Today’s post is 2000 words, 68 photos, a 9 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year! Thanks to everyone for their kind comments about my posts on Walking the Herriot Way. I will cherish the memories of this trip until my dying day.

Join me this week as I take you to Thirsk for a tour of The World of James Herriot. Then onward to Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed, North Berwick, and Edinburgh for the flight home.

If you missed the first 11 stories in this series about our time in Scotland and England, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Thirsk

It took us an hour and a half to make the drive from Keld through the Yorkshire Dales to Thirsk, the home of Alf Wight, also known as veterinarian and author James Herriot. After graduating from vet school in December 1939, Wight came to Thirsk to assist in the practice of veterinarian Donald Sinclair who eventually made him a partner in the business. Wight began writing the books in the 1960s under the pen name, James Herriot.  His eight books plus nine children’s books have sold over 80 million copies. In addition, his writings was made into a movie and multiple tv adaptations. Our daughters were avid readers of his books and we are fans of the current tv series, “All Creatures Great and Small.” Season 5 begins next week Sunday (January 12, 2025) on the PBS Masterpiece Theatre. I can’t wait.

My Traveling Partner and I were in Thirsk before, ten years ago.  This would a first for The Youngest, we wanted to take her to The World of James Herriot, a museum on the life and times of the author himself.

Thirsk seemed a lot busier than our last visit. We parked our car in the large city lot near the River Cod Beck that flows into the River Swale.

As we were walking into town, my Traveling Partner and The Youngest saw a sign for the Fabric Bird. They immediately made a beeline to the entrance and after a period of time exited with a small package.

Upon entering the town square, we stopped at the visitor information center. There we had a nice chat with two volunteers on duty, John and Josie, who told us where to get a nice lunch before checking out the Herriot house.

After lunch, we walked the few blocks to The World of James Herriot.

Upon entering the house which also served as his veterinary office, we paid the entrance fee of £8.50 (about $10.70 USD). The tour is self-guided allowing us plenty of time to stop and look at the many exhibits and view the short videos. The one takeaway for me is that Alf Wight was dedicated to taking care of animals. When his writings made him famous, he remained modest and engaged in his work. Later in life, he and his wife Joan moved out of this house to avoid the fans that were beginning to arrive in Thirsk to experience what he experienced living in the Dales. He and his son, Jim would escape to Swaledale to walk many of the trails we walked the previous four days.

We were at Herriot World for an enjoyable two hours. But it was time to move on to Newcastle where The Youngest would board a plane the next morning for Dublin to visit her Irish friends. We checked into our lodging that was listed as a B & B, a lumpy bed but no breakfast. It was close to the airport. That evening, we ventured into Newcastle for dinner and happened upon historic The Blackbird Ale House where we had an excellent meal.

From the time we picked up our rental car in Edinburgh, The Youngest served as the navigator while my Traveling Partner was the backseat driver. With the departure of The Youngest, my Traveling Partner was promoted to the front seat and navigator. She performed her duties quite well.

After paying £5 (about $6 USD) to enter the passenger drop-off at the Newcastle airport where we spent a whole 5 minutes, we were on way back to Scotland. Since it was before 7 AM, we were looking for a place to have breakfast or at least get a coffee. True, we were on the scenic route through the Northumberland National Park with its small villages and wide open spaces. We were out of luck.

Soon we came to the border between England and Scotland. We didn’t have to show our passports or even an ID card to cross the line. I think some Scots are still fighting against the unification with the English. We didn’t care, we needed coffee.

Jedburgh

The first town of any size since leaving Newcastle was Jedburgh, Scotland. We pulled into town and parked in a large lot by the marina.

Jedburgh, population nearly 4000, is a market town on the Jed Water. The main industries are manufacturing, textiles, and arts and crafts. Apparently, the soil and climate in the area is good for growing pears. The Jedburgh Abbey is one of the main attractions. It was closed during the time we were in the town but I managed to snap a few photos.

Our real reason for stopping in Jedburgh was to have breakfast and coffee. We asked a fellow that appeared to be heading to work where we could find a cafe. He pointed us down High Street that looked very quiet. We finally found an open bakery where we ordered coffee, a scone for my Traveling Partner, and a sausage-in-a-roll (not a sausage roll) for me. It was fresh and good plus we were happy to find someplace open.

Back in the car, we were on our way to the North Sea city of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Berwick-upon-Tweed

The walled city of Berwick-upon-Tweed sits on the mouth of the River Tweed that flows into the North Sea. With a population of over 12,000, most are employed in service industries such as hospitality, health care, and retail. There is also shipbuilding, lumbering, and commercial and pleasure fishing industries. It’s interesting to note that Berwick, since it is close to the border between Scotland and England, went back and forth between the two for centuries. So the question is often asked: “Is it Scottish or English?” Depends who you ask. It’s in England but has a touch of Scotland too.

Upon arrival, we found the Berwick Visitor Centre. The attendant was very helpful and directed us to a small room where there was a 15-minute video about the Berwick and the surrounding area. He also recommended that we purchase a parking disk for £1 ($1.25 USD) to avoid getting parking tickets. When entering a public parking lot, set the time of arrival and note the limit on how long one can park in the lot. Make sure you return before time is up or a parking  ticket may be issued. We left town without a parking ticket. Yeah!

The Berwick town walls were built by the British in the 14th century to defend the city from attacks by the Scots. The two-mile wall now serves a tourist attraction and place for locals and visitors alike to take their constitutionals. We enjoyed our leisurely walk with a stop for lunch at North Edge Coffee.

Note the pile of logs waiting to be shipped to a sawmill.

As we were walking along the earthen wall, we noticed these terraced gardens. They looked like individual plots where people raise fruit and vegetables. Since it was early spring (the first week of May), cultivation and planting were in full swing. What a good use of land in the city.

Later, we walked the pier to the lighthouse. It was a sunny day with a bit of a breeze off the North Sea, we were glad for our jackets.

Near where we parked our car was The Church of the Holy Trinity and its cemetery. This Church of England dates from the 1600s and the organ from the 1700s.

We had an enjoyable day in Berwick-upon-Tweed. It was time to head to our lodgings for the night.

The Roxburgh at Spittal

Our lodging was on the south side of the River Tweed in the village Spittal. The Roxburgh is a seaside guest house that overlooks the promenade and the sea. From our second floor room, we could watch people out for their later afternoon walk. 

My Traveling Partner took this photo of me enjoying the view from the bay window of our room.

In addition to walking along the promenade, we walked around the neighborhood. I snapped this photo just as the lady of the house exited to gather her laundry drying on the line. She gave me quite a stink eye.

The next morning after a delightful breakfast cooked by the husband of the proprietor, Allison, we headed up the coast back into Scotland. We stopped at a few seaside locations along the way. At one place where we stopped, we walked to a place where we could overlook the beach and harbor. A guy yelled at us because we were blocking his view. There was no one else around. It was weird, we wondered if he had some mental health issues.

We stopped at Coldingham Bay that featured quite nice homes with manicured lawns overlooking the beach. When we got down to beach level, there was a line of huts or tiny homes, some well kept while others were in disrepair. We asked a workman what they were for. He replied that regulars to the beach store their beach gear, chairs, paddle boards, and etc. The local council owns the land and leases it to individuals who build the huts.

It was interesting note that early May on the North Sea is considered beach weather. It was sunny but the air was cool. We didn’t notice anyone swimming.

North Berwick

Our last stop before overnighting in Edinburgh was North Berwick on the head of the Firth of Forth. North was added to the name as not to confuse it with Berwick-upon-Tweed. Good thing because it would have confused me!

North Berwick was super busy, High Street was filled with shoppers. After scoring a parking place, we only had enough money for about an hours worth of parking. We quickly walked to the marina that overlooked the seaside. Again, there were lots of people milling around. Earlier we had bought a piece of lemon cake at a bakery in Eyemouth. It tasted so good as we did some people watching. I did wander over to a little convenience shop for drinks. I returned with rhubarb flavored drink for my Traveling Partner. She loved it.

I liked this photo taken at the corner of Quality and High Streets. I used work in quality management so this has personal meaning to me.

Edinburgh

From North Berwick to Edinburgh is about a 40 minute drive depending on traffic. After filling fuel in the rental and checking into the Hampton Inn within walking distance of the airport, we returned the car and jumped on the tram to Princes Street in central Edinburgh. There was an outdoor vendors fair where we bought a few gifts, then dined at a nearby Italian restaurant. The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, collected our bags, walked to the airport, checked in, and cleared security without one bit of hassle.

While we were waiting for our plane to depart to Chicago, a couple of Americans from South Dakota sat near us. They struck up a conversation, the wife started complaining about just about everything Scottish. I think we met the ugly Americans, defined as an American that behaves offensively when aboard. Finally, I challenged her on a couple of her statements and she quit talking to us. Ah, peace and quiet!

While we truly enjoyed every minute of our 19 day trip to Scotland and England, it was good to be home. There was lots yard work waiting for us but the work was more palatable because of the memories we made in a place we love.

Next week join me for a Reflection on 2024 and Resolutions for 2025.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM