In 2017 The Sunday Times proclaimed that North Berwick was the most desirable place to live in Scotland. I can't disagree. We lived there for two months almost three years ago, and I didn't want to leave when the time came to move on. It's a cracking little seaside town. Disappointly, the Council have permitted the construction of three large housing estates around the town's perimeter. Just as well the town is bordered by the sea to the north, so no development on greenfield sites there. Anyway, it will always be a great place to visit, and there are some good walks in and around the town. The other day, ours started off on the east beach.
We walked along the beach and up through The Glen, which is a wooded ravine where you can climb up to a path which runs along at high level, back towards the town. It's a good place for a panoramic view of North Berwick, out into the Firth of Forth and some of its islands, Craigleith, The Isle of May and the Bass Rock. Fife lies beyond, to the north.
At the west end of Coo's Green there is a thriving tennis club
and across the road, further up the hill are The Lodge gardens.
The Lodge gardens were created in the 17th century by the Dalyrymple family. In 1939 they became a public park when North Berwick Town Council bought both the grounds and the Lodge. At the east end there are some neglected allotment gardens. That was a surprise. Allotments are at a premium in most places. In Edinburgh, there is a six year waiting list for the site where I had an allotment several years ago! If you let it become overgrown like these, you were turfed off!
On the lovely big open space Ted enjoyed his favourite summertime pursuit - chasing swallows! I enjoyed the 'wild flower' planting of cornflowers, cosmos and Californian poppy. A glorious mix of bright and clashing colours!
In the lower part of The Lodge gardens there is a small exotic garden. It has a few flowers but the most exciting foliage is that of the banana plants. They are very photogenic!
And then there were these rakish characters! They look as though they have stepped out of a cartoon or a children's book! They are the faded flowers of the bird of paradise. Their colourful beauty may have gone but they have retained fantastic personality!
We walked along the beach and up through The Glen, which is a wooded ravine where you can climb up to a path which runs along at high level, back towards the town. It's a good place for a panoramic view of North Berwick, out into the Firth of Forth and some of its islands, Craigleith, The Isle of May and the Bass Rock. Fife lies beyond, to the north.
Another mental aberration on the part of the council was to build a car park on the historical Coo's Green, shown in the photo below. I signed a petition against that years ago and from this website http://www.coosgreen.org, it would seem that the green is safe for now.
The Lodge gardens were created in the 17th century by the Dalyrymple family. In 1939 they became a public park when North Berwick Town Council bought both the grounds and the Lodge. At the east end there are some neglected allotment gardens. That was a surprise. Allotments are at a premium in most places. In Edinburgh, there is a six year waiting list for the site where I had an allotment several years ago! If you let it become overgrown like these, you were turfed off!
Bordered by yew hedges there is another blowsy planting of favourite things, lavender, Russian sage and the dark purple spires of Balkan clary.
Beware! Falmouth got voted one of the top places to live and now the summers are full of queuing traffic to get into town and house prices are almost on a par with London. Hope your little part of the world is far enough away to be enjoyed by the few rather than the many x
ReplyDeleteThe traffic in the little high street and the parking in North Berwick is already a nightmare, without further incomers!! Luckily we don't have the concentration of traffic in this part of the world as I know Devon and Cornwall has to deal with. Away from the big towns and cities, generally the roads in Scotland are pretty empty - long may that continue!! Hope you are having a good summer! A x
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