At last

Have you never been. . . You ought to go . . . You will love it . .
How many people had to tell me before I actually realised that I needed to go?

We were heading for the Northumberland coast, kind of following the River Tweed, so I suggested we stop at St Boswells to find the Mainstreet Trading Company Bookshop.

And everyone was right - what a wonderful place. It has gone straight into my list of favourite bookshops. What more can one ask - a huge, carefully selected, range of books, beautifully displayed, friendly atmosphere . . . and a delightful cafe where we had lunch. (Books were bought!)

Onward - Gordon is reading Alistair Moffat’s book ‘Between Britain’. (We went to his talk in Melrose.) So he had plans to stop off at a few places, the first being Carham, near Coldstream. He found the tiny visitor centre - in a phone box. Then we met a local, very helpful, lady who encouraged us to visit the church we were parked outside. A pretty little church, but there our paths diverted. G was keen to go round the back of the church by the Tweed and find out about the Battle of Carham. I went inside and was fascinated by the church’s links with St Cuthbert and all the investigations/surveys that have taken place to try to establish whether there was a monastic building here at one time - the answer seems to be yes.

Eventually we arrived in Seahouses, where we are staying for a couple of nights. We’ve had a lovely day wandering almost deserted roads in the sunshine and it is a sunny evening now by the sea. We expect rain tomorrow.