Sunday 27 September 2009

Berwick-on-Tweed, Holy Island & Preston Tower

Today we were off to Berwick-on-Tweed and after crossing the river …

we hoped to find the harbour car park but ended up crossing the river again …

and parking in Spittal. We went for a walk along the promenade towards the harbour …

and saw cormorants diving into the sea for fish …

We went back into Berwick and parked so we could have a wander around and after being given a map of the town we found we’d parked very near to the Barracks …

and the Ramparts …


There was also an old Cromwellian church …

After crossing the river again we set off for Holy Island as we wanted to see Lindisfarne Castle. We’d checked out the tide tables before we left home and so knew that this week was a good time to be crossing to the island. For those who get it wrong there is a little hut on stilts where they can shelter and watch their car disappear under the sea!


We parked beside the sands …

and after lunch we began the walk past the welcome sign …

and made for Lindisfarne Priory …



It was then time to walk out to the Castle passing some upturned hulls which are now huts …

There were several boats in the harbour with the castle in the background …

When we reached the Castle we were allowed to walk round the field with Hamish but couldn’t go into the Garden or the Castle ...



It was a lovely walk and when we reached the beach we found loads of cairns built so we added a small one of our own which Hamish had to check and make sure we'd done correctly …


Walking back to the RV we stopped at the Hotel to see some Birds of Prey …

When we got back the tide had gone out even further and I could see the long line of markers very clearly …

As we drove off the island there were signs to warn people of the dangers of the tide …


We were now heading back to the campsite but decided to visit Preston Tower which was on the way …

It was built in 1392 when warfare between England and Scotland was endemic and it was really interesting. Here’s a selection of the photos from it …






The rooms had been furnished as they might have been in 1400. The clock was installed in 1864 and it has a mechanism similar to that used for Big Ben. It still works and strikes on the hour - very loudly!

1 comment:

Sage said...

I am envious.... I never managed to get to lindisfarne as the tide was accuming in at the time but seeing your pictures makes me more determined in the future to get there