70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WALK

To celebrate what would have been Andrew’s 70th birthday on Saturday 12th November 2022, a small family group travelled to his favourite haunt of North Berwick for a day at the seaside. Here follows an account of the day by his son David with pictures.

The day began with my wee family (consisting of my fiancée Sophie, daughter Isabelle and I) catching the 10.40am train to North Berwick, which of course would take us along the very line that Dad wrote an excellent history of. Breakfast on the move was a cheese and pickle baguette, another Andy favourite.

The short but picturesque journey got exciting when the The Law first came into sight, pictured here with Saltcoats castle in the foreground.

Alighting at North Berwick Station and ready for a day at the beach!

We arrive before the rest of the family, so we start with a walk through Lodge Grounds and down the Fairy Glen, coming out in the surprisingly warm November sunshine at the Glen Golf Course near the far end of East Beach.

First things first, a serious dig! Before long a truly resplendent sandcastle had been constructed, with a small river channeled in to create a moat.

Unsatisfied with this modest effort, we decided to undertake a much greater feat, namely to divert the entire river, which meandered over the beach, to a much more direct route which involved an exhausting labour of effort in digging out a trench as deep as 2 feet at its deepest for a long stretch over a thick sandbank. Unfortunately once started it was a job that needed to be completed, and as a result we were rather late to meet the rest of the family for lunch! Of course we figured that Andy would’ve done the same.

When we reached the Seabird Centre, Andy’s wife Kate, brother Stef and daughter Cath were all awaiting us there. After a great lunch sat outside overlooking the town, beach and the Law, we took Andy’s beloved bearded collie Bob and Cath’s borkie pup Chewy for a walk along East Beach, Dad’s favourite route.

Reaching the spot where we had done our river engineering works, we were dismayed to discover the river had retaken its original course. So the whole family joined in to dam the old course and deepen the new one. What fun it was to be diverting rivers again, one of Dad’s favourite things to do on our childhood trips to the seaside. And this time it was my turn to take his place as the one who takes it more seriously than the kids do!

After this we continued along to the end of the beach and climbed up the cliffs, taking the path by the golf course atop the cliffs, affording lovely views over to the Bass Rock. Just behind me is the small beach, which at low tide connects the mainland to the grassy islets, and the place where we scattered dad’s ashes earlier in the year.

We ventured down to the beach and played amongst the rocks, posing for a final group picture.

It was beginning to get dark so after a long spell on the beach, we set off on our separate ways. Kate, Stef and Bob set off first, whilst Cath, Chewy, Soph, Isabelle and I stayed a little longer, then made our way slowly back to the town centre for a well deserved treat of chips smothered in salt ‘n’ sauce from the North Berwick Fry and an ice cream from Alandas, eaten on the benches by the war memorial gardens.

Cath drove us home in the dark (it was only 5 o clock but the night had already descended) and, to top off the day, I read Isabelle stories from an old Rupert bear annual.

A truly marvellous day and a fitting way to celebrate Andy’s birthday. Happy 70th pops!