Border towns (14-16th June 2021)

Before leaving the coast we had lunch at St Abbs harbour (crayfish baguettes) and looked more closely at Coldingham beach with the lovely huts.

As we drove away, we looked-in on Eyemouth, just to the south. The tide was out and the beach looked inviting but we were stirred by the second 'memorial' that we have seen, to an awful fishing disaster that occurred in 1881.

One hundred and twenty nine fishermen and twenty boats were lost in a storm. Seventy-eight widows and one hundred and eighty-two children were left behind to mourn the loss. 'Widows & Bairns' is an amazing bronze sculpture, with the women looking out to sea, clearly showing their terrible distress. It is quite moving.

There's another smaller one at St. Abbs, specifically showing the wives and children of the three men from there who were lost. Charles Purves, and James & William Thorburn.

Before leaving Eyemouth we walked around to the harbour, which was surprisingly full of active fishing boats. We had a great chat with a fisherman about his frustrations of Dutch trawlers' fishing methods. One is, where they vacuum close to the sea bottom. As well as sucking up fish, this also destroys most other creatures in the food chain. He can't wait for the time when 'our waters' are fished by 'us'.

We were drawn to the quay-side fish counter, looking for Mackerel which "are not in yet". That was good to know as I was wondering where I might try. I have little fishing experience but had a huge dose of beginner's luck a few years ago and I'd hate to be disappointed. Instead we bought herring for tea and cooked lobster for lunch (I know 😀).

Herring going on a not-too-fierce bbq and ready just four or five minutes later. It was lovely.

We then headed inland to Kelso. What a surprise! A bustling town, lots of people and shops and stuff going-on. Very pre-pandemic. It reminded me of some inland continental Europe towns, with cobbled streets, open spaces and a wide river.

Best of all there was no rain!

Thanks to Scotland off the beaten track for their images