Latest news with #ScottishSeabirdCentre
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Underrated UK seaside town has picturesque sandy beaches and no crowds
An underrated UK seaside town boasts stretches of sandy beaches, rock pools for the kids and a picturesque harbour - and the bonus of not being packed with crowds Brits looking to get inspired for their next staycation may want to check out one underrated seaside town with a pretty marina, sandy beaches and a lido at low tide for kids to enjoy. North Berwick in Scotland isn't a hidden gem but it has all of the perks of a seaside town, without having huge crowds of tourists that you might find in other UK holiday hotspots. I visited the town in early August when it was hot, sunny and the town was hosting the Fringe by the Sea festival, so I was fully prepared to deal with a mass of fellow tourists. However I was pleasantly surprised; although it was a little busy no doubt because of the festival, there was still plenty of breathing space to enjoy a stroll around the town and along the waterfront. (It has more of a buzz than England's cheapest seaside spot full of abandoned £40k homes 'nobody wants'). Despite it being a heatwave day, the sandy stretches of beach were not too crowded either. There were plenty of families set up for the day with their towels, sandcastle tools and picnic baskets at the ready, but there was still plenty of space if you wanted to set up camp yourself. Low tide reveals an enclosed tidal pool with shallow waters which was a hit with families, especially those with young children. There were also plenty of rock pools for them to explore, and of course those all-important ice cream trucks just a stone's throw away. Along the beaches sits a long promenade lined with waterfront homes, and it's an easy stroll from one end to another (the whole thing took me about half an hour to walk). For bird watchers, there's plenty you'll want to explore. For a start North Berwick is home to the Scottish Seabird Centre, while the beach offers views across the water to the Firth of Forth and the Bass Rock, which plays host to the world's largest northern gannet colony. As for the town itself, it's got that quintessential seaside charm. There's a pretty marina full of boats, cobbled streets lined with colourful buildings, plenty of cafés and a host of ice cream parlours. We were told by locals that Alandas Gelato was a must-try, but sadly the queue was just a bit too long. Those queues were no doubt because the town was hosting the annual Fringe by the Sea festival. This brilliant alternative to the main Fringe festival in Edinburgh has a very laidback vibe and it's family-friendly. There were heaps of food and drink stalls, a crafts tent for kids, and included a big top tent where you could book tickets to watch a series of talks and performances. For those who like to pick up a souvenir or two, there were local shops selling some of their merchandise too. This year's festival has come to a close but you can find out more on It's definitely one I'll be returning too; the laidback atmosphere, the festival and the pretty beach made for a brilliant day out, and the fact it's around an hour's drive away from Edinburgh means it's easily doable as part of a wider Scottish road trip.
-Jamie-McDermaid-Scottish-Seabird-Centre.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26auto%3Dwebp%26quality%3D75%26trim%3D221%2C249%2C73%2C189%26crop%3D&w=3840&q=100)
Scotsman
07-08-2025
- General
- Scotsman
Why massive Berwick Bank windfarm can and must be stopped
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Scottish Government has given approval for an offshore windfarm that is predicted to kill up to 260 gannets, 2,808 guillemots, 814 kittiwakes, 65 puffins, and 154 razorbills every year. Berwick Bank is set to be one of the world's largest offshore windfarms. Located around 40km off the East Lothian coast in the outer Firth of Forth, and close to iconic natural wonders like Bass Rock and the Isle of May, it will be built on prime foraging ground for seabirds. These predicted casualty numbers are in addition to the many thousands of birds that are expected to be displaced by the development, forced to find alternative places to fish. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There are many, many better places for offshore windfarms around Scotland and we have a responsibility to protect the internationally important seabirds breeding around our coastlines. Yet these facts failed to sway the decision. A guillemot flying past St Abb's Head, with a windfarm in the distance (Picture: Jamie McDermaid) | Scottish Seabird Centre Nature loses out again In the face of promises of investment and growth, ministers' commitments to tackling the nature emergency and reversing the calamitous declines in biodiversity once again crumbled. If this story feels familiar, that's because it's one that keeps on repeating itself. In 2008, the SNP government agreed to Donald Trump's proposal to build two new golf courses on the Aberdeenshire coast, overruling advice from conservation charities like the RSPB and the government's own nature adviser, NatureScot (then Scottish Natural Heritage). A decade later, NatureScot confirmed that the damage to the dune network caused by the development was so great that it had 'destroyed the dynamic nature of the site' and the area no longer merited being a protected area as a result. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Yet decision-makers everywhere appear unable to learn from sad stories like this one. For example, the UK Government has this year been promising to dispense with environmental protections to unlock economic growth, with the Chancellor lashing out at bats, newts and even snails for blocking development. The argument that nature is a barrier to growth, and that government's role is to overcome that barrier, is as tired as it is false. Our prosperity and wellbeing is built upon a healthy natural environment. In 2021, the UK Government published a major independent review of the economics of biodiversity by the economist Sir Partha Dasgupta. It concluded that nature 'is our greatest asset', upon which our economies, livelihoods and wellbeing depend. But governments north and south of the Border consistently fail to account for this asset in their decision-making. A kittiwake with its chick (Picture: Emily Burton) | Scottish Seabird Centre 'Compensation' plan not credible In the case of Berwick Bank, the Scottish Government will argue that they have accounted for nature by requiring the developer to have a 'seabird compensation plan' that must be agreed before work can start. This plan will have to set out how the developer will, for example, fund projects that create an additional 260 new gannets a year to compensate for the 260 that may be killed by the windfarm. In smaller numbers, this approach might be feasible. Compensation provides a realistic route for lower-impact windfarms to be built while ensuring there is no net negative impact on our natural environment. But the sheer scale of the challenge for Berwick Bank, which would require compensation for tens of thousands of dead seabirds over its lifetime, is simply not credible. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It is simply the wrong place to build a windfarm. Many other offshore windfarms are being proposed in places where the impact on nature will be a fraction of that of Berwick Bank. Many of these are employing floating wind technology, which has rapidly advanced in recent years, rather than turbines that are fixed to the seabed. This allows development further offshore, in deeper sea that is less important to seabirds and other wildlife. A good example of this is Ossian, a similar sized windfarm to Berwick Bank that also counts SSE Renewables among its backers. In contrast, however, Ossian will use floating turbines and is set to be developed in deeper waters around 80km off the east coast of Scotland, resulting in far fewer risks to wildlife. Better places Offshore wind, and indeed other renewable energy technologies, are not incompatible with nature. It's poor planning and decision-making that fails to value nature which is at the root of conflicts such as this one. A strategic approach to developing Scotland's offshore wind industry would seek to guide development to these lower impact sites, screening out the most sensitive areas of our seas from the outset. This approach would minimise environmental impacts, and it gives developers greater certainty, reducing the risk of conflict and delays. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ultimately, the offshore wind sector enjoys public support because it promises a greener future. Betray that promise, and its license to operate will inevitably come under ever greater public scrutiny. But Berwick Bank proceeding also threatens lower impact windfarms in other ways. No project is without impact, and many of these windfarms will be required to invest in compensation too. However, there are only so many credible means of delivering compensation for killing seabirds, and the scale of Berwick Bank's requirements threatens to hoover them up and leave little left over for other projects. Similarly, there is only so much government support available for windfarms, and Berwick Bank will require a considerable slice of the pie. All of this is why we and so many others from the nature conservation community are not giving up. Berwick Bank, as it is currently proposed, can and must be stopped. Both to protect nature, and to build a thriving, clean, green offshore renewables industry in Scotland.
The Herald Scotland
31-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Berwick Bank approval a 'dark day for seabirds' warn nature groups
Developers have said this could generate enough electricity each year to power every household in Scotland around twice over. Consent for the construction and operation of the wind farm is still subject to the developer, SSE Renewables, producing a detailed sea bird compensation plan outlining how adverse impacts on seabirds will be compensated for, and nature charities have expressed their concerns about the project. Read More: Anne McCall, Director of RSPB Scotland, said: 'This is a very dark day for seabirds. It is a terrible decision on a really bad development. 'Berwick Bank would be catastrophic for Scotland's globally important seabirds which are already facing alarming declines. In addition, its impacts are so damaging they will make the relative impacts of other windfarms significantly higher. This one windfarm is going to make it really challenging to accelerate renewable projects across Scottish seas. We are incredibly concerned that Scottish Government have granted consent for a project which could catapult some of Scotland's most-loved seabird species towards extinction. 'RSPB Scotland recognises climate change is one of the biggest threats to seabirds, but there needs to be seabirds left to save. We support nature-positive offshore wind, in the right locations with minimised impacts on wildlife and measures to restore and protect seabird populations. But this is predicted to be one of the most damaging windfarms for birds we are aware of anywhere on the planet. 'We will be carefully scrutinising the details of the consent documents over the coming hours and days and considering what further steps we will take.' Harry Huyton, CEO of the Scottish Seabird Centre, said: 'The Scottish Government's decision to consent Berwick Bank today is devastating news for seabirds, with tens of thousands expected to be killed by the development. "The Scottish Seabird Centre and nature charities across Scotland have repeatedly called on the Scottish Government to refuse consent for Berwick Bank and to instead back lower impact windfarms, and we are grateful to the thousands of supporters who have emailed the Cabinet Secretary in support of this campaign. It's deeply disappointing that these concerns - and the advice of the Government's own adviser, NatureScot, who also objected to the development - appear to have been ignored. "While a consent has been issued today, it remains conditional on the developer, SSE, developing a robust plan to compensate for the impact of the development on seabirds. Given the sheer scale of impact, we are sceptical that such a plan could ever be developed. "From one of the world's largest gannet colonies on Bass Rock to the kittiwake and razorbill colonies at St Abbs Head, Scotland is privileged to be home to internationally important populations of seabirds. We have a responsibility to protect these extraordinary species, yet most seabird species in Scotland are in decline and many have been hit hard in recent years by avian flu. Consenting Berwick Bank risks further fuelling declines, in direct contradiction to the Scottish Government's commitments to tackle the nature emergency. "We will now look closely at this deeply concerning decision and consider next steps.'
Scotsman
09-07-2025
- Climate
- Scotsman
All the beaches in Edinburgh and East Lothian on the government's designated bathing waters list
Scotland is gearing up for a heatwave and, according to the Met Office, temperatures in Edinburgh could climb to as high as 28C this weekend. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Scottish Government has released their designated bathing waters list just in time before the heat starts to rise in the Scottish capital. Under the Bathing Waters (Scotland) Regulations 2008 Scottish Ministers designate bathing waters where a large number of people are expected to bathe while considering past trends, facilities at these waters and promotional efforts to encourage people to bathe there. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The primary reason for designating the waters is to safeguard the health of those who use them by monitoring the water quality regularly between peak annual time of use of 1 June to 15 September. Find your nearest bathing waters in Edinburgh and East Lothian Find your nearest bathing waters in Edinburgh and East Lothian below. City of Edinburgh Portobello (Central) - a popular sandy beach in the Portobello area of Edinburgh, located about 4 miles from the city center. Portobello (West) - the west beach forms the northern section of the 2-mile stretch of sandy coast towards Joppa. Wardie Bay - a small, urban beach situated beside Granton Harbour on the North Side of Edinburgh. East Lothian Broad Sands - also known as Yellowcraig, a sandy beach surrounded by forest and grassland with views out to Fidra Island. Dunbar (Belhaven) - also known as Belhaven Bay, a beach within John Muir Country Park. Dunbar (East) - a beach close to Dunbar town centre, known for rockpooling. Fisherrow Sands - sand and shingle beach in Musselburgh, views over the Firth of Forth. Gullane - one of the most popular beaches in the east of Scotland, boasts family friendly facilities. Longniddry - a beach known for good watersports conditions due to its location on the coastline and in the Forth. North Berwick (Milsey Bay) - a popular family beach with views of the Bass Rock. North Berwick (West) - a beach close to North Berwick town centre with views of Bass Rock and a short walk to the Scottish Seabird Centre. Seacliff - a secluded, quiet beach home to the UK's smallest harbour with views of the Bass Rock and Tantallon Castle. Seton Sands - a sandy and rocky beach located on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Thorntonloch - a sandy beach almost hidden behind the rock outcrop at Torness Point. Whitesands - golden sand beach surrounded by rocky areas and low-rise cliffs. Yellowcraig - a natural cove with views over to the 1885 lighthouse on Fidra Island which is said to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's book Treasure Island. If you're unsure if the bathing waters you intend to visit this weekend are safe to bathe in, visit the Scottish Government website here .
The Herald Scotland
24-06-2025
- Climate
- The Herald Scotland
Two rescued after inflatable kayak blown out to sea
Volunteers from North Berwick RNLI launched the charity's inshore lifeboat SUNIJO, to assist. Guided by members of North Berwick Coastguard Rescue Team, and tour vessels from the Scottish Seabird Centre, the crew were able to quickly locate and assist the two casualties, bringing them safely ashore. This was the second call out in two days after the crew responded to a vessel experiencing engine difficulties and drifting onto rocks on Monday morning. READ MORE: Helm Fraser Fulton said: 'Offshore winds are seen as a 'hidden' danger at the coast. It may seem sheltered right inshore, but further out to sea the conditions are significantly different, with large waves and stronger winds that can be difficult to paddle against. 'We advise against using any inflatable, not powered by an engine, on the sea during offshore winds. Unfortunately in North Berwick, with the prevailing SW'ly winds, that is the majority of the time. Indeed a large proportion of callouts for ourselves here in North Berwick are due to offshore winds, including a very serious incident last year involving stand up paddleboards. 'Always check the forecast, if it is an offshore wind, don't go out. If you are heading onto the water, no matter the conditions, wear a buoyancy aid or lifejacket and carry your mobile phone in a waterproof pouch, or a handheld VHF radio. In any coastal emergency, dial 999 for the Coastguard.'
