Lumsdaine Shore was once the haunt of smugglers. This remote part of the Berwickshire coast is truly spectacular. This cache is at the top of some of the highest cliffs on the east coast.
Description
The Lumsdaine Shore cache is located at the top of one of the highest cliffs on the east coast of Britain, offering breathtaking views of St Abbs Head to the south and the Bass rock, May Island, and Fife to the north, across the Firth of Forth. The stony beach 400 feet below the cache was once a site where fishermen launched their small boats, farmers gathered seaweed for fertilizer, and smugglers brought ashore brandy and tea.
Ships would lay alongside the rocks to unload their untaxed contraband, and the cliffs are speckled with caves where smugglers may have stored casks of tobacco and barrels of port. A precarious path zigzags back and forth seven times to descend the scree down to the beach.
The cache site also provides an excellent vantage point to observe grey seals pupping during October and November. However, you will need binoculars, as the seals are 400 feet below. Additionally, the site is near a small memorial to RAF Squadron Leader Paul Victor Lloyd, who tragically died when his Jaguar GR1A crashed into the cliffside.
You can start your walk to the cache from Dowlaw Farm, or St Abbs. Then walk along the Berwickshrie coastal path to reach the cache site. We can recommend the route in from Dowlaw Farm, follwing the path down to the head of Dowlaw Dean. After crossing the burn at the stone bridge, climb the fence and follow along the the east side of the Dowlaw Dean to the coast. Then follow the clifftop east to the cache site. This route offers great view of the Souter sea stack and Brander point.
When you leave the cache please make sure that it is still well concealed below the small cairn of stones.
The cache is a large plastic ammo box, so has lots of room for large items.
Cache placed with the kind permission of the National Trust for Scotland.