St. Abbs Head Lighthouse Walk with Kids – Scenic Coastal Route in Berwickshire

To New Asgard!

Today we decided to take a slightly deviated version of this walk we found on the AA website. I’d actually accidentally found this looking for walks in our local area, and bookmarked it for a future adventure, as it’s close to my parents!

We hadn’t actually expected to do much walking on our visit, as Dads not into walking at all, and usually has lots of other things planned for us. However he had some jobs he wanted to do this morning and suggested we took Mum with us. Mum loves walking, and was itching to join us. She’d also wanted to do this hike and see the lighthouse for years, so we gathered our backpacks and headed off to New Asgard! (Or St. Abbs, for those who havent watched Avengers 🤪)

Setting Off

The walk started off from the St. Abbs Visitor Centre, where there is a car park, cafe and even toilets! The parking is £4 for the whole day (until midnight), so you can wander to your hearts content and not worry about rushing back!

It was turning into a really warm and sunny day and, unusually, there was very little sea breeze to cool us down. As we walked down the main path from the car park, we were surrounded by lots of other walkers, and I was beginning to worry it would be a crowded and unpleasant walk (I’m not a fan of crowds) however, by the first viewpoint, we began to all separate and for the rest of the walk we only saw other people in passing.

After the initial single file cliff edge walk, the walk opens up to a wider grassy path. The views were spectacular! Obviously on a cliff walk it’s important to keep a close eye on children and not go too near the edge, which is NOT fenced off, so be prudent. However I didn’t feel this was an unsafe walk for children at all.

There were several small coves along the route. Many were far below us, but when the walk was at sea level, there were a handful that you could easily get to. If we did the walk again, or planned something longer, we would probably go rock pooling or bring a picnic and have some lunch at one of these.

One of the first detours we made from the AA route, was to follow a steep route toward the lighthouse, that kept us walking along the coastline and afforded us amazing far reaching views into the North Sea and further north into Scotland. It was a tough climb on a warm day, but the boys were like mountain goats! Walking with my mum, who doesn’t get to do as much walking as she’d like, I was worried how she’d cope, but she did brilliantly too! As we got to the top, we were suddenly greeted with views of the lighthouse!

St. Abbs Head Lighthouse

The Lighthouse was first lit in 1862, using oil, before being converted to incandescent power in 1906 and then electricity in 1966. In 1993 the light finally became automatic. Until automation, the lighthouse was manned by 3 full-time lighthouse keepers. Today the lighthouse is privately owned, and not open to the public. The horn was the first audible warning to be installed in Scotland, in 1876, and was originally powered by hot air engines, before being converted to oil in 1911, then diesel in 1955. The horn was used for the last time in 1987!

St Abbs Head is also a National Nature Reserve, with a seabird colony, and has been known for dolphin and puffin spots too!

Homeward Bound

As we headed home, following the circular route, we decided to do another small detour, taking us over the coastal footpath again, instead of heading back along the private road from the lighthouse. This took us up even higher and gave us fantastic views over Broadhaven Bay and West in Thrile Bay. The footpath at points was pretty narrow, with lots of large animal holes in the pathway that we had to keep our eyes open for!

From up here, we could see Mire Loch glistening ahead of us. The AA walk shows the walk going around the outer edge of the Loch, but we picked the inner edge as it looked quieter. It was a beautiful final mile or so, and pretty flat terrain again, which was welcome after all the climbing we’d done. Eventually it lead back to the main footpath that we could’ve used on the way to the lighthouse, had we chosen not to climb and take the more scenic route. From here there was a relatively steep shale track that bought us back to the main lighthouses private road. This was the view from the gate where it joined the road.

From this point we followed the tarmac’d road back to the car park, through some farmland, and a couple of cattle grids. What a beautiful walk!

Family Feedback: St. Abbs Head Walk

We really landed on a beautiful day to do this walk, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the views that each little cove or climb awarded us! The walk gave various pathway options, and whilst we chose ones with a more challenging terrain, there was the option to get to thelighthouse using a slightly flatter walk, with smoother pathways, or starting where we finished, and follow the private road instead, which is tarmec’d and would be great if you had a pushchair!

As always, we asked the boys what they thought about the walk, and I really loved their positive answers! My 10 year old said he absolutely loved seeing all the views, across the fields and of course over the sea, spotting the cargo liners in the distsnce and counting the rib boats! My fish mad 8 year old said the ocean was the best bit for him. He’d have loved it if we could’ve bought a picnic and settled in for a short lunch at one of the small coves, maybe with some rock pooling thrown in too! That’s certainly an idea for another day! Upon closer inspection of some maps afterwards, we found more footpaths going further around the coastline – I’d actually love to do more, and longer, coastal walks, so it’s great to know that the whole family feel the same, and when the boys are a bit older and walking further, I’m sure we will!

TOTAL MILES: 4 | TOTAL TIME: 2h13 (1h54 Moving Time)