Berwick-upon-Tweed can seem like another country. Although England’s most northerly town is three miles south of the border, there is more than a hint of Scottishness about the place. It sits on the Tweed yet the river is Scottish; Berwick Rangers, the football team, play in the Scottish leagues yet their home ground is on English soil; and the townsfolk often call themselves Berwickers rather than English. These idiosyncrasies and an independent streak are understandable when you consider that the town was tossed back and forth between England and Scotland 13 times before landing under English control in 1482.
Its roller-coaster history makes sense when you arrive and see what a plum position the town holds at the mouth of the salmon-rich Tweed, and with its sweeping views up and down the Northumbrian coast. It’s a handsome affair with Elizabethan walls, Hawksmoor-designed army barracks, striking bridges and Georgian terraces. Artist LS Lowry fell under its spell and painted here; today, there’s a small but thriving art scene. There are family beaches at Spittal, and walks along the coast
