MY FAVOURITE PLACE

WHERE IS IT?

Tyninghame Beach, though to be entirely honest, I could have picked any of the beaches along the East Lothian coast. It’s approached through woods and sea buckthorn hedges thick with orange berries in the winter. When the tide is out, there are rockpools that surpass any I’ve seen elsewhere, full of sea anemones waving their fingers in the water.

The golden sands seem to stretch for miles before the blue sea and, standing proud above it all, the Bass Rock juts out ahead. It’s stunning.

WHY DO YOU GO THERE?

To recharge and to calm myself with the sea and the sky. I live most of the time in the middle of a city with no space, no vista, and with the constant sound of traffic and sirens in the background. Here there is no human sound, only the swell and the calling of the seabirds overhead.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU GO?

As often as I can, which is not often enough, but at least once a year. It was one of the places I missed most in lockdown. As soon as we were allowed to travel, I drove up with my family to see my parents in Edinburgh. As we approached North Berwick, driving uphill, I caught my first glimpse of Tantallon Castle silhouetted against the Bass Rock. I cried because I was so happy.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE MEMORY?

I remember hot summers from my childhood when I was only four or five. I mean properly hot, like being down by the Mediterranean. I also remember wearing a stripy dress and digging for sandcastles, before running in and out of the sea to cool down. Then stopping at Luca’s in Musselburgh on the way home for pink ice cream.

HOW DID YOU DISCOVER IT?

My parents would take me and my brother there as children, and I’ve been returning ever since.

WHO DO YOU TAKE?

My family.

WHAT DO YOU TAKE?

Sandwiches, apples, a blanket and a book. And millions of photographs.

WHAT DO YOU LEAVE BEHIND?

I wish my answer was my phone. I should leave my phone behind, and switch off properly, but I don’t. But it does mean that I can use it to take photographs, which I return to time after time when the pressure of city living gets too much.

SUM IT UP IN FIVE WORDS.

Calm. Beautiful. Expansive. Secluded. Blue.

WHAT OTHER TRAVEL SPOT IS ON YOUR WISH LIST?

I’m about to take a break on the northwest coast of Scotland, visiting the “Great Wilderness”, Torridon and Skye. I can’t wait.

It Ends At Midnight by Harriet Tyce is published by Wildfire on Thursday, £16.99. The author has bookstore events at Waterstones Glasgow (Argyle Street) on April 11 and Waterstones Edinburgh (West End) on April 12. Visit waterstones.com/ events