The 3 of us are back! And this time, we’ve decided to base ourselves in Eyemouth, in the Scottish Borders. As the drive there from home would (potentially) take nearly 6 hours, we decided to have a stop-over in Knaresborough. The drive was a long and boring one, thanks to the many 50mph sections on the (not so) smart motorways. Knaresborough is a cute little market town in North Yorkshire, with pretty waterside views and an impressive viaduct. It’s also home to the Chapel of Our Lady in the Crag. However, despite the sign saying visitors welcome, there was a huge padlock on the gate, suggesting Our Lady was not up for company!
After a cheeky downpour and a stop off in a coffee shop to keep us dry, we were able to carry on seeing what Knaresborough has to offer. We sacked off Mother Shipton’s Cave (a tenner each was just a bit too steep) and opted for a different viewpoint of the viaduct from the castle grounds. You can’t beat a free attraction! Not only can you see picture postcard views from here, but there’s also a large green space to relax, play bowls, or visit the ruins of the castle.
I made sure I did my research to ensure Santa had a fabulous evening of booze. We started in So!Bar, where I have to say, the food was absolutely delicious! Of course, Santa lost half of it down his top.. Next was Blind Jack’s – a cosy local pub which is consistently listed in the Good Beer guide, and boasts eight keg craft beer lines and six cask hand pulled real Ales. All the decisions.. The final stop of the night was Six Poor Folk – set in one of Knaresborough’s oldest buildings, and luckily, I had a TV to watch the football. An absolute sesh of an evening! Unfortunately, as we were leaving Six, the heavens opened, and it poured with rain. With no wet gear at all, we got back to the hotel looking like drowned rats.
Following a full English breakfast, we hit the road again for another epic drive along the scenic A1 to the borders. As the weather looked promising for today, we decided to head to St Abb’s Head – a breathtaking coastal headland with dramatic cliffs and a ridiculous amount of sea birds. After a small parking issue with an American, I managed to squeeze into a space further up the road (which was free, and his wasn’t!) and we set off to explore this quaint Scottish village and harbour. Some trivia for you – the village served as the location for the fictional town of New Asgard in the 2019 movie – Avengers: Endgame. This now all makes sense as we were confused as to why groups of people were carrying around Thor’s hammer.
The circular coastal walk through the national nature reserve is the real star of the show here, with the jagged rock formations taking centre stage. There are also thousands of incredibly noisy sea birds taking shelter on the off shore stacks, carpets of wildflowers, and, of course, a lighthouse. The views really are stunning, and that meant Momma was going wild with all her photos. We were so incredibly lucky with the weather that I ended the day with sunburn!
We arrived at our Airbnb and dragged our cases and multiple bags of snacks into the gaff. We weren’t really sure what to expect from Eyemouth.. it certainly isn’t quaint, but it definitely has its own charm. It has one of the biggest harbours in the region, and plenty of restaurants and bakeries to keep us going for the rest of our time here. We had originally planned to have a chippy tea on the beach with a bottle of wine,but as always, the weather had other ideas. As the coastal fog descended, and the temperature dropped, we decided to have it outside the chippy, on a bench, by the harbour.
The Travelling Ginger 