England 2004 - Berwick Upon Tweed

Berwick Upon Tweed

Berwick Upon Tweed is a small town on very North of England (three hours from London or one hour from Edinburgh by train). Actually it is the most Northern town of England.

Berwick Station

We came there because our hotel was near this town. First we were going to visit Edinburgh — the capital of Scotland, but at that time The Art Festival was taking place and it was impossible to find suitable hotel there for that time. So we stayed near Berwick Upon Tweed.

In Berwick

This town is located right on the shore of Northern Sea in the mouth of Tweed river. This is one of the towns with most eventful history in England . It started from small settlement in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria (Berwick, if translated into English, means ”Corn Farm”). And it became Scottish after the Battle of Carham in 1018. The town changed its belongings several times until in 1482 it finally became English town.

In Berwick

But still there are a lot from Scottish in Berwick: the town looks more like Scottish then England town, most of commercial banks here are Scottish, local football team plays in Scottish league. But the fact that the police and the laws here are English reminds you it is English town.

Berwick is famous with its defense walls. First the wall was erected during the reign if king Edward I — to withstand (resist) Scottish attack.

In Berwick

The walls that still exist around old part of the town are dated mainly to 1558, queen Elizabeth I period. Now the walls is a nice place for walking and enjoying the view of old town, the river and even the sea!

View from Berwick Wall. Nothern Sea

River Tweed is famous with its tree bridges: Old Bridge, the Royal Tweed Bridge, and the Royal Border Bridge.

Bridges Over Tweed River

The Royal Tweed bridge is the youngest one, built in 1925 and is used by cars like main way across the river. The Old Bridge (or Berwick Bridge ) was built in 1611 (!), tiled with red sandstone and has fourteen arches. Until nineteenth century it was main crossing point of the Tweed river in Berwick. But the most impressive is The Royal Border Bridge — the nineteenth century 24-arch railway viaduct, created by Robert Stephenson.

The Royal Border Bridge

It was opened by queen Victoria in 1850 and until nowadays is used as important rail link between London and Edinburgh . This bridge made the strongest impression to me.

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