We had some huge, wild tides during December in Dunbar and a visit to Dunbar Harbour showed some polar opposites in the state of the incoming waves. I walked down to the Victoria Harbour (aerial photos and history) built in the 1840s, and stood below the castle walls, when I looked across the entrance to the harbour, I saw a huge wave coming over the harbour wall and drenching the walkway below. I then walked along the harbour side to the fairly recently refurbished Battery (photos and history) and I could see the massive waves hitting the breakwater between the Battery and the Old Harbour (see Battery link). The photo below shows the breakwater, which was originally the way fishing boats approached the entrance to the Cromwell Harbour or Old Harbour. This is built of huge natural rocks and some concrete slabs and has to be reinforced from time to time, because of the force of the winter storms. It was a wonderful experience just to stand and watch the incoming waves transfer themselves into dramatic bursts of white water in the air. There was an interesting light in this mid-afternoon and the photo shows a pink tinge in the clouds to the left of the harbour wall.
You can relive my joyful experience in the video below. No need for commentary with the stimulating sound of the waves. In the distance, you can see Barns Ness Lighthouse (previous blog post).
By contrast, when I walked back over the bridge to the main harbour, all was calm. The photo below shows the view across the harbour from the Battery. With the recent storms, there were no fishing boats in the harbour to prevent possible damage. In the foreground, you can see piles of creels ready to be used. Not long after this photo was taken, Storm Babet (lifeboat video) damaged or destroyed hundreds of creels, and today the whole harbourside is lined with creels in various states of repair. The castle walls across the harbour are home only to a few seagulls at this time of year, the kittiwakes having left in August.
I walked along to the Old Harbour, packed with its own resident boats, plus those from the main harbour where, again, the water was calm. The photo below shows some of the boats in the harbour and the most prominent is LH 46 – Fiddlers Green – and you can read a detailed description of the boat here. Like my last photo of the Old Harbour, I have captured the Dunbar Parish Church (photos and history) between the masts. You can also see the roofs of the houses along the shore and stretching back into town. The white square on the top right of the photo is the Fisherman’s Monument (photo and history).
At the end of the Old Harbour wall, going towards the town, there is a slipway from which fishing boats used to be launched. When I reached this point, I was greeted by a roar of the sea and looked out upon hectic waves, throwing themselves against the sea wall. The photo below shows the approaching waves which will hit the walls all along the unseen beach, and against the walls of the houses which you can see from the white house going left. The Parish Church looms above the town – such edifices were meant to impress – and the chimneys of the late Victorian age are prominent. In some ways, given the noise and the force of the waves, this could be seen as a violent scene, with the waves, as one poet put it, dragged by the hair on to the shore. I prefer the version which views the waves as hurtling and dancing forwards and leaping joyfully against the wall. It is a mesmerising sight and despite the noise, quite calming.
I took this video at the slipway to remind me of this experience that day. This is a unique sight as no incoming tide is exactly the same as the next one.
Tags: Barns Ness Lighthouse, beach, big tide, breakwater, creels, Cromwell Harbour, Dunbar Battery, dunbar harbour, Fiddlers Green, Fishermen's Monument, kittiwakes, LH 46, ocean, Old Harbour, Parish Church, sea, slipway, storm, Storm Babet, Victoria Harbour, waves, youtube video
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