Berwick Upon Tweed
July 15, 2021
HM 142. The stunning town of Berwick guards the sandy elbow shaped estuary of the famous river Tweed. Its imposing fortified walls, said to be the best preserved in Europe, stretch along the north bank of the river, and three spectacular bridges span the shallow water.
Berwick swapped from Scotland to England 13 times before coming to rest in England in 1492. Since 1120 there has been a thriving harbour, originally perched under the city walls on the north bank, exporting wool to Flanders and France, it was moved to its current position on the south bank by the Victorians.
Today large ships carry fertiliser and grain in & out of the small but perfectly formed Tweed Dock. The shifting sands of the twisting estuary tested the crew of Good Dog, so it was no surprise that all the large ships need to use a skilled pilot who is also the Harbour Master.
Scott Ferguson loves his job. Born in Berwick, as a child he watched his father pilot ships, and then after 20 years in the Merchant Navy he returned to become HM and Pilot. We watched him expertly turning a ship in its own length in the dock. Scott told us about the 800 Mute swans who reside in his harbour, how he had hosted Jeremy Clarkson & The Grand Tour drop old cars on his quayside and how local fishermen are still licenced to "net" salmon in the estuary.
With my crew, we watched several men row out at low water and cast a semicircular net in the water (photo 9) and then slowly pull it back to the shore, occasionally retrieving a large salmon. Practised for hundreds of years, this ancient form of fishing is under pressure and when we went to talk to the men fishing, they were very suspicious of us!
Thank you Scott for a very happy stay - please visit Berwick.
Berwick swapped from Scotland to England 13 times before coming to rest in England in 1492. Since 1120 there has been a thriving harbour, originally perched under the city walls on the north bank, exporting wool to Flanders and France, it was moved to its current position on the south bank by the Victorians.
Today large ships carry fertiliser and grain in & out of the small but perfectly formed Tweed Dock. The shifting sands of the twisting estuary tested the crew of Good Dog, so it was no surprise that all the large ships need to use a skilled pilot who is also the Harbour Master.
Scott Ferguson loves his job. Born in Berwick, as a child he watched his father pilot ships, and then after 20 years in the Merchant Navy he returned to become HM and Pilot. We watched him expertly turning a ship in its own length in the dock. Scott told us about the 800 Mute swans who reside in his harbour, how he had hosted Jeremy Clarkson & The Grand Tour drop old cars on his quayside and how local fishermen are still licenced to "net" salmon in the estuary.
With my crew, we watched several men row out at low water and cast a semicircular net in the water (photo 9) and then slowly pull it back to the shore, occasionally retrieving a large salmon. Practised for hundreds of years, this ancient form of fishing is under pressure and when we went to talk to the men fishing, they were very suspicious of us!
Thank you Scott for a very happy stay - please visit Berwick.