Christina Jansen recently enjoyed a short break in North Berwick. Just 31 minutes by train from Edinburgh, yet it feels a world away. Off season, with beautiful weather, there was plenty to enjoy, including long coastal walks with Stanley.
S.J. Peploe (1871–1935) painted regularly in North Berwick, and many of the familiar buildings and views he knew still survive today. The town sits on the Firth of Forth, with the Bass Rock dominating the horizon and the wide expanse of water catching an extraordinary clarity of light.
On a bright day, that light feels almost crystalline, sharpening the whitewashed buildings, pale sand, blue water and distant headlands into strong, simple shapes. North Berwick still has a painterly quality: compact, immediate and full of shifting colour.
The Bass Rock is impossible to ignore, appearing from almost every angle and changing constantly with the weather, season and time of day. Generations of artists have been drawn to North Berwick and its coastline, including Sir John Lavery, Peploe’s painting companion F.C.B. Cadell and John Houston. John Bellany returned to the Bass Rock many times, while Matthew Draper has also made a remarkable series of works inspired by its monumental presence.
