Jawbones return to North Berwick Law

I had occasion to visit North Berwick a few years ago, and despite numerous return trips at the time, was never able to make the time to have a wander up to the top of Berwick Law and have a look at the whale’s jawbone arch that I could see there.

The visits ended, but I didn’t realise the opportunity to visit the arch had gone as well. The arch is reported to have been replaced three times since 1709, and the most recent incarnation was removed amid safety fears in 2005, having been there for about 70 years.

It seems that the hike up the hills is back on the agenda again, as the bone items are to be replaced by a wood, fibreglass, and steel replica which will be placed on the hilltop, using a helicopter to transport the new version which weighs in at 560 kg and stands 6.5 metres (21 ft) high.

Unlike its predecessors, which might have been considered to have been “free”, the new arch cost around £20,000 and was donated by an anonymous friend of North Berwick, who has earned the thanks of all those who missed the original, and felt the hilltop to be bare without the established marker.

The site figured as the centre of an April 1 prank in 2007, when the empty arch location was provided with a “new” arch made of plastic pipes held together with duct tape.

Picture from 2000 © Kevin Rae.