Berwick Upon Tweed England

Travelled:18km

Stay: near Berwick Upon Tweed (Gary and Anita)

Visited: Berwick Upon Tweed, boat trip £10pp

Today we spent sometime exploring parts of Berwick Upon Tweed which is the northernmost town in England and is at the mouth of the River Tweed. (Although Gary and Anita’s house is in Scotland!) The towns’s name means barley and during the 12th Century it was the wealthiest town in Scotland. For many years the town has been central to historic border wars between England and Scotland but it has been with England since 1482. There are many notable buildings in town in particular the Georgian Town Hall, which had a prison on the top floor.

 The medieval town walls are very well maintained and offer lots of information panels. Originally built in the 1300’s it was 3.2km long and had numerous towers built along it. After falling into disrepair in the 1500’s new defensive walls were built to include ditches and artillery implacements and bastions.

 The barracks were built in the 1700’s to protect the town during the Jacobite risings and was used until 1963.

 After some lunch we went on a boat ride to have a look at the seals and any other wildlife. We were particularly keen to spot some dolphins but alas it was not to be.

 We learnt some interesting facts about the wildlife as well as the town. The unusually square brick tower on the other bank of the river in Spittal, was used for making fertilizer. 

Although salmon is still being caught at the mouth of the river, the industry has died down due to the lower price fetched nowadays. Having enjoyed our boat outing we returned to Gary and Anita’s and chatted the evening away.