There are some people who believe that the Scottish-English border runs along the line of Hadrian's Wall, however that has not been the case since the Romans left. In fact the border line has changed many times over the last two millennia and if you want to see the most recent evidence of this you must pay a visit to Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Back in October we did just that, taking Vannie for another trip over the border (just) to Berwick on the banks of the River Tweed. We stayed in Seaview campsite in Spittal (just across the river from Berwick) and it really did have a sea view:
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| Looking over Spittal to the North Sea from Caravan Park |
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| Mouth of the Tweed from Caravan Park |
One of the first things we did was to explore the little village of Spittal (named after the medieval hospital that stood there) and in particular it's spectacular esplanade:
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| Moira on Spittal Esplanade |
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| Looking out towards Lindisfarne from Spittal Esplanade |
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| Looking back towards Berwick from Spittal Esplanade |
It really was a beautiful beach with miles of golden sands, but too cold to fully enjoy it, so we had a hot coffee in the little seaside cafe rather than a cold ice cream.
The views across the sea to Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island) and Bamburgh Castle were stunning, this video might give you some idea of what I'm talking about:
I can imagine it would be a very popular beach in the summer, but in October we practically had the place to ourselves.
Later that day we took a walk along the banks of the Tweed, on the southern side, across the river from Berwick. This gave us some good views of the town and the bridges that connect it with Tweedmouth , Spittal and the rest of England:
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| Berwick on the mouth of the Tweed |
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| The Old Tweed Bridge to Berwick |
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| New Tweed Bridge and Rowing Clubhouse |
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| Railway Bridge carrying Edinburgh-London Train |
The railway bridge (or Royal Border Bridge to give its proper name) was opened by Queen Victoria in 1850 and carries the main east coast line from London to Edinburgh and beyond.
The original stone-arched road/pedestrian bridge (known as The Berwick Bridge) was built between 1611 and 1634 and would have obvious been designed for horses and carts as well as pedestrians. It now carries cars, but only one way i.e. only when leaving Berwick heading south.
The newer road/pedestrian bridge (known as The Royal Tweed Bridge) was opened in 1928 and is made of Ferroconcrete ( a concrete re-inforced with metal bars).
So just like South Queensferry, Berwick can boast three major bridges built in three different centuries. The rail bridge is probably the most impressive (just like SQ) and it was built by the Stephenson family (mostly famous for lighthouses):
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| Royal Border Rail Bridge |
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| Happy 150th Birthday |
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| Posing by The Tweed |
Later on that afternoon I was intrigued by the large chimney down in the village of Spittal which was clearly visible from our view out the motorhome window:
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| View over Spittal (large chimney to right of church) |
As the weather had improved in the late afternoon I decided I would go down to investigate what this large chimney was. When I got down to Spittal Point, where the chimney stood I discovered it was simply a large chimney, with no evidence of what it was used for?
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| Large Chimney at Spittal Point |
Spittal Point did however proof to be a good place to view and photograph the area around the mouth of the Tweed.
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| Berwick from Spittal Point |
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| Breakwater and Lighthouse from Spittal Point |
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| Looking towards Spittal |
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| Spittal Point Chimney at Dusk |
I later discovered that the chimney was most likely associated with one of the chemical manure factories that existed there about a hundred years ago. Not sure I would have dwelt so long in this area back then.
I did enjoy my hour or so down at Spittal Point and with my binoculars I could see something (which I think was a Dolphin) swimming in the sea near to the lighthouse. I tried to capture it on video but it was very difficult, especially with the bright sunshine at my back making it hard to see clearly in the camcorder viewfinder:
Did you see it?
The next day we decided to take a walk along the ramparts (or defensive walls/battlements) that surround Berwick. Now these are quite substantial structures, which have developed over many hundreds of years, so it is only fair I give you a bit of history which will shed some light on their reason for existing.
- Many moons ago Berwick was a Royal Scottish Burgh
- In 1296 it was besieged at captured by Edward I (aka Longshanks or Hammer of the Scots) who proceeded to build a new castle and defences
- In 1318 the town was regained by the Scots, during the reign of King Robert the Bruce
- The town changed hands several times over the next hundred and sixty years before English rule was permanently established by Edward IV in 1482
- Additional defences were added in the 16th Century to ensure town stayed in English hands
- There were less Scots/Anglo tensions after the Union of Scottish and English Crowns in 1603 (apart from the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745 of course)
- Thereafter the defences were used more to protect against foreign invasion from the sea than Scots/Anglo rivalry
- The barracks inside the walls were built during the Jacobite rebellions and they served as home to The King's Own Scottish Borders from 1881 right up to 1963
- By 1964 there was no longer a military presence in Berwick
So here are some views from the ramparts surrounding Berwick upon Tweed:
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| Cannon on Berwick Ramparts |
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| Barracks within Berwick's Defences |
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| Love the Serpent Benches |
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| Cannons Built into Defensive Structure |
At the north-west end of the Ramparts stands Megs Mount were you get some good views back down towards Berwick:
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| Down Towards Golden Square |
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| Looking over the Rooftops of Berwick |
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| Berwick Railway Viaduct |
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| Towards the Mouth of the Tweed |
This little video clip probably gives you a better idea of the panoramic views from the Ramparts and from Megs Mount:
One thing that did intrigue me when we were looking down from the ramparts was this little half-timbered building:
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| What is this? |
When we got back down to the lower level closer examination revealed that is was a very early example of a public toilet.
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| Berwick's Oldest Public Toilet? |
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| Information Plaque on Quaint Public Toilet |
Unfortunately it was closed!!
After our walk along the town ramparts we headed down to the riverside and enjoyed a coffee by the water in the late afternoon sunshine:
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| Sitting on the dock of the bay |
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| Lovely View of Three Bridges |
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| Enjoying a Coffee and Watching the Swans |
Lovely coffee, lovely cake and lovely views, what's not to like about Berwick?
I never really did much wildlife watching on this trip, apart from the Dolphins and Swans of course....... and a few waders/waterbirds near the old bridge:
Berwick is also a good base for visiting other places, with regular trains to Edinburgh and Newcastle (and all stations in-between) there are lots of interesting places to visit. We took a bus ride (as the train doesn't go there) to Alnwick and enjoyed a good few hours walking around the town and had a nice pub lunch in the Black Swan.
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| Alnwick Town Archway |
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| Horses Head outside posh clothes shop |
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| Alnwick Railway Station, now an excellent Bookshop |
We didn't go to the Castle or the Gardens as we did not have a lot of time and like any true Scotsman I wasn't going to pay all that money for an hour or so visit. We did go into the bookshop though and I bought a second hand book about the Steamers of the Forth (it wasn't just the folk fae Glasgow that went 'doon tha water' on a day trip you know!).
That about sums up our few days at Berwick.......... very enjoyable.......... would definitely do it again. I will leave you with a little video of a lifeboat exercise I filmed from the campsite, where the inshore rib left the main lifeboat and headed up river:
Good to know they are there if you need them.
Take Care
TeddyEdward
