Berwick Upon Tweed

So after the excitement of Liverpool we were bound for Northumberland.  

Mark has been working near Berwick for a few months now but this is the first time that i have been able to take time off  work to stay with him. 

I was left to occupy myself during the day while he was at work, that's ok, i don't mind wondering around with my camera :-) 

The river Tweed, looking towards Berwick town, the clock tower is the Town Hall,

What strikes you when you first arrive are the 3 bridges across the river.

And you get a good view of all three together from the road towards Spittal.

In the foreground Berwick Bridge, or the Old Bridge as it is known as.  

It was built between 1611 and 1624 and is Grade I listed, traffic on this bridge is one way from the town.  

The middle one is the Royal Tweed Bridge a concrete construction which was built between 1925 and 1928 and is a traffic bridge.

The third bridge is the Royal Boarder Bridge, and is a Grade I listed railway viaduct, built between 1847 and 1850 and designed by Robert Stevenson (of The Stevenson's Rocket fame). 

 I must admit that i have a bit of a weakness for bridges, and never got tired of this view.  

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Berwick is home to the oldest known Barrack buildings.  I didn't visit the Barracks themselves but did spend many hours walking the Ramparts following the Lowery Trail, (which goes for miles).  Apparently LS Lowery spent quite a bit of time in Berwick and a lot of his paintings show scenes he sketched whilst visiting the area.

There is a lighthouse, a small one admittedly

Coming down from the ramparts there are several ways to access the estuary and the sea.

These lovely houses have a perfect spot

When i was walking into the town across the old bridge on the Monday i spotted something in the water.  Can you see that little black dot in the middle of the river?

I was so excited when i discovered that the black dot was a seal enjoying a bit of sun :-)

  

There must be a bit of a sandbank where he is.  I saw him again, in the same spot on Thursday.

I walked down to Spittal one day, just about a mile away, lovely quiet place.  Not a town as such, there are no shops except for a local general store.

But there is a rather lovely beach.

It was very windy the day i went, but in the summer i bet it's heaving, unlike now when there were only walkers like me or with their dogs enjoying the peace and quiet.

 

I fell in love with these houses on the front

How lovely it must be to wake up, open your bedroom curtains and see the sea every morning!

Local sea rescue

I took the river walk one day to get a better look at the Stevenson bridge

The 3 bridges from the other direction

I took a few photos in black & white, i think this one looks better in B&W

Berwick had a castle, you can just see the remains at the far end

I walked right round to that little cottage you can see in the distance to the right

It was a holiday let, so the notice in the window said.  Wonder how you would get yourself and your luggage to it? 

I retraced my steps, walked up through a little park, which was once a spot for local hangings and found myself at the top end of the town centre.

There is a caravan park here overlooking the sea and a small beach

Loved the view from high up

A lonely Sandpiper

Some people were enjoying exploring the rock pools

And who could blame them with such interesting things to find :-)

While walking down by the lighthouse one day i could here a lot of birds singing, then i noticed that someone had put up lots of bird boxes in the trees.

I noticed this little fella first, singing his little heart out he was

Another one keeping watch

Some activity at one of the bird boxes

I was glad to be able to get this photo

Some rather loud chirping got my attention and i looked up to see this little guy on some cable

Looks like he was wondering what i was doing 'down there', lol

Now, i'm no good with bird species, except for the obvious, so if anyone knows what these are i would very much like you to let me know in the comments.

I really enjoyed my week away, i managed to do loads of walking, something which i really enjoy but never seem to have the time to do very often, plus the walks i took were much more interesting than around housing estates!

Thank you for indulging me in posting my pictures, i realise that looking through other peoples holiday snaps is not something that a lot of people like to do, (although i will admit that i am from a strange breed that love to look at other peoples photos, lol)

Normal blog service will resume next week with some stitching and crochet updates :-)

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