a new path
Barns Ness, 3 August
It can be hard to find positives when walking with a reactive canine companion who is reactive to all people everywhere, but if Raf has brought one positive change to our walking habits it’s that we’re motivated to seek out new walks. Don’t get me wrong, we loved our old walks, and still do, and when I mention some places being too busy for us during the day, it might seem odd when the scenes I share on Instagram show empty beaches and woodland paths where there’s no one around. But that’s only because we choose our times carefully, arriving at the end of the day, with the last hour or two of daylight, only this becomes harder as seasons shift and more people are walking in fewer daylight hours. So we’re on the lookout for new walks.
After our first walk here, from Whitesands beach to Barns Ness lighthouse and on towards Torness, I wondered why we had never done this route before. Harris and Bracken would have loved it. But this location never quite tempted us. I assumed (wrongly) that the distance would be too short to make it worthwhile driving all the way down the coast. Our most regular walk is at John Muir Country Park, which lies just west of Dunbar while Whitesands likes to the east, further from home.
Also, I wasn’t drawn to a location that combines a cement plant at one end of the route (just behind Whitesands beach) with a nuclear power station at the other (Torness). But when friends on Instagram shared this walk some weeks back, I realised we had to check it out - in the hope that this location might offer the quiet that we were yearning for with Raf.
If you’re looking for an East Lothian walk of wide, sandy beaches, as at Yellowcraig or Ravensheugh or Belhaven, then this route probably isn’t for you. It’s a mix of grassy paths and rocky shores, although there is a sandy and pebbly beach after Barns Ness, as you’re heading towards Torness in the distance. But we enjoyed the rugged, rocky textures of this route, and I particularly enjoyed the lighthouse, which - I feel I should warn you now! - will be appearing here regularly. What is it about lighthouses that makes these structures so interesting? Or is it perhaps about their exposed locations and that sense of remoteness?While Barns Ness isn’t remote by any stretch, there isn’t another spot like this one in East Lothian.
We walked on along the shore, with the white exterior of Torness catching the light in the distance. We’ve done this route a few times now, and while it’s very quiet, you can sometimes get noise from the cement works, and Dunbar landfill site is also nearby (I know - cement plant, power station, landfill site) so that might also contribute some background noise. Why do I mention this? Because, depending on the wind direction, those strange mechanical background noises can be a bit unsettling to canine family members, as we found with Raf on one evening walk here. He settled in time, but still, you can’t pretend that you’re in the middle of nowhere.
However, with an almost empty car park at Whitesands (important, as is Raf finds himself in a busy car park when we arrive somewhere, we begin a walk with a major trigger), quiet paths, and these views, this new walk is already a favourite. And yes, I’m looking forward to wind-blasted winter days here.
Barns Ness, East Lothian, 3 August 2024.
#barnsness #eastlothian #scotland
