Six Months of Berwick
I have now been in Berwick-upon-Tweed for just over 6 months. Where has the time gone? The wonky feeling I had initially has now gone, and while I acknowledge, looking back, that relocating up here was maybe the hardest thing that I’ve ever done, mentally, emotionally, and at times when I was sick of boxes, physically, things aren’t feeling hard right now, things are feeling good and I’m feeling so lucky and grateful. I’ve learned to accept that I can’t rush and get everything sorted immediately, but I am trusting that everything will fall into place as and when it should. For example, I now have a part-time job working at The Seagull’s Nest, on Marygate, the main road through town, and I’m loving it. I had already been into the shop as a customer multiple times when I first arrived, so when I saw a job advertised on Instagram in February, I just knew that was where I was supposed to be. I started the job at the end of March, and two months in it still feels like it is exactly where I am supposed to be. It has been so lovely to have a couple of days a week where I can get out and talk to people – illustrating is fun, but it can be a bit solitary, so it is nice to have found a balance. It also helps that the owner, Sarah, is wonderful, and is even encouraging me to get my own illustrations and cards into the shop - honestly, I couldn’t feel more fortunate right now.
Other things I have been up to:
In February I went to see the Berwick Parade, a projection of a parade of towns people on the walls of Berwick-Upon-Tweed Barracks, accompanied by the sound of a pipe band. Although not part of it myself, I had seen people, who had volunteered, being filmed while I was out on my walk around the town walls, and it just seemed such a lovely thing for the community to be a part of. Having lived in a variety of areas in the last twenty-odd years, I’m not sure I’ve seen anything quite like it and it was a joy to watch.
At the beginning of March my cousin took me to see the crocus garden at Wallington. It was a chilly but beautiful day and we had a lovely walk around the woodland, I loved seeing the carved tree, and the giant crocus sculpture. The crocus lawn was busy but wonderful, the purple of a crocus is so vibrant and when viewed en-masse it is quite the sight, if you stand at the right angle when the sun is shining on them, they have a beautiful translucency. Naturally after taking in all that natural beauty, we had to stop for a spot of lunch and a bit of cake. As we were leaving we also saw our first skippy lambs of the season. On the way home we also took a little drive through Cragside, which looks fascinating, and I look forward to returning there for a longer visit another time.
I took my first trip, since moving, into Edinburgh in March. It was a dull day and I didn’t venture far because I needed to make sure I made an appointment, but it is such a beautiful city, even when it is grey. I see a lot of people online moaning about it, and perhaps locals have seen changes over the years that they aren’t happy with, but when you visit for the first time in years, you still look at it in awe, the buildings and landscape are just something else. Even the waiting room in the station is beautiful. I explored the streets behind Princes Street, I hadn’t even realised they were there before, as on my last visit we had just headed straight to the Golden Mile and Arthur’s Seat. I bought myself a few treats and had my first Knoops hot chocolate – it didn’t disappoint. I wasn’t sold on the Irn-Bru chocolate bar I bought though. I’ve been wanting to try it for years and don’t get me wrong, I ate it, but it was kind of odd and I think I’d rather have a Tunnocks Caramel Wafer and a can of actual Irn-Bru, rather than have the chocolate again 😁.
At the end of March my mum and dad returned for a visit. We had plenty of walks, including along a very cold beach which they didn’t really appreciate (I think I’ve adjusted to the cold quite well), but we made up for it with plenty of cake. My dad was looking for some jobs to do while he was here, but soon regretted it, as each job that we thought would take maybe an hour, ended up taking most of the day. We also visited Railtons auction house as I had seen a mid-century unit that I quite liked – and I only went a won it. It’s the first thing I had ever put a bid on at an auction (in advance, not on the day, I’m not sure I could handle being in an auction room, I’d have to sit on my hands in case I started waving them around in excitement), and it has finally given me somewhere to put my books which were previously just stacked in a corner.
In April my other cousin was visiting, and she took me on my first visit to Holy Island. What a wonderful place, I loved driving over the causeway, it feels like you are driving to a completely different land. I absolutely loved the castle, so neat and compact (and warm, not sure how much it costs to heat, but it was toasty, coat off and everything), you could actually imagine moving in there if it wasn’t for all the visitors – the steep cobbled path leading up to it wouldn’t be much fun in the winter though! I also enjoyed walking around the priory and sampling the mead in the shop, which, being pre-lunch went straight to my head and made me quite giddy (I’m not a big drinker). It was very tasty though. We had a lovely lunch at the pub, before leaving around 2pm to make sure we were safely away before the 3pm tide came in. I look forward to another visit in the future.
At the beginning of May I went to The Riding of The Bounds in Berwick town centre. Again, another community event, a tradition dating back centuries that recreates the historical practice of patrolling the town’s borders. In the build up to the day, shops were encouraged to take part in the the best ‘red, white and blue’ window display, and schools competed in a best dressed silhouette horse competition – where a blank horse is given to each school to creatively adorn in any way they wish. On the day, Riders ride down to the town hall where they seek permission from the Mayor to ride the boundaries. There was a pipe band marching in front of the riders, (I’m getting used to hearing a pipe band on a fairly regular basis now, and I am here for it, I like it), and I don’t claim to know exactly what else was happening, but some words were said, there was a drink and some sort of toast, and then a song about Berwick, which honestly made me so happy, I’ve never lived anywhere that had its own song before, it was wonderful. There followed some “hip hip hoorays” and then the band and the horses carried on down the road before embarking on their ride to the boundaries, suitably followed at the very back by a road sweeper, for a swift tidy up after more than 50 horses passed through. Apparently, the riders also return to town later in the afternoon and they all sit down to have meal together.
On Friday 16th May, I finally remembered to call into the Granary on my way home from work, to catch the Samantha Cary, ‘Unravelling’ exhibition before it finished at the weekend. I was drawn in by the colours and the variety of mediums used, some of the pattern details were just lovely, and I was interested in the stories being told; that first image is the first one you see as you walked in, it is about sexting, you might not notice at first, the colours and the technique make it all seem a bit normal, innocent and vague, but once you know - you know, and I found that both honest and amusing. I am absolutely thrilled that I live in a place where I can just pop to a gallery and look at art on a Friday afternoon on my way home from work – sure you might expect that in a city, but this is a small town, and it is so wonderful.
Look at that jacket!
Look at that floor!
Look at that bug!
Just Lovely!
Finally (for now), my cousin and her partner took me on my first visit to St Abbs. What a lovely little harbour. Your first view, coming around the bend and down the hill and seeing all those rocks by the harbour is a wonderful sight. We had drinks at the little cafe, it was too early for us to want to eat, but the menu and the food looked great, and you could tell it was popular as the staff were run off their feet (but doing a brilliant job). We then walked up the hill to the visitor centre, which shared interesting history, as well as highlighting that St Abbs had also been used as a location for New Asgard in Avengers: Endgame.
As we left St Abbs we stopped at the Number Four contemporary art and craft gallery, which had such a gorgeous selection of items (as well as a lovely little Border Terrier who likes to sit in the sun). We then went next door to Borders Pottery, a community pottery cafe and each had a lovely pie for lunch. After lunch we went down to Coldingham Bay, where I had my first paddle of the year. It is such a beautiful spot, ringed around the edge by colourful little beach huts, and the sunshine was glorious– it was hard to imagine that we were in Scotland, I could have mistaken it for Cornwall, until the tide came in a bit faster than expected and we got a really good idea of just how nippy the water was. We pootled along the shore and then up the beach, collecting a few pebbles, before putting our shoes back on. We ended the day by stopping off at Berwick garden centre on the way home, and what do you do at the garden centre? You go to the cafe to have cake of course!
You may well have guessed by now, that I am loving living in Berwick. There is so much for me still to discover in the surrounding areas, but Berwick itself is a never ending delight, it has beauty, history, community, there is always something going on, and it feels like I’m still just on the fringes of it, and I can’t wait to get to know my new home even more in the coming months.