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Mark WadeMark Wade
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  • Working in Whitby
    Day 199

    Estuary boat trip

    April 19 in England ⋅ 🌬 7 °C

    Our boat trip around the estuary of the River Tweed took us a little way out into the North Sea - not too far as it was a bit choppy and none too warm! Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable way to spend an hour, and the captain provided an entertaining commentary with lots of local information. We spotted a seal and lots of birds, but, sadly, no dolphins.Read more

  • Working in Whitby
    Day 199

    Berwick-upon-Tweed Bridges

    April 19 in England ⋅ 🌬 7 °C

    It was a much brighter morning today. It was still cold as we headed for the bus stop, but at least the sun was shining!

    We caught the bus into Berwick-upon-Tweed town centre and then headed along the riverside pathway to the quay where our pre-booked boat trip would depart from.

    Berwick is the northernmost town in England and has a population of just over 12,000. It is situated at the mouth of the River Tweed on the east coast 56 miles from Edinburgh. For more than 400 years, the town was central to the border wars between England and Scotland, and it changed hands several times. The last time was when Richard of Gloucester retook Berwick for England in 1482. To this day, many local people feel a close affinity to Scotland, and both the town's football and rugby clubs play in Scottish leagues 😀.

    The first thing that struck us as we walked along was the number of bridges across the river, carrying traffic, pedestrians, and trains. At one point, it is possible to photograph all three main bridges in one shot!

    The oldest bridge is called, unsurprisingly, the Old Bridge! It was commissioned by James VI of Scotland as he was travelling south to claim the English throne in 1603. It is a 15-span sandstone arch bridge 355 metres long and is part of the Great North Road from London to Edinburgh. It was completed in 1624, meaning that this year is its quatercentenary! The local council, though, has chosen now to do 'necessary repairs', so half of this beautiful bridge is covered in scaffolding and plastic!

    The Royal Tweed Bridge is the newest bridge in town. It was built in 1925 to carry the A1 road across the Tweed. It is 110 metres wide, which, at the time of its construction, was the longest concrete span anywhere. The A1 was diverted onto a bypass around the town in the early 2000s, but the bridge is still very much used by local traffic.

    The third bridge in Berwick, and probably the most impressive, is the Royal Border Bridge. It was designed by Robert Stepehson and completed in 1850. It is a 658-metre long railway viaduct with 28 arches and was opened by Queen Victoria. Today, it carries the East Coast Main Line nearly 40 metres above the River Tweed.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby
    Day 198

    Union Chain Bridge

    April 18 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    From Alnwick Castle, we drove to Chainbridge Caravan Park near Berwick-upon-Tweed, home for the next two nights. The campsite is small but absolutely delightful 😊. We quickly got set up so that we could go out and explore before it got too dark.

    The campsite is named because of its proximity to Union Chain Bridge. This structure marks the border between England and Scotland, with a different country on either side of the River Tweed.

    In 1820, the Union Chain Bridge became the first chain-link iron suspension bridge to open in Europe. Originally designed for horse-drawn vehicles, but now adapted for cars, it is the oldest vehicle-carrying suspension bridge in the world 🌎.

    The building of the Union Chain Bridge was a significant development in the history of bridge engineering, and it remains an important structure to this day. When it opened, it had the largest clear span deck in the world. This record was broken in 1826 when the Menai Suspension Bridge was built.

    The bridge was designed by Samuel Brown (1776 - 1852), an entrepreneurial naval captain and innovative self-taught engineer. He patented the revolutionary eye-bar wrought iron chains we see today. This significantly influenced the design of future suspension bridges across the globe.

    The view of the bridge and river from the entrance to the campsite was stunning. Of course, we walked down to cross the bridge and step foot in Scotland!    Read more

  • Working in Whitby
    Day 198

    Alnwick Castle

    April 18 in England ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    From the gardens, it's a short walk to Alnwick Castle where the Percy family have lived for over 700 years! The current Duke and Duchess of Northumberland moved in in the mid-1990s. Since then, they have restored much of the castle's interior (no photography allowed) and repaired or replaced significant parts of the outer walls. Built originally as an austere border fortress, Alnwick Castle is now an important part of our national heritage, but it is also a family home.

    Despite the torrential rain and near gale force winds, we really enjoyed our visit! Luckily, our entrance tickets are valid for a year, so we will do our best to come back in better weather!    Read more

  • Working in Whitby
    Day 198

    Cherry blossom at Alnwick Gardens

    April 18 in England ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    The cherry 🍒 orchard at Alnwick Garden is planted with 326 Taihaku trees, a variety of ornamental cherry that produces large bright white blossoms every spring.

    The Taihaku was originally introduced to England in 1900 by plant collector Captain Collingwood Ingram from Sussex. It later died out in its native Japan, and he was instrumental in reintroducing it there. All of the Taihaku trees in the world are descended from cuttings he took in Sussex!

    As I said, the weather was terrible, and many of the blossoms had gone over, but it was still worth seeing. The last photo of the orchard shows what it would have looked like if we had visited two weeks ago!    Read more

  • Working in Whitby
    Day 198

    Alnwick Gardens

    April 18 in England ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    For our days off this week, we planned a trip in Bertha to Berwick-upon-Tweed, somewhere we haven't visited before. We booked tickets to visit Alnwick Gardens and Castle on the way to break up the three-hour drive. Unfortunately, we woke up to a very wet, windy, and cold morning, but we had no choice except to go on with our plans.

    Alnwick Garden was created in 2001 by the Duchess of Northumberland, owner of nearby Alnwick Castle. It is a modern garden combining sculpture, water features, and beautiful plants to delight visitors. It features the largest collection of European plants in the UK and the largest Japanese Cherry Orchard in the world. It is certainly impressive, and I'm sure on a warm, sunny day, it would have been amazing! As it was, the cherry blossoms were past their best, and we were both rather too cold in the bitter wind to enjoy our visit fully! 😀

    During our visit, we had a guided tour of The Poison Garden, which was very interesting. I had no idea so many common garden plants could do us do much damage!    Read more

  • Working in Whitby
    Day 193

    Wool, Jet, and Whalebone

    April 13 in England ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    After swimming and a visit to Chapel on the Hill to listen to some jazz yesterday, today I left Mark on site and went to Whitby Museum to watch a presentation about the town's fashion through the ages. It was presented by the two ladies who make up the History Wardrobe. They told the story of Whitby through entertaining anecdotes and several interesting costume changes. It was a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, and well worth the ticket price.Read more

  • Working in Whitby
    Day 180

    Easter Sunday

    March 31 in England ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    After a couple of very busy weeks at work, we actually had Easter Sunday off. So, we walked into Whitby on the Cinder Track. The plan was to watch hundreds of bikes setting off on their ride out - the culmination of the Scooter Weekend in town. However, we were too late! We just caught a glimpse of the last few heading off! Never mind!!

    We had lunch at the Four Seasons and then went to the Chapel on the Hill to listen to some northern soul and motown. It was a very pleasant way to spend the day.    Read more

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