Redheugh Salmon Station

The weather forecast said there was to be occasional showers of rain today. That didn't sound too bad so I went for a wander down to Redheugh near Cockburnspath. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to that ominous looking sky.

I parked at the farm and headed down the track to the coastguard cottages before I started the descent of the cliffs. The track is pretty indistinct but the slope was reasonable which was just as well because halfway down there was a flash of lightning, a long rumble of thunder and a "shower" started. I decided to keep going, believing the rain wouldn't last for long. How wrong I was!

It got darker and the rain was really lashing down by the time I reached the shore. I sheltered under an overhang of rock whilst Fly happily sat in the rain as squall after squall gusted in off the sea.

 I eventually gave up trying to shelter and decided to make the best of it and scramble along under the cliffs. At a lower tide it's a lot easier as there is an old track cut through the rock for horses and carts.

After a lot of slipping and sliding, and occasionally having to lift Fly over particularly steep rocks, I made it to the old boat shed. There was a salmon fishing station here but I think this shed was property of  the local coastguard. 

The rails for launching and recovering are still in place and further along the beach was the remains of a winch. The rain was getting really heavy now so I sheltered in the shed in the vague hope that it would ease. I also took the chance to try to dry out the camera.

Fly was busy farther along the beach. Unbelievably she had managed to find a tennis ball amongst miles of boulders.

The salmon fishing bothy.

Not much left now but there is a fire place and that big rope that is strung across the building would be ideal for stringing a hammock.

There was one final building that I had heard of but had missed last time I was here. Apparently there was a little power station above the boat house and sure enough when I looked into the tiny shed there was a wee turbine and generation board.

Water flowed down the hill in the pipe that enters the far corner of the building and through the green turbine.

Big old control valve for the water supply. I managed to resist the temptation to try to turning it.

Great old switches and cutouts. Dr Frankenstein would have been proud of a board like that.

 A bank of old Lucas lead acid batteries.

The rain had finally eased but with all the time I had spent nosing along the shore, the tide had risen farther than I had allowed for. So rather than retrace my route I took the other option and started up cliffs following the line of the poles carrying the electricity wires to the farm.

As the cloud lifted a little, the red of the local sandstone became apparent in the cliffs.

Back at the farm and the swallows were flitting across the pond feeding on the insects. They were too fast to catch on the camera. Not quite so fast was this older collie that had the sense to stay undercover in a barn.

Big old 25 tooth sprocket. It must have been some size of chain that fitted it. I was soaked when I got back to the car and feeling that climb back up the cliffs but it was a good outing and Fly has slept all afternoon.