Berwick upon Tweed; Saturday, 24 January, 2009

I was up early as I had to catch the 10:15 bus from the station. This was the only bus that was running today, in fact it is the only bus of the week going where I wanted to go, so getting it was pretty much essential (not quite as essential as ensuring I got the return one in the evening, but the next most essential thing.)

A few miles south of Berwick is one of the most important religious sites in the country. It’s where Christendom was re-established in the kingdoms of England, and from it’s monastery one of the most beautiful, treasured and famous books was produced. Today it’s simply called Holy Island, before the Vikings destroyed it it was Lindisfarne, birthplace of the Lindisfarne Gospel, certainly the most expensive and probably the most important book in the British Library.

The Island is only an Island for part of the day, for most of the time it is accessible by a three mile causeway from the mainland, but for four hours at the high tides the causeway ifs flooded and Holy Island becomes just that, an Island. The buses are timed so that they can get on, and back off the island when the causeway is open. At certain times it’s not a problem, as the tides move through the day there can be days when the causeway is only closed at night. Today, though, the tides meant that the causeway would close at midday and wouldn’t reopen until just after four. So once I was on the island, I was going to be on for some time. Having arrived with the tide on the turn the bus turned round and left again to get back to the mainland before it got stranded.

According to the tourist office, over half a million people visit Holy Island each year, today there was me and one other lady on the bus (bizarrely also from London) and just a handful of cars in the visitors car park. With so few tourists in the winter a lot of the island is either closed up on heavily reduced hours. Sadly, there also appeared to be a major event happening on the mainland as most of the islanders had gone and nearly all the shops and the Lindisfarne museum were closed.

My first, successful, stop of the morning was at the ruins of Lindisfarne Priory. Built by the monks who returned after the Vikings had been defeated, it fell into ruins after the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII and today is a set of romantic ruins in the churchyard of the main church of the island. Having looked around the priory and the attached museum, I went for bit of a wander along the costal path.

At high tide the island is about 1 mile by 1 mile, but in that space it manages to fit in a wide variety of land forms and geological features. Along with craggy outcrops of rock (such as the one the castle is build on), the island has rolling pasture lands, mudflats and large amounts of Sand dunes.

The castle was closed for the winter break so I was unable to go in, but I could take in the land around it, including the small garden designed in the 1920’s (though in the middle of winter it’s a bit bare!) I then went for what I thought would be a short wander along the coastal path. In the end I spent nearly three hours walking, constantly being drawn away from the path by the breathtaking scenery, including the spectacular dune system and the perfect sandy beached bays.

I finally emerged from the dune system to see a small amount of the road starting to appear beneath the waves, evidence that it must be approaching four and time for the tide to recceed and the island to once again become connected to the mainland. The bus wasn’t due to leave until just after five, so I headed back into the centre of the island and had a bite to eat and a drink in the pub near the bus stop.

By the time I collapsed back onto the seat of the bus I was shattered but happy. By the time it had bounced down the causeway, over the rough roads of Northumberland and into Berwick I was shattered and with a rather full bladder, thankfully the station toilets were open so I was able to dash into them, before walking back to the hotel.

Having had dinner on the island (albeit very early) and with aching legs and feet I decided to just have a nice bath and collapse into bed for an early night.