“Devastating” was one of the words used to describe the vast numbers of trees which were brought down in the woods near West Barns recently.  Many of the pines had been planted on the sandy soil in the 1950s and so had shallow roots but the area lay in the path of Storm Arwen in late November.  Taking advantage of the good weather we set off to walk from Tyninghame to the John Muir Country Park and back.  It was too windy and cold to stop at our usual place at Hedderwick sands but once we got to the shelter of the pine woods nearby we found a sheltered place in the sunshine to warm up with a flask of soup.  There were innumerable tree trunks to sit on as so many trees had been blown down and well over half of the trees had fallen or been snapped. Every track we took was blocked by trees although the rangers had cleared the paths around the perimeter of the woods.  Usually it is a tranquil place full of birds and it seemed today that there were still many around with plenty of places to build their nests among the fallen branches.  The tall trees with just their tops remaining must be about 50 metres high.
The frost had made the muddy paths and tracks on way back towards Tyninghame easy walking and it was a relief then to warm up in the car.  We passed the gritters, Snow Connery and Sir Salter Scott preparing the A1 for the anticipated icy roads and possible snow showers later