River Breamish Caravan Club Site, Powburn, Northumberland

With only two more days of touring available, it was already obvious we were going to short change ourselves on the must-sees for this region, so it was a matter of deciding what attractions would be put aside, probably n’er to be visited. 

Yesterday on our way back from Coldstream, Chris remarked that we were not going to see Berwick-upon-Tweed, a place full of history and worthy of a visit, so I lay awake in the middle of the night juggling the busy schedules I had already planned. Over breakfast I suggested we compress the schedules I had planned for day three and four into one, and cull the list, this allowing a day for Berwick (said Berrick). For Chris it was a no brainer and while I secretly lamented all the places I would not get to see, we agreed this is what we would do.

We arrived in Berwick up on the coast before 10 am and easily found our way to one of the many free car parks the town offers. Our first destination was the top of the town walls, the remains of the extensive defence about the town constructed in stages over the centuries. 

This town, lying on the River Tweed which forms part of the border between Scotland and England, was fought over incessantly by the Scots and English from the 12^th to the 15^th centuries, and changed hands thirteen times before finally becoming English in 1482.

The town walls were built in the early 14^th century under Edward I, following his capture of the city from the Scots. When complete they stretched 3.2 kilometres in length and were three foot four inches thick, and up to twenty two foot high, protected by a number of smaller towers. By 1405 the walls had fallen into considerable disrepair and were incapable of preventing Henry IV from taking the town with ease.

In 1552, during the reign of Elizabeth I, a fort was built to supplement the walls, but by 1560 it was obvious that any plans to upgrade the existing walls was totally impractical. A whole new setup was required, incorporating ditches and bastions, finally completed after eleven years at a cost far in excess of all her other fortifications put together. As it happened the fear of invading French never happened, and the whole business was a fiasco. 

These days they are part of a wonderful hour long walk and we enjoyed every bit of it, especially the views over the river and the wonderful bridge structures. The Tweed is spanned by three bridges; the Old Bridge built of sandstone in 1624 with fifteen arches, still open to vehicular traffic, the Royal Tweed Bridge opened in 1928 and the 659 metre long Royal Border Rail Bridge built by Robert Stephenson in 1850, with twenty eight arches and standing 126 feet above the river. Viewed from the town wall downstream, the views are splendid, especially for one dazzled by such engineering feats in such a spectacular natural setting, so it should be no surprise that I took dozens of photos, most too special to delete. 

From up on the ramparts we also had excellent views down the coast; the towers of the Lindisfarne ruins and Bamburgh Castle beyond easily within view.

We had noted the Barracks as we had circumnavigated the town, and decided to pop in before lunch. The wall and ramparts are English Heritage managed, but open to all comers because policing access would be a nightmare, however the barracks, now a fascinating museum, are by paid entry except for members. Neither of us had been too excited about visiting the barracks because neither of us find matters military very exciting, but we figured that it wouldn’t matter if we ended up spending only ten minutes within the walls, given that it wasn’t costing us a penny today. How wrong we were; the museum was fascinating and we ended up exiting for lunch before returning to finish our exploration. Even then there was so much to take in and the couple of hours we dedicated to studying all the information on offer was just not enough.  

The barracks, built in the early 18^th century and designed by distinguished architect Nicholas Hawkesmoor, are home to history and the arts, exhibitions about the King’s Own Scottish Borders (KOSB) the regiment for whom this was built and completed in 1725, another about the evolution of Britain’s Infantry from 1660 to the end of the 19^th century, another about Berwick and an Art Gallery. 

The Borderers were formed in 1689 and merged with the Royal Scots in 2006. Before the barracks were built the army had been a burden upon the residents of Berwick. The barracks were greatly welcomed and continued to house generations of infantrymen until 1964 when they passed into the care of the Department of the Environment and subsequently the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England.

The museum was an intimate affair with snapshots of historical curiosities and facts, such as the fact that coal mining went on locally from medieval times, reaching a peak in the 19^th century, the last deep mine closed at Scremerston in 1959. Here too we learned about Tweed salmon fishing which has been carried out since medieval times.

The art collection on display is courtesy of Berwick-upon-Tweed’s benefactor Sir William Burrell. He collected art works on a personal level for most of his life until about 1946 when he realised a public gallery could provide a home to his treasures after he was gone.

There was also a small exhibition celebrating the “Bright Lights in the Borders” such as James Hutton (1726 – 1797), the “father of modern geology”, David Brewster (1781 – 1868) a scientist specialising in the study of light, Mary Fairfax Somerville (1780 – 1872) who turned out admired works on physics, geography, microscopy and astronomy and George Johnston (1797 – 1855) a naturalist specialising in marine biology.

After leaving the Barracks, we found our way into the high street and wandered up and down, not particularly impressed with the immediate vicinity although acknowledging that the town seemed to offer all the services anyone would need. Certainly there are some impressive old buildings about the town, including the rather impressive 18^th century Town Hall at the bottom of Marygate. Above seagulls wheeled about with their coastal cries and below on the street and in all the public spaces there seemed to be an unusual number of dogs, albeit on leads.

There had been a couple of English Heritage properties we were keen to visit on our way back to camp but as usual, time was getting away on us. We decided we would head for Etal Castle on the B6354, on the off chance it was a better choice that Norham Castle further north on the Tweed. We were in luck because not only is Etal (pronounced Eetil) a charming village beside the River Till but it was an important piece in the puzzle of the build up to the Battle of Flodden. Here we learned the history of the English – Scottish conflict in a nutshell, although it should never be completely simplified. 

When the heiress to the Scottish throne died during the reign on Edward I in England in the late 1270s, he was asked to choose the next king. He invited John de Balliol to fill the role, but after a time, Balliol renounced his benefactor. In response the English army attempted to conquer Scotland and they sacked the Scottish town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The following centuries were characterized by hostility between the two nations.

From 1297, William Wallace (famous for Mel Gibson’s portayal) led a rising against English rule After success at the battle of Stirling Bridge, he proclaimed himself “Governor of Scotland”, later defeated at the Battle of Falkirk and eventually executed in London.

After Wallace, Robert Bruce led the Scots to their famous victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314, which gave Robert Bruce undisputed control over Scotland. Alas the Scottish victory at Bannockburn did not bring peace to the Borders as the region’s rival families were embroiled in many bitter feuds. One of these was between the Manners family of Etal Castle and the Heron family of nearby Ford Castle.

Conflict between England and Scotland was reignited in the early 16^th century. A struggle between James IV of Scotland and the ambitious Henry VIII led to the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513, which thrust Etal into the forefront of national events.

The horror that occurred at those fields has already been visited, and the years brought change. After Elizabeth I died and James I became king of England and Scotland in 1603, Etal Castle lost its military purpose and fell into decay. In 1748, a new manor house was built at the other end of the village. 

In 1821 Lord Frederick Fitz-Clarence, an illegitimate son of William IV made Etal his home. It was sold to the Laings of Sutherland in 1886, and bought from them by the first Lord Joicey in 1908. Today the once rival estates of Etal and Ford are united through the Joicey family, the total area covering 6,000 hectares concentrating mainly on agriculture. 

I took the wheel from here, the first time since we have been back in the United Kingdom, just twenty miles of the many that we have covered since leaving Suffolk in early May. Back home Chris took control of the kitchen as he does more often than not and we dined on canned pie for dinner! I had no idea such things existed, and it wasn’t too bad either, especially given the price. We just might give them another try; certainly a good idea for the pantry stores.

As we sat over our late afternoon coffee before opening the next bottle of wine, we considered our future schedule and decided that we had misjudged the time required in Edinburgh; I rang our next hostess to request an extension of our booking. Unfortunately they are booked up which is not a surprise because the Scottish school holidays are already underway and the English start tomorrow night. Instead we have booked a few days a little to the north, hopefully within reach of the capital to mop up any must-sees missed in that first week.