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| Sunset from Holy Island Causeway |
My internet is now restored, albeit via a dongle in an area
that has poor reception and following two phone calls to my service provider
who admitted the local mast had a data reception fault on it, it is now working
to a reasonable if somewhat slow standard.
Life is tootling on. I’ve just returned from a long weekend
away in the beautiful countryside of Northumbria. I’ve only ever been there
previously for work purposes and literally stayed for the day in Newcastle and
returned without seeing the city or the countryside. However, for the sake of
the need for relaxation, I decided to stay in the countryside at a place call
Lowick half way between Berwick upon Tweed and Alnwick and adjacent to Holy
Island.
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| The causeway to Holy Island as the tide drops to allow traffic to pass to and from the mainland. |
The countryside is indeed beautiful and not as rugged as I
imagined. The Cheviot Hills to the west were covered in snow and although the
weather was cold, I was lucky and got plenty of sun although showers were never
very far away and that did provide for some spectacular sky-scapes at times.
On the first evening I went to see the causeway to Holy
Island and it was a shame because my itinerary did not allow for a visit to the
island itself. The area is alive with seabirds of every kind around the
causeway and as I arrived the tide was just going out allowing a few cars to
start to cross to and from the island.
On day two I travelled to Berwick upon Tweed for the morning,
English yet with a population of people with Scottish accents although
officially it is called north Northumbrian, a mix between a Northumbrian accent
and east Scottish accent.) . The town is lovely and in need of investment in
parts, but there was a bit to see, the beautiful river Tweed and the defensive
walls that surround it. Unfortunately the Barracks were closed for the season
as was the town hall. I never quite understand this because there are still
visitors, even in the depths of winter and early spring who would want access. I
once went to Whitby Abbey in February and found the same inconvenience.
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| The Tweed taken from the Royal Tweed Bridge |
Berwick has ‘changed hands’ many times between the Scots and
English over the years and may even have been at war once with Russia. According
to Wikipedia, the story goes as follows:
“The story tells that since Berwick had changed hands
several times, it was traditionally regarded as a special, separate entity, and
some proclamations referred to "England, Scotland and the town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed". One such was the declaration of the Crimean War
against Russia in 1853, which Queen Victoria supposedly signed as
"Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, Ireland, Berwick-upon-Tweed and all
British Dominions". When the Treaty of Paris (1856) was signed to conclude
the war, "Berwick-upon-Tweed" was left out. This meant that,
supposedly, one of Britain's smallest towns was officially at war with one of
the world's largest powers – and the conflict extended by the lack of a peace
treaty for over a century.” Oh if only that were a true story.
The afternoon was spent in Eyemouth just north of the border
in Scotland. This was a lovely little working port and again very quiet. There
were seals in the harbour and the people were friendly (no jokes about Scottish
independence please!)
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| The memorial at Flodden Field |
On the way back, a visit to Coldstream for a cuppa and the
site of the Battle of Flodden Fields in 1513 where there is an isolated and eerily
quiet memorial on a hillside to the dead in this last famous (military) battle
between the Scots and the English near a pretty but tiny village of Branxton.
The casualty figures are astounding with around 1,500
English dead and between 5,000 and 17,000 Scottish dead and James IV was killed
in the battle, becoming the last monarch from Britain to suffer such a death.
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| Bamburgh Castle in beautiful early spring sun |
The third day was spent travelling and between Lowick and
home there were short sightseeing visits to Bamburgh Castle, Seahouses, a
gorgeous little seaport south of Bamburgh and Durham as well as a flying visit to
the magnificent Antony Gormley statue of the Angel of the North.
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| The Angel of the North. Male or Female? (In my view, neither) |
A great weekend in lovely last winter/early spring weather.
Great to be back
Chat soon
Ta-ra
