St Abb's Head

Viewed from the sea for the first time. It was interesting to get a different take on St Abb's Head which I know quite well from the cliff tops, but today T and I did a trip in a RIB from Eyemouth which gave us this view. If you look hard, you should be able to see a huge number of nesting seabirds, mostly guillemots and razorbills with some kittiwakes as well. It was interesting to see a couple of gannets nesting on the cliff tops - they are an overflow from the Bass Rock which has no room for more gannets!

The extra photo is a detail from the Widows and Bairns, a memorial to the Eyemouth Fishing  Disaster of 14th October 1881 in which 189 men lost their lives. Many of them drowned within full view of their families on the shore.They left 93 widows and 267 children. Here is more about the disaster if you're interested.

The sculpture was created by Jill Watson and was unveiled on 14th October 2016. She said: "I have made a monument that commemorates the women and children left behind after the fishing disaster. It is the exact number of women and children so the figures are small on a very tall, narrow harbour wall."

"The sculpture is a timeline - it starts on Friday afternoon when the storm struck,.You have the women from the Harmony and Radiant boats - those two boats were smashed up literally in front of everybody's eyes. They heard the men shouting and they could do nothing to help them because the sea was so rough."

There is more about the sculpture here.