Primed and Ready to Go

This week I have started to prepare for a body of work on Berwick in Northumberland. I spent a fascinating few hours here walking in Lowrys footsteps (who was fond of a holiday here, no wonder I found it inspiring !) Some of the buildings and streets really did get me excited, a lot of the buildings I find interesting have now been demolished in Salford and Manchester and Berwick was bristling with charm!

Here are some Wikipedia facts:

Berwick-upon-Tweed (pronounced : BERR-ik ə-pon TWEED) or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles (4 km) south of the Scottish border.

Berwick's strategic position on the English-Scottish border during centuries of war between the two nations and its relatively great wealth led to a succession of raids, sieges and take-overs. Between 1147 and 1482 the town changed hands between England and Scotland more than 13 times, and was the location of a number of momentous events in the English-Scottish border wars. One of the most brutal sackings was by King Edward I of England in 1296, and set the precedent for bitter border conflict in the Scottish Wars of Independence.

In 1174, Berwick was paid as part of the ransom of William I of Scotland to Henry II of England. It was sold back to Scotland by Richard I of England, to raise money to pay for Crusades. It was destroyed in 1216 by King John of England, who attended in person the razing of the town with some barbarity.

Henry Travers, born in Berwick in 1874, was a character actor best known for his roles in Hollywood film productions, most famously as Clarence the angel in It's a Wonderful Life. One of my favourite films!


Over the next few weeks I will be posting my progress so watch this space!