Greetings again from London. In this blog entry, I plan to write about my second two full days in the of England whilst based in Newcastle. After my first two days exploring the urban towns and cities of this far corner of England, I planned for my second two days to explore the more rural regions of the area. Firstly a day trip to the absolutely wonderful Holy Island, and secondly a day trip exploring the legendary Hadrians Wall.
For a number of years I had wanted to visit such places, both to my mind holding a mystical hold on ones imagination. And indeed as I explored Englands northernmost county, Northumberland, I found such lands really quite magical and mystical, rugged in beauty and in spirit. The area felt and remote, sitting in Englands northernmost corner, almost like the northern version of Cornwalls Lands End, as the country borders the even more rugged beauty and vastness of Scotland beyond. It was wonderful, and I very much enjoyed my days there.
So it was on a Monday morning in which I awoke early, to take an 8.42am train from Newcastle heading northwards to Englands
northernmost town, just over two miles south of the Scottish border, and surprisingly pretty much on the same latitude as Edinburgh and Glasgow, around 50 and 100 miles respectively, to the west. The train continued into Scotland as I disembarked, and gave me an hour to kill before my bus connection to my destination for the day, Holy Island. The day had dawned very wet indeed, and as I arrived at the station, it was absolutely tipping it down outside. Bang went my plan to explore Englands northernmost town as I stood outside the station watching the down. However, with a very short lull in the rain, I decided to take a little walk to the nearby Castle Vale Park, right nextdoor to the station, and my goodness I was glad I did. I hadnt realised it, as the train crossed the River Tweed and pulled into the station, but we had just crossed one of the most spectacular bridges I have ever seen, the century Royal Border Bridge. From Castle Vale Park there was a really stunning viewpoint looking across to the bridge, and over the River Tweed far down in the valley below. It
was mesmerising, and I enjoyed a few very contemplative moments enjoying the view, before the rain picked up again and I returned to the station. It was interesting to read on a nearby information board that the bridge represented the final link in the East Coast Railway line that was to finally link England with Scotland, London with Edinburgh, in 1850. It was officially opened by Queen Victoria herself, on her way to her Scottish royal residence Balmoral, spending a mere twelve minutes in total in the town, and only eight minutes at the opening ceremony which was attended by 20,000 local guests. Gosh, they must have been rather disappointed! I certainly was not, the bridge and the view were amazing, and I happily headed back to the station afterwards to continue my wait for the bus.
Not long after, the 477 bus pulled up, and I believe it was the most infrequent bus I have ever caught. The timetable is decided weeks in advance, and changes constantly, depending on the tide. It also runs only once every other day or so, sometimes daily, sometimes every three days, again, dependent on the tide. That day, the bus was due
to leave at 10.30am, and was due to leave Holy Island for the return journey at 6.30pm, hence my early start for the day. I was the only person to board the bus at the station, and as I approached the driver through the pouring rain, who was standing in the doorway of the bus with a cigarette, he loudly exclaimed to me in a strong Scottish accent, youre not going to Holy Island in this are yer, yerre mad!. Indeed I was, but certainly I wasnt crazy, in fact it was probably my most enjoyable day on this trip.
