One of my favourite trips during our summer staycation was a family hike at St Abb’s Head. Not only is it a real pleasure to finally be able to take the children on decent walks, but it was a particular highlight to visit a place that holds such special memories for me.

Nearly 20 years ago, I visited St Abb’s with WUSAC, the Warwick University Sub Aqua Club on a diving holiday.  The weather was so dire that I think I only logged about 30 minutes under water during a full week away (!), but the friendships I formed and strengthened on that trip, as we stayed warm in the local pub, have lasted two decades. It was then that I first became friends with Matt.  Although some time before we started dating, it was still fun to take our two children back to the place where we first got to know each other!  And even better to see it without rain and high wind!!

So, we all donned our hiking boots, and set off on the National Trust for Scotland paths out to the St Abb’s lighthouse.

The weather was grey and dramatic, but really mild, so the children scampered along the cliff paths in t-shirts.

The views were stunning with dramatic rock formations, steep cliff drops and rocks out at sea being sprayed by the surf.

The path was undulating, but not too tricky for the children and we were pleased when it dipped down towards the water, promising the chance of getting close to the waves.

Sure enough, we found ourselves in a tiny cove without any other hikers in sight.

And so, of course, the children immediately set to work stone skimming and throwing rocks to see how big a splash they could achieve!

I love this silly series of pictures of my duo – they had so much fun together this day.  Alex can always make his sister giggle!

After a bit of a play, we followed the path back up to the top of the cliffs and along to the remote lighthouse.

Before we turned back in land to walk back to the trailhead, we found ourselves at one of our old dive sites – Pettico Wick Bay.  I remember the weather being so bad that most of us abandoned our dives (and I also remember swallowing a lot of salty water as I tried to get out of the surf all those years ago!).  It was looking a lot calmer and inviting on our return!

Sadly, with no diving gear on us, we stuck to the paths and slowly made our way back through fields and along lanes to the National Trust cafe where we rewarded ourselves with some absolutely delicious lemon cake!

We had such a lovely day – the walk was a perfect length for little legs, but long enough for us grown ups to feel like we’d had a decent hike and blown the cobwebs away a little.

It left us feeling confident enough to attempt a Lake District fell on our way home…