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Warkworth Castle
A day of Northumbrian castles todayPart VIII
2nd June - Friday
Black pudding for breakfast today…we are being so spoilt on this trip!
Our first mission today was to go to Cowpen to find 14 Wanley Street where Thomas Wake - coal miner, lived with his family in the 1881 census. Thomas is from Linda’s mother’s mother’s family. We found the street and only a few houses were remaining - the rest had made way for a supermarket!
From here we went up the Northumbrian coast as far as Craster where we stopped at Robson’s the traditional fish smokers for three Craster kippers for breakfast tomorrow. It was about lunchtime so we went over the road to the Jolly Fisherman and had a beer and fresh crab sandwiches, which were to die for……yummy!
This coastline is beautiful and we can understand why there are so many caravan parks, in fact we have never seen so many!
To many visitors, the Northumberland coast is its most attractive feature, especially the long, uncrowded sandy beaches.
There are also many attractive fishing villages and little seaside resorts to visit. Plus - of course - the many dramatic castles. The 40-mile stretch of
coast from Amble to Berwick-upon-Tweed has been officially recognised as both a "Heritage Coast" and an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" - to be conserved on behalf of the nation.
The many attractions of the Heritage Coast include Amble Marina, Warkworth Castle, the red-roofed resort of Alnmouth, the village of Craster and nearby Dunstanburgh Castle, the sweeping sands of Beadnell Bay, the attractive resort of Seahouses, Bamburgh Castle and village, and of course Lindisfarne Priory and Castle on Holy Island.
The southern section of the Northumberland coast also has many attractive features. These include the fascinating harbour at Seaton Sluice, the soft sands of South Beach Blyth, the fishing village of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, and the long sweeping sands of Druridge Bay, which also has its own Country Park.
We stopped at Seahouses and could clearly see the Farne Islands that lie two to three miles off the Northumberland coast midway between the fishing village of Seahouses and the magnificent Castle of Bamburgh. As well as being the most famous Sea Bird Sanctuary in the British Isles they also have a large colony of Atlantic or Grey Seals.
From here we took the road that joined the A1
so we went up passed Holy Island (Lindisfarne) but could not go across the causeway as the tide was up. Howard saw a road sign saying Edinburgh 65 miles and wanted to go!!!!! Linda took us inland instead on a bit of a mystery tour to the Union Suspension Bridge on the border with Scotland.
Union Suspension Bridge (Union Chain Bridge)
Spanning the border between Scotland and England, at this point marked by the River Tweed, the Union Suspension Bridge (also known as the Union Chain Bridge) is located 5 miles (8 km) upstream from Berwick-upon-Tweed, close to Paxton House (Berwickshire) and the village of Horncliffe (in England). It is remarkable for being the oldest surviving carriage suspension bridge in Britain still open to vehicular traffic, and those standing on the bridge today marvel when they feel its oscillation as a vehicle crosses. Until completion of Thomas Telford's great Menai Bridge linking Anglesey to the Welsh mainland over the Menai Strait (1826), the Union Bridge was the world's largest span wrought-iron suspension bridge to carry vehicles.
The builder was Captain (later Sir) Samuel Brown R.N. (1776 - 1852), a chain manufacturer who had already patented his invention
of the wrought iron bar link chain in 1817. He worked in association with John Rennie (1761 - 1821), who acted as consultant engineer and made suggestions to ensure its durability. William Molle laid the foundation stone in 1819 and the bridge, remarkably, took only a year to build.
The Union Bridge is 133.2m (437 feet) in length between the suspension points, 5.5m (18 feet) wide and is a scheduled Ancient Monument. At the English end a plaque set in the wall commemorates its building. The opening ceremony on the 26th July 1820 was performed by Alexander, 10th Earl of Home (1769 - 1841), Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire, and Sir John Marjoribanks of Lees (1763 - 1833), the local Member of Parliament.
The bridge is so narrow bollards on the English side have paint marks from wide vehicles! We were now in Scotland and drove the few miles to Paxton where we crossed the border back into England and headed for Berwick on Tweed for lunch.
"Berwick is an ancient town
A church without a steeple
A pretty girl at every door
And very generous people."
OR ?
A bridge without a middle arch
A church without
a steeple
A midden heap in every street
And damned conceited people."
The less complimentary verse is attributed to Robbie Burns;
Berwick is the most northerly town in England, perhaps no other town in North East England has had a more eventful history than Berwick. There is no doubt that Berwick upon Tweed can claim the distinction of being the Border Town, as it has changed hands between England and Scotland thirteen times. Its history is inextricably tied up with the struggle for the Anglo Scottish frontier. An old legend is said to explain the fascinating history of Berwick:
"During the temptation while the Evil one was showing to the Holy one all the kingdoms of the earth he kept Berwick hidden beneath his thumb, wishing to reserve it as his own little nook"
Today the visitor to Berwick can be forgiven for believing it to be a Scottish town, as after all it stands on the northern bank of the River Tweed, an entirely Scottish river and it does seem to have a rather Scottish appearance. Berwick is also the name of a large Scottish Burgh and the old county of Berwickshire (of which Berwick was not
Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island
Taken from Budle Bay - and the tide's out.....again part!) was in Scotland. Furthermore Berwick is a little bit closer to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, than to the North East's regional centre of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The belief that Berwick is Scottish is also reinforced by the fact that most of the commercial banks in the town are Scottish and that the local football team plays in the Scottish league
It is hardly surprising that given Berwick's curious Anglo Scottish location, the local residents tend to regard themselves as independent 'Tweedsiders' or 'Berwickers' rather than English or Scottish. In fact until the Reform Act of 1885 Berwick did have a considerable degree of independence with the status of a 'Free Burgh' meaning that it had to be mentioned separately in Acts of Parliament.
Berwick's status was such that even the Crimean War had to be declared in the name of Great Britain, Ireland and Berwick Upon Tweed. Strangely after this war, when the peace treaty was signed Berwick's name was omitted and for many years the town was said to be technically still at war with the Russians.
In the fourteenth century Berwick became a real walled town when King Edward I fortified it
against Scottish attack. His defensive walls supplemented the stronghold of Berwick Castle, which stood on the site of the present railway station. Some of the town walls can still be seen today, dating mainly from the later Elizabethan period. They are among the finest of their kind in Europe.
Berwick is one of the most picturesque towns on the region's coast, mainly because of its attractive red roofed houses, pinkish grey Georgian buildings and the fine seventeenth century bridge, which spans the River Tweed.
Most notable of the town's buildings are the spired town hall of 1754 and the Berwick parish church, called Holy Trinity which is one of only a few built in England in Cromwellian times. For an historic parish church it is unusual, in that it has no steeple, tower or church bell. Instead a bell in the Town Hall is used to summon people to the church services at Holy Trinity. It is no wonder that many visitors to Berwick mistake the Town Hall for the parish church.
The River Tweed at Berwick is almost as well known as the Tyne at Newcastle for its bridges. There are three here namely; Old Bridge, the
Royal Tweed Bridge, and the Royal Border Bridge. The Royal Tweed is the most recent, built in 1925 it carries the old A1 through the town, although the more modern road now bypasses the town to the west. The Royal Border Bridge is an impressive nineteenth century railway viaduct. Opened by Queen Victoria in 1850, it was built by Robert Stevenson, creating an important rail link between London and Edinburgh.
The 'Old Bridge', also known as 'Berwick Bridge' dates from 1611. It is a fine red sandstone structure with fourteen arches. Until the nineteenth century it was the main crossing point of the Tweed at Berwick, but did not as might be expected link Northumberland to Scotland.
We crossed the Old Bridge and sat by the River Tweed watching the many swans as we had our soup and roll.
We took the A1 back south through Alnwick, the home of the Duke & Duchess of Northumberland. It is disappointing that you cannot see the castle from the road and have to pay to even get a glimpse of it and the famous lion with straight tail statues. However the road now takes you through the old arch
in town, which was nice.
When we got back to Newcastle we needed to fill up at the local garage. Howard was ages paying for the diesel and it turned out that neither he nor the garage owner could understand a word either was saying!!!!!!
Total travelled 151 miles (241.6 kms)
We were in Northumberland all day except for a short foray in to Scotland and the Scottish Borders.
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