0
0
We all slept really well last night. It was about 8am before anyone stirred. We slept with the window wide open and it was a little chilly in the morning (had to pull the duvet up!).
We had breakfast in the cottage – nothing fancy. Cup of tea and a bacon roll. We then sorted ourselves out and it started to rain!! It didn’t last long. Jon washed all the squished bugs off his windscreen and bird muck from the car – they got him good and proper!
Heading 30 minutes north of Lucker takes us to the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed – the most Northerly Town in England … and the only town in England to play football in the Scottish Leagues. The Scottish Border is just a couple of miles north. This town has changed hands between Scotland and England thirteen times.
We arrived into the town over the higher of two road bridges. To our left was a very impressive rail viaduct. The car park was just outside the Elizabeth city walls. The car park was huge – we needn’t have worried about finding a space. We had to read the notice board a couple of times as the long stay car park was actually free.
The walls were impressive. We had planned to do a Treasure Trail in Berwick to take us around some of the sights in town. As we left the car park, you could tell there had been high-jinx around the town. A traffic cone had been placed at the top of the Queen Victoria Memorial Fountain.
The trail took us up on top of the wall – it was pretty wide with a grassy top with paths, benches and info boards. There’s little remaining of the original walls; these walls were built during Queen Elizabeth Is reign and her most expensive project.
We then dropped down from the walls to the Barracks. Unfortunately these were closed on Sundays so could only peek through the locked gates.
The Parish Church – Holy Trinity – was behind us and was unusual as it had a flat roof and no tower. We had a clue to find in the grave yard. The morning service had finished so we looked inside. Some very impressive stained glass windows. There was a huge amount of info in the foyer about the history of the church (including the spelling mistake on one piece of stained glass!). For any researching family history, there was a wealth on information of the memorial inscriptions from the grave yard plus more information added about how they died.
We did wonder why there was a bell with HMS TITANIC 1912 hanging up. No-one on the ship was from the town. Two parishioners were sat outside, and one said she was told that after Titanic sunk, a lot of replica bells were made and one ended up at the church. These ladies very proudly told us that they have just set up beehives in the grounds, the wildflower meadow and also a little herb garden that you could help yourself to.
The trail then took us around the walls along the seafront. There were some stunning houses … although very lacking in privacy. There’s a viewpoint called Coxons Tower at the mouth of the River Tweed. The steps were incredibly worn from hundreds of years of use.
You could also see the three bridges over the Tweed. The rail viaduct, and bridge we came over and a much lower road bridge.
From here we walked back into town. All of the buildings in the town all seemed to date to the 1900s – we didn’t see any modern style buildings in the town.
Callum was starting to get twitchy .. F1 was starting and he wanted to watch the race. He decided we would have lunch at The Leaping Salmon and they would be showing the race. We finished the trail and found the pub and a table. Cricket was on all the screens. We ordered lunch and asked if the F1 would be shown. The bigger TVs all sprung into live five minutes before the race started, leaving the NZ v England Test Match on the small screens. Callum very happy.
We’d just finished lunch and someone had decided that was enough of cricket and F1 … and everything switched over to Horse Racing. The races from Cartmel were on the little screens and another race on the big screens.
The Leaping Salmon was very close to the viaduct bridge so we we headed over to have a closer look. It was very impressive. Callum checked the timetable and a train was due in at Berwick Train Station in a couple of minutes so we waited until the train had crossed the bridge.
Back to the car and to decide where to visit next. By chance we read about Union Chain Bridge about 10 miles from Berwick so we headed there. It was once the Worlds Largest Wrought Iron suspension bridge stretching 450 metres. It spanned the River Tweed, connecting England to Scotland
We got our first glimpse of the bridge as we headed down the hill.
There was a small layby with room for 3-4 cars just before the bridge. You can still drive over the bridge albeit one car at a time. We walked over the bridge and you could feel the bridge lift up with a gust of wind. We were now in Scotland – Callum’s first time over the border.
A couple of cars braved crossing the bridge. There’s a couple of metal bollards at either side of the bridge entry so misjudge at your peril.
The bridge had recently been renovated with Lottery Funding so a lot of info boards on the history and a statue on either side. The bridge straddles the River Tweed – this river marks the border between Scotland and England.
This was the first time Callum had set foot on Scottish soil.
Crossing back over the bridge, we were now back in Northumberland.
Afterwards, we headed back to Lucker. Callum and Jon disappeared to play Pool, Snooker, Table Football and Crazy Golf. Jon won the lot!
A chilled evening with a baguette and cheese for supper as we’d eaten earlier today.
