Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Two and three quarter miles south from the end of Spittal promenade, past the sandstone slabs at Huds Head and the old Scremerston colliery ground, to the dunes and limekilns at Cocklawburn. It is beach and low cliff-top path the whole way, dropping onto sand wherever the tide allows, and it is one of the few Northumberland walks where you can go the whole distance and meet nobody. There is no seasonal dog ban on any of it: the county dog control PSPO lists only Newbiggin and Blyth as restricted beaches. Time it round the tide, because the rock shelves below Huds Head cover on a big flood and force you up onto a narrow path above them.
A large Haven caravan park on the cliff top at Magdalene Fields, ten minutes' walk from the Elizabethan walls and with its own steps down to the sand. Haven's own park page states plainly: "We welcome dogs with open arms! There's a dog-friendly beach and restaurant terrace as well as nearby areas to walk that'll make your pooches' tails wag. You can even bring well-behaved dogs into designated areas of the main restaurant." Dogs go in pet-friendly caravans only, which are a subset of the stock and must be selected at booking, so a general availability search will show you vans you cannot use. The Brigs of Tweed is the on-park bar and restaurant with the dog terrace.
An easy mile and three quarters there and back along Quay Walls, past Ness Gate and out onto the half-mile stone pier to the squat red lighthouse at its end, with the whole of Spittal and the Tweed mouth on one side and open North Sea on the other. It is flat concrete and stone the whole way with no stiles and no gates. The council's dog control PSPO carries no exclusion or lead order here. What matters instead is the sea: the pier has no railing on the seaward side for much of its length, waves break clean over the parapet in any easterly, and it is closed off by the harbour authority in rough weather. Keep a dog close and turn round if spray is landing on the deck.
Three and a half miles there and back upstream from below Stephenson's Royal Border Bridge, following the north bank of the Tweed out of town through the trees to the Whiteadder confluence and Canty's Bridge on the Paxton road. It leaves the crowds within five minutes and the far end is all heron, goosander and salmon nets. Bank path and estate track, muddy after rain and with two kissing gates. The county dog control PSPO puts no exclusion or lead order on the route, so it is off-lead ground, but the bank is undercut in places with a fast deep river below and the last field before Canty's Bridge is grazed.
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