St Abbs Head National Nature Reserve
Starney Bay NTS
People come from far and wide to enjoy the splendours of the National Trust for Scotland's Nature Reserve at St Abbs Head and the property has something to offer everyone all year round. The coastal scenery is spectacular, the rugged cliffs plunging 90m to the sea affording panoramic views as far as the Isle of May to the north-west, the Farne Islands to the south-east and the Cheviot to the south.
The wildlife is rich and varied, that is why the area is a designated a National Nature reserve, one of only 54 in the whoile of Scotland, and has designations that reflect its international importance. The area is perhaps most famous for its seabirds - when tens of thousands of birds jostle for space on the cliffs at the height of the breeding season it is truly an awesome experience. And there is all sorts of other wildlife too - colourful carpets of wild flowers and the butterflies that they attract, wildfowl on the Mire Loch, rare and unusual migrant birds in the loch side woodlands, and the headland is also a great vantage point for spotting whales and dolphins.
The wildlife is rich and varied, that is why the area is a designated a National Nature reserve, one of only 54 in the whoile of Scotland, and has designations that reflect its international importance. The area is perhaps most famous for its seabirds - when tens of thousands of birds jostle for space on the cliffs at the height of the breeding season it is truly an awesome experience. And there is all sorts of other wildlife too - colourful carpets of wild flowers and the butterflies that they attract, wildfowl on the Mire Loch, rare and unusual migrant birds in the loch side woodlands, and the headland is also a great vantage point for spotting whales and dolphins.
St Abbs Head also boasts a cultural history dating back some 3000 years. Perhaps the most notable is Kirk Hill where the remains of St Ebba's Chapel and the later St Abbs Kirk make it an extremely important religious site. But there is also evidence in the landscape of a wider influence by man - from the rig and furrow of early argriculture, to the lighthouse, to the Mire Loch and Boat House and even the remains of a golf course !
With so much to offer, it is not surprising that so many people come to explore the reserve. And even though they do, you can still get a feeling of being in a really wild and remote place a mere couple of miles from the A1.
Useful links:
Follow the St Abbs Rangers blog to find out what the Rangers get up to.
National Trust for Scotland
Scotland's National Nature Reserves - St Abbs
With so much to offer, it is not surprising that so many people come to explore the reserve. And even though they do, you can still get a feeling of being in a really wild and remote place a mere couple of miles from the A1.
Useful links:
Follow the St Abbs Rangers blog to find out what the Rangers get up to.
National Trust for Scotland
Scotland's National Nature Reserves - St Abbs
Registered Charity Number SCIO22555