The Cove is a lovely wee harbour on the East coast of Scotland, not far from Dunbar. My Aunt and Uncle used to have a caravan at nearby Pease Bay and my cousins and I would walk round to the Cove on a regular basis when staying there each Summer. When the tide was out we’d go round the rocks and if it was in we’d take to the cliff top path. This had nothing to do with the café/sweetie shop that used to be there of course! Mmmmm! Kola Kubes, midget gems (not the black ones – yuk!), jelly babies, ice cream, they had the lot. And all washed down with Hubbly Bubbly juice – never saw that anywhere else. Have you ever heard of it?
Enough nostalgia – it’s not what it used to be anyway! There is a car park at N055.56.290 W002.21.216.
Warnings: The path itself is perfectly clear, but there are parts that are close to steep slopes and cliffs. Please be careful with the bairns and the beasts. Sadly, wheelchair users will not be able to reach the cache as the path is narrow in places and the cache itself is in an area of thickish grass. And with nettles hidden in the grass, I’d advise against shorts! (Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?!)
It’s not that bad, really. Would I be that nasty to you?! Never! The path itself makes up part of the Southern Upland Way and is well maintained.
To make up for any stings, I thought I’d put something worthwhile in the cache itself. How about some lovely money? I’ve seen plenty of coins and banknotes in caches I’ve found, so I thought I’d make this cache exclusively for cash! Welcome to the Geocache Foreign Exchange, where the exchange rate is always one in, one out. Coin or note, the choice is yours. There is a fair selection to start with – foreign and domestic. So look out your bawbees, groats, unicorns, ryals, testoons, nobles, merks and placks! These were all Scottish coins, for your information.
After you’ve tucked away the cache, remember to have a look back up the coast towards Torness. The view of the harbour from here is worth the journey all on its own, I think.
Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your time, but for a cracking day’s caching I’d recommend trying Meriadoc’s excellent trilogy around St. Abbs first, then chilling out here afterwards. If you’ve time try The Old Cone’s John Muir, too. The Cove harbour is such a quiet place to sit and have a picnic. If the sea is as inviting as it was today, why not go for a dip?! The sweetie shop is now gone, but if you are in need of refreshment try Cockburnspath or Dunbar, just up the road.
Just remember to bring some currency, traveller’s cheques are not accepted!