housed at North Berwick, beach launched when required.
There is a Police Station at North Berwick, manned 24 hours, a part time fire station and part time ambulance.
North Berwick to Gullane is mainly sand with grassy hillocks, easy walking if required. Access however, is not all that easy to some parts. Gullane offers an excellent vantage point in clear weather. Gullane itself has no harbour or marine activity, although shore angling is popular, golf being the raison d’etre of the town.
The Scottish Fire Brigades training unit is situated in Gullane.
Interesting? Fact – Ronnie Corbett lives in Gullane…
Gullane to Aberlady is also fairly easy coastal going. Aberlady Bay is a massive expanse of sand and mud, the tide going out about 1.5 miles. It is very flat so consequently floods fast. The wrecks of some Submarines are visible at Low Water Springs, along with the remains of some old fishing boats. This area is extremely busy with bird watchers, the area being on the route of migratory wildfowl and resident birds alike.
Aberlady, like Gullane has no harbour or marine activity.
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