Monday, May 9, 2016

Bamburgh Castle

On Easter Sunday we had our yummy breakfast and checked out of our small cottage before starting our 2-1/2 hour drive home. We timed it so that we arrived at Bamburgh Castle (just south of Holy Island, still in Northumberland) at 10:00 when the castle opened. 
Bamburgh Castle
Bamburgh (pronounced Bam-burr-ah) is set high on a rocky cliff overlooking the English channel. It's quite an imposing site when you turn the corner and high up on a hill, overlooking the wee village is this massive fortress of a castle. There is archeological evidence of a human activity of one sort or another at Bamburgh all the way back to  the Mesolithic period (10,000 - 4,000 BC) on up to 43AD when the Romans arrived on Britain. There is little written information of Bamburgh during the Roman occupation, so it's hard to know what if any impact they had. Given that Hadrian's Wall is south of Bamburgh, I would guess if the Romans had any interaction, it wasn't of much success as they pulled back and built the wall. 
Sand dunes in front of Bambugh castle
From Bede (a historian who lived during and wrote about the Anglo-Saxon period), we know this site became a castle/fortress in 547 when King Ida built a fortress with wood fences, that later became stone walls. This location was the home of the Anglo-Saxon King of Northumberland for close to 300 years. During this time and on through the next 300 years of Viking rule, the kingdom of Northumberland stretched (plus or minus) from Edinburgh to Leeds and the capitol shifted between Bamburgh and York.  

I had a question at the Minster the other day that I thought I would answer here in case anyone was wondering. 
Who were the Angles and the Saxons? Mostly people from northern Germany, Denmark, and Northern Holland.  You're welcome :-) 
Anglo-Saxon Migration (Source: Wikipedia)
Okay, enough with the history nerd stuff. Here's a selfie of us in the car park as we awaited the portcullis (fancy castle gate door) to open for the day.  
Bamburgh selfie
Upon entering the castle grounds, we learned that the grounds opened at 10:00, but that the state rooms (the public rooms inside the castle) wouldn't open until 11:00. No big deal, as there was lots to look at outside… but it was flippin' freezing and the wind was whipping us around like crazy! I accidentally took the photo below as I tried to put my gloves on. By the end of the day, I seriously felt like I had dreadlocks from the wind! 
Accidental happy feet picture
Canons that have defended the castle
We walked around the coastal-side of the castle to get a good look at the no-longer-in-service cannons that had at one time defended the castle and England from attackers by sea. 
Cannons at the defense
The existing castle was re-built in the 18th century and the oldest remains that can still be seen is the foundation of a 12th century chapel (not pictured, it's just a handful of stones in a grassy field just north of this photo). 
Look! The French (or whomever) are coming! 
Because Bamburg (and all of Northumberland) is a 'border town,' it had to defend itself from continental invaders from Romans on up through William the Conquerer in 1066, during Scottish/British border skirmishes, the War of the Roses, the English Civil War, and so on. Therefore, there was a need for so many cannons! 
Backlit view of the castle
18th century windmill
18th Century Windmill
Near the windmill was the medieval kitchen that has more recently been used as a charity school for the poor (in the 18th and 19th centuries) and is now a museum to the scientific endeavors of the 1st Lord Armstrong in the early 1900s.
Bamburgh village
I was allowed to take photos inside for once! Most of the rooms were so large, it was hard to get a good photo. I loved the exposed beams of the long hall's ceiling. 
The long hall
The rooms in castles are always so large and grand, but none of them look too cosy, do they? I suppose comfy wasn't something that people really sought after back in the day. You know, when food, water, and safety were constantly at the forefront of thought. 
Sitting room
A few rooms were filled with armor and weaponry. I tried to get some photos of the weapons, but they didn't photograph very well. All of the armor had been used at one time or another and testing had been done on the weapons and almost all of them had 'seen battle.' Which I take to mean they all had evidence of blood on them, and that gave me a shudder. When you're in a room full of hundreds of weapons that had been used to cause physical violence, you don't really want to stick around a gawk. Well, I didn't, anyway. 

One other note: the middle helmet (below) I get, but the other two? I mean, who could see out of either of those helmets well enough to defend himself and know who the enemy was and where they were located? They also don't look light or particularly easy to maneuver! 
Old helmets
I always like taking a photo out of windows and wonder how many people have looked out this window over the last several hundred years; what they were wearing, what they were thinking… Anyone else, or is that just me? 
View from a castle window
I read about one Bamburgh castle employee who lived and worked in the castle in the late 18th/ early 19th century. He was a joiner (woodworker) whose main job was to build caskets for all of the shipwreck victims who washed up on shore in and around Bamburgh. (Apparently, that happened a lot.) He was also tasked with installing a bathroom in the castle keep with hot and cold running water. While working on the project, he located a long-forgotten well - a must for any castle under siege! The well (pictured below), once refurbished, was a reliable source off clean water… the engineering of the well and water draw (through 145 feet of sold rock) dates back to the Anglo-Saxon days. An amazing feet of engineering for the time! 
Pretty stonework & old water well 
After we exited through the gift shop (as always), we drove the rest of the way home and made it home in time to miss driving through a massive hail storm. And then our friends invited us over to theirs for a surprise Easter Sunday dinner of roast lamb. 

Lamb: they are cute *and* delicious! :-) 

Friday, May 6, 2016

Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland

Once we successfully navigated to and from Holy Island during low-ish tide, we set out to see some sites in Berwick upon Tweed. Every time we've taken the train up to Edinburgh, we cross the viaduct at Berwick and remark, "Isn't that town adorable? We have to go there some day!" Well, we finally did, and it did not disappoint. 
Bridge across the river Tweed
Berwick is the town name and it's on the river Tweed, therefore, it's historically known as Berwick upon Tweed. But everyone in Northumberland simply calls it Berwick. Pro tip: if you don't want to get laughed at by a sweet gal in a coffee shop, don't pronounce her home town as Burr-wick… it's pronounced Bare-ick. Not that we had that happen… (clears throat). 
Viaduct (train bridge) across the river Tweed
The town itself is rather unremarkable. It's very similar to loads of other middle-sized towns dotted around England with a high street loaded with chain stores, cafes, and charity shops. But it is encircled by medieval walls and if you walk around the walls you'll find this spot on a hillside with gorgeous views over the river Tweed. The traffic bridge is on the ocean-side and if you look inland you can see the railway viaduct.
Non-wonky view of the bride across Tweed
We also drove out to a honey bee farm and dropped a small fortune on honey and honey-related products. No photos, though, as the bees were too busy to stand still for a clear iPhone photo.

Monday, May 2, 2016

The Road to Holy Island… Holy Crap!

I've talked all about Holy Island and Lindisfarne Castle on the crag and Lindisfarne Priory, sacked by Viking and torn down by Hanry VIII. But why were all of these things built on Holy Island; what is so special about the island? 

The island is just about a mile offshore and has always been accessible by walking across the sand at low tide. So it is protected and more easily defended than a lot of places. That said, to drive there (a road was paved in the '60s), you are responsible for checking the tide tables and driving to and from only during low tide. The day we went, the tide was low enough for driving across from 7:00AM until 2:00PM. If you miss the window, you'd be stuck on the island until 8:00PM, when the tide receded again. 
Driving out to Holy Island
We knew the castle and priory didn't open until 10:00, so we had breakfast and set out around 9:00. That way we'd be there when the castle opened, see all the sights the small island had to offer, and then get off the island before 2:00. On our drive over to the island, we laughed at the car getting off the island as it was creating such a huge spray of ocean water!

The weather was quite unpredictable whilst we were on the island. Very, very windy with smatterings of rain. There was a storm all around us, but thankfully the brunt of the storm hit a bit further south. 
The crazy-strong wind!
There were lots and lots of visitors on Holy Island, seeing as it was half-term (school break / Spring break) as well as Easter weekend. Bill and I realized that if we left just before 2:00, we may get stuck in a line of traffic and actually not get off of the island before the tide rises. So when it started raining in earnest at 1:00, we decided to head back to the car park and get to the mainland. 
Driving back to mainland England
There were a few cars heading back, and we noticed that the car in front of us was causing quite a bit of splash. There was even more water on the road than there was when we drove over at 9:30. If you look closely, a few inches cover almost up to the lane divider. 
The car ahead of us is getting waterlogged - ha, ha!
We slowed down a bit as we laughed at the car ahead of us. And then… 
Oh, crap! Now we're getting waterlogged!
… we couldn't see a damn thing! The photo above is through the front windscreen (windshield) the moment we were doused in water. We both yelled, horrified that we were going to swerve into something. Bill said he consciously didn't slow down too much, too quickly for fear that the car behind would crash into us, yet he was terrified that he was going to do exactly that to the car in front of us… or into a pole or some such thing. For a good 5 seconds we both held our breathes (while I kept clicking the camera button on my phone). 
Coming out the other side, with windscreen wipers on full tilt!
Bill finally got the windscreen wipers blasting full speed so that we could see again. Whew! We have since read that the tide tables are good, but when there are storm surges, low tide may not be as low as you'd like it and discretion is advised. 

There are little huts about 5 feet off the ground where visitors who get caught in high tide (or in a storm surge) can climb up and find refuge until the tides abate. Good luck finding your car afterwards, though. I'm glad we weren't one of the few visitors who experience that excitement! 
Holy Island Warning Poster (NOT MY PHOTO)
You can see the white 'rescue' hut in the photo above.