Mrs E, the dogs and I have just returned from a short break on the Northumberland coast. We stayed in Berwick upon Tweed, a place I have never been to before. The loss is entirely mine as it is a great place to visit in it's own right and a good location for visits out. There are stunning beaches and castles within easy reach and a number of nationally important battlefields and historical sites within an hour's drive.
Berwick itself has the only set of fully complete town walls in the country. These were started during the reign of Queen Mary and completed by her half-sister Elizabeth I. They replaced earlier medieval walls, traces of which can still be seen beyond the Tudor works. The are in what was then the latest renaissance style intended to give all round fields of fire and to be resistant to artillery. There were additions later to add barracks, powder stores and the like. It takes about 30 minutes to walk the entire circuit. There are also regimental museums in the barracks and and a good visitors centre.
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| The line of the Tudor walls can be seen in this diorama of the town |
The town also boasts a thriving arts and crafts community and plenty of small independent shops. It also has a decent array of pubs. The artist L S Lowry (He of the matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs) considered buying a house within the town walls but was dissuaded as it was in a poor state. He painted scenes from around the town and is commemorated by a trail around the town showing copies of his work in the places where he painted them.
Beyond the town are wide open beaches with fine golden sand (looked like it would make great basing sand too) which are popular but not crowded. Bamburgh castle, Bebbanburgh in Bernard Cornwall's 'Last Kingdom stories, is about 30 minutes drive down the coast. Lindisfarne even closer and the Battlefield's of Flodden and Dunbar are within range of a day trip.
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| The harbour on Lindisfarne |
We spent a pleasant morning on Lindisfarne but it wore the dogs out and they didn't want to move the following day! As you can see from the above picture the harbour and beaches of the island have very shallow slopes, perfect for beaching long ships. In fact it's easy to see why the first Viking raid occurred here. Easy access, good landing sites, a wealthy priory and best of all on an island that can't be reached by the local Fyrd until low tide!
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| English Heritage information board (well you didn't think I researched everything did you) |
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| The gates of the Barracks now an English Heritage site |
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| Badges on the Barrack's gates show whose museum is within |
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| This gives some idea of the height of Berwick's walls |
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| Pano shot (hence the distortion) clearly showing the stone facing of the walls |
We only had four days and with the dogs with us we couldn't do everything we wanted but we will be returning before very much longer. It's a part of the UK I hadn't been to before and I aim to play catch up as soon as possible.
Glad you enjoyed the break matey, it looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteI recall stopping in Berwick once as a ten(?) year old on the way home from a family holiday in Denmark by way of Hull. All I remember is, Celtic or Hibs were in town to play Berwick Rangers and my mum making some comment about we had not witnessed the sort of behaviour expected of football fans in the early to mid 70's while we were in Denmark. I think all they were doing was singing sectarian songs rather raucously in the main street, nothing very worrying really! The fact that Berwick se sawed back and forwards between English and Scottish ownership is highlighted by the fact their team still plays in the Scottish league and the Kings Own SCOTTISH Border Regt was headquartered there, prior to amalgamation and conversion to some portion of a battalion of the Royal Regt of Scotland. Another great place within in easy reach would be Hadrian's Wall?
ReplyDeleteSectarian chanting is of course now banned in Scotland. I don't think it is in England though so Berwick may be the only place a Scottish side can get away with it! Under the law of unexpected consequences we 17th century re-enactors can no longer hurl historically correct taunts at each other when doing events in Scotland either. Mind you it was the only place where the spectators shouted agreement at us for a chant of "Nae Bishops, Nae painted windaes (Windows) one King, King Jesus".
DeleteNow that had me laughing!
DeleteNow those town walls are a sight to behold! Looks a fabulous area to visit. Thanks for sharing your photos.
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