The bridges at Berwick-upon-Tweed

Woodpeckers and I set off to attend her mother’s funeral and the gathering of her extensive family near Oban in Argyll, in the west highlands of Scotland. We had to take four trains from Stroud changing at Cheltenham Spa, Edinburgh and Glasgow arriving after nearly thirteen hours at Connel Ferry.

I’ve always loved train journeys and have managed many classic long distance journeys on five continents. But until today I’d never travelled up the famous east coast route north of Durham to Scotland. Helena reminded me to look out for the lovely journey into Berwick-upon-Tweed with its famous bridges and its history as a border town between the nations of England and Scotland. Currently it is in the county of Northumberland in England but its ownership swung back and forth through centuries of war between the nations. While under Scottish control it was referred to as South Berwick to differentiate it from North Berwick, East Lothian, near Edinburgh.

When we first saw the sea I was delighted with the sunnier conditions and kept watch as the train ran parallel to the coastline. A huge loop swung the train inland before twisting round to cross on its bridge over the Tweed just before entering Berwick station. I thought I should record this moment desfpitethe rather grubby train windows and the odd light.

I was reminded at the time of a wonderfully moving traditional song recorded by Dick Gaughan on his album ‘Handful of Earth’ in 1981. I didn’t discover it until many years later and then was delighted to find a live recording he made during the first of the ’Transatlantic Sessions’ in 1995. The many Sessions featured a marvellous collection of British, Irish and American musicians and singers and it’s worth looking out for the albums they made as well excerpts from the TV programmes. This clip of ‘Both Sides the Tweed’ features Dick Gaughan accompanied by Emmylou Harris, and dobro player Jerry Douglas.

I can’t resist adding another live version featuring Dick Gaughan and renowned Scottish fiddler, Aly Bain, with Phil Cunningham on piano, filmed for TV in 1989. Both are worth listening to and watching.