The Magic of the Sea

In my 34 years so far on this planet, I've lived in 11 different houses but Newburgh Beach is the place I feel most at home. It's a magical place on the North East coast of Scotland, 20 minutes North of Aberdeen and the family home where I grew up.

Growing up in our house, a trip to the beach wasn't just reserved for sunny days and holidays, we'd go in all weathers and all year round, on regular days and on special days. Some of my favourite childhood memories are with my parents and my brother Cameron, running up the biggest sand dune and sliding back down again screaming with joy and laughter as we'd race, sand filling our socks and shoes as we went. Mum would joke about us trying to bring the beach home with us as we traipsed it back into the car and house with us on our feet. Only now I understand why Dad was always having to clean the car.

We'd eat our sandwiches at the top of the sand dune, feeling like explorers who'd reached the peak of a mountain. The view was wonderful. The perfect spot to see the sprawling beach stretching ten miles towards Aberdeen and best of all a brilliant vantage point to watch the seal colony that made it's home at the mouth of the estuary. Although the spot was always the same, the view could transform dramatically, changing with the weather, the seasons and the tide – even revealing a ship wreck when the tide moves out.

How this place evolves with the natural world around it isn't the only magical quality. It's wide open space had the ability to open us up too. Even as moody, sulky teenagers, with thoughts sometimes as dark as the storm clouds, there was something about Newburgh that allowed us to walk and talk and relax in each-others company like nowhere else. For me, there's something immensely powerful about the sea. The sound of the waves rhythmically crashing into the shore, looking out over the horizon and thinking of the depths of the sea and the expanse of life below the surface. I can't help but feel small and insignificant. It helps put life into perspective for me in a way nothing else can. Whenever I've had concerns on my mind, whether family, friends, fertility or finances, I find myself seeking out the sea as a form of therapy. My problems always feel smaller, my thoughts clearer and my mind calmer.

As we got older, my brother would spend time hunting through the stones and pebbles, searching for the perfect 'skimmer' and practice throwing them until his arm ached. Whilst he'd have the stones skimming over the water with bounces easily in the double figures, I'd never get more than one bounce before the inevitable 'plop'. I didn't mind, my favourite thing was to watch the 400 strong seal colony, especially when they had pups and you could see them lolloping about on the sand banks with all the grace of a fairy elephant. I could watch them for hours.

There would always be a handful of seals in the water either fishing or on the look-out. It was as if they were on sentry duty, protecting the colony and closely observing all those who had come to observe them. Their big, dark eyes would track you as you walked, heads bobbing in the water and then disappearing below the surface only to pop up moments later, closer to you and still looking straight at you. The wind would carry their voices across the water as they bellowed loudly at each-other, often all chatting at once. We visited once on Hogmanay and they were particularly animated as if they were excited for the festivities that lay ahead that evening.

Although as an adult I moved away from Aberdeen and so no longer have the chance to visit Newburgh Beach so often, it's influence is still very evident in my life. My husband and I trained as marine mammal medics to learn how to rescue seal pups, we made sure to buy a house close to the sea and I can often still be heard saying ' it's a lovely day for a walk at the beach' on a day when the weather would mean most people would choose to stay indoors.

Newburgh Beach continues to bring magic into my life, last year I was able to bring my own little family to Newburgh for a holiday. Seeing my son splashing in the sea, looking for that perfect pebble to throw across the water, racing up the sand dune (which now felt so much smaller) and his eyes lighting up as he was mesmerized by the seals are memories I will cherish forever.

Home truly is where the heart is and a piece of my heart will always firmly be on the beach of Newburgh.