One of my favourite travel blogs is the travel past 50 site travelpast50.com/. Aside from the fact that its written by people from an atypical demographic to the average bloggers (This means it's a little more thoughtful and is generally better written) they are happy to return to a subject or place again and again. Walking the walls of Berwick always seems to offer something new. Each combination of tide, time and weather seem to offer a new view. So, with that in mind, here are some more shots of my old friends the Bridges of Berwick. These were taken with my phone rather than camera and, believe it not, we had been to Tesco's late in the afternoon and there was a hail storm. I particularly like the blueness of the water in these pictures. There is almost no post production processing. A little bit of curves just to make it 'pop' and straightening the horizon on the Royal Border Bridge shot.
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This is what comes of reading too much Nigel Tranter novels! Ooh! Lets go there! On this occasion it was a good call though. This was a top morning out. If you've got a car and are in Edinburgh on a nice day then the 20 minute drive (or train) out of the city to North Berwick is just the ticket! Its as windy as: Even on a beautiful summer's day like this one and not overly warm, exposed as one is here.
Tantallon Castle is the ruins of a 14th century fortress on the East Coast of Scotland and was the historic base of the Red branch of the Douglas clan (The Earls of Angus). Although there were fortresses on this site since at least the 1200s.
When I lived in Burnmouth for a year, this was an occasional (read long) walk along the coast from our house. We then had the problem of the return journey, plus the weather had to be spectacularly good to walk along that coastal path and enjoy it: Hence only the occasional. I had forgotten just how amazing the views of Coldingham from St. Abb's Nature reserve are.
They are a fairly iconic part of Berwick; the three bridges. This is taken from the site of the Castle on a glorious summer's day. Yes, we do have them! From l2r: Old bridge, New bridge and Royal Border bridge.
The old Bridge was the traditional way in and out of the town towards the South and dates from James I's reign: It was completed in 1608. Presumably before this you crossed either by boat or much further up stream.
Then, the Royal Border bridge was built for the trains when they came along. This was when they knocked the castle down to make room for the station in 1850. Perhaps not the greatest decision ever made,. The bridge was was designed by Robert (George's son) Stephenson and opened by little Vicky. Its now a grade 1 listed structure.
Back way back when, I used to come to Melrose at least once a year with a party of school children, I've played rugby there (and won!), driven through and round it numerous times but never really looked at the Abbey apart from in passing.
High time to put that right. It is quite a significant monument in Scottish history. Several Kings are buried there, but it is probably most famous for being the burial site of Robert the Bruce's heart; the rest of him is buried in Dunfermline Abbey. The heart is thought to have been bought back from the Crusades to be buried there, which is more than a bit odd! However, it was 6 (yes SIX!) pounds to go in to look around. Its some ruins in a field! How can they justify that much (see Stonehenge too)? They are ruins! By definition there's no up-keep. A bit of mowing perhaps to keep the grounds looking half decent but I can't see where the money goes. Needless to say I was too tight to pay. I thought it was just my usual meanness but the week after we went friends were moaning about the same thing. They had the same solution too. If you walk to the right of the Abbey there is a little path that allows you to see pretty much everything you could see from inside the fence but, maybe, from 10 metres further away.
One of the things about Northumberland, and Berwickshire on the other side of the border, are the number of castles. There's a good reason for this of course, in that both sides liked a day out to raid, fight and nick each other's cattle and women. Plus ca change!
One of my favourite ruins is Dunstanburgh castle; a short walk along from the sleepy fishing village of Craster. It dates from the 14th century (about 1313) and was built by the Earl of Lancaster. He was a rival to Edward II and it was probably meant as a safe refuge, if things went too badly wrong in the south. It was also, of course, a monument to his wealth and power. A wise move really, as he only visited it once before his capture after a battle and subsequent execution! It then passed into the hands of the crown (or at least the Royal family) for a couple of centuries at least.
Well, it's been a while!
We bought a house back in the UK where we both used to work and are now busy showing the children the sights of the North East of England, when we can drag them away from the wifi. There will some evidence of nice weather in future posts, but I have to say it is really cold on the coast here after Bangkok! The weather has been a bit hit and miss. We have had some fabulous days and some absolute shocking weather too. The rain has meant that one needed to be creative to take interesting shots on some days. |
This will be a blog about my latest shots and what I liked or was trying to do with them
AuthorsWe are teachers and have worked in various schools in Europe & Asia. This is really a chronicle of out travels over the years. It is meant for us to look back on, reflect and remember where we've been, what we've done and all our little adventures. If you like it too, then fab! If you don't, do you think we care? Archives
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