Looking south across the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed to the Spittal peninsular which is on the south/far-side of the River Tweed, and projects protectively out to sea. Near the centre of the horizon is Bamburgh Castle
Clear water stretches towards the Spittal chimney
The strong striations of the rock mark this whole coast
Berwick-upon-Tweed's history, like that of border towns everywhere, is that of a shuttlecock between vying neighbours. When the River Tweed became the effective boundary between Scotland and England, the governance of Berwick, lying on the Scottish side, became contentious. Peace settled on the whole affair with the...
The layered 'yellow sandstones' by the Spittal promenade
...union of the two crowns in 1603 and a stone bridge united the town of Berwick with the small community of Spittal, on the south side of the estuary, in 1624. The local governments were not actually united until 2008. This page looks out to sea and across the estuary, from Spittal, the next
page goes over to
Berwick town.
One of the serpent seats used in Berwick and Spittal, manufactured in Bo'ness and widely used as station...
... furnishings. The metal railings offer a bar on which to rest and view Berwick pier and lighthouse across the estuary
Across to that lighthouse; here as seen from the Quay Walls on the east side of Berwick
Left and above: while there are no passenger services from Berwick, there is a small number of goods vessels which use the harbour
This striking landmark sits on the Spittal promontory. The buildings of the Fisons Chemical and Fertiliser works, which since the photo was taken are gone, although the stack remains
A lifeboat passing Spittal Point, towards the left in the distance,
Lindisfarne Castle can be seen
Turning up the estuary of the Tweed, the chimney is now distant...
...and a new activity is apparent
'Apparent' at the time this photo was taken (2003) but now ceased. On the sandbanks by the Spittal, these men are engaged in 'net and coble' salmon fishing. A descriptions of this way of catching fish, from further north on the East Coast, can be found
on a fishermen's site
Across on the north side of the river the houses of the Pier Maltings look out to sea, and next to them turning...
...upstream, are the buildings, outwith the town walls, which include the strategically positioned Customs Watch House
Looking across the estuary to the town of Berwick. Customs Watch House to the right, the bridges just putting in an appearance at the left
The two bridges intertwine across the river mouth and to...
...the right the town wall built straight down into the water
This bridge took over from previous short lived wooden structures, it took from 1611 to 1624 to build, running, as has ever been the case for large public works, way over time and original budget. And yes, that is a black swan (native to Australia, but commonly imported to the UK) preening happily with its rather bleached counterparts
The effort of raising ten or so kilos from the water is considerable and swans have to pad along the water for long distances to get airborne
This flock (bevy, herd, gaggle and wedge are also used) of swans, splendid as it is, is but part of the second largest colony in Britain, locally there are some 200 birds
The evening sun catching the Old Bridge; across the bridge to the town on the next page
Trailers...
The next Picture Posting page
crosses over the River Tweed to the town of Berwick
The next page
of the Mosaic Section is headed 'Desire'.
Or go to the contents Go to the contents of the Mosaic Section. of the Mosaic Section.
The last page had photographs from Bamburgh Castle and Lindisfarne Island
To a very different coastal town in Tenerife - Playa de las Américas
To a town in Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam, that also sits on an eastern coastline
...guide to this site