EK News Article by Eric Kent: The last Duncanrig Rambler walks were located in the England Scotland border area at the River Tweed. The main walk was from Norham Village in Northumberland and continued down to Berwick on Tweed a distance of around 9.5miles. The alternate walk commenced around 3 miles further down the Tweed at the village of Horncliffe and continued on the same route as the main walk into Berwick on Tweed a distance of around 6.5 miles. The day started warm and sunny and we were fortunate that the weather remained this way until we left Berwick in the early evening. Norham is a quiet village close the River Tweed and it owes its existence to the nearby Norham Castle. The Castle was the scene of many conflicts over the centuries, as the Scots have made many attempts at taking the Castle. Some of these attempts were successful. The last successful attempt was just before the battle of Battle of Flodden Field which we lost and the Castle then fell back into English hands. The castle has another claim to fame as the painter Constable made his name painting the castle scene which is highly regarded and hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. We soon left Norham behind and the walking was hard along the edge of the River Tweed due to the steep and slippy ground we had to follow most of the way to Horncliffe. This part of the walk although harder than expected had its compensations as we were travelling high above the river and we were able to enjoy many excellent views over the river on to the Scottish land. The River Tweed is 97 miles (156 km) long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying has it. It drains the entire Borders region. Its lower reaches are near Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers of Britain. We had a short steep climb up into Horncliffe where we passed through the edge of the village which claims to be the most northerly village in England. The walking after Horncliffe became easier as we left the steep escarpment overlooking the Tweed behind. After some pleasant walking along the riverside where we were fortunate to see some herons we arrived at the Union Chain Bridge. This bridge spans the River Tweed between Northumberland, England and the village of Fishwick in the Borders region in Scotland. When it opened in 1820 it was the longest wrought iron suspension bridge in the world with a span of 137 metres (449 ft), and the first vehicular bridge of this type. After crossing the Bridge we had our lunch in Scotland and then walked along by the side of the river for a short distance where we entered the grounds of Paxton House a country house built in 1758 by Patrick Home who started the build in an unsuccessful attempt to woo a Prussian heiress. A short way into the estate we came upon the fish boat house which was used to store the netting boats that were used to catch huge quantities of salmon. These were then stored in the cool and damp estate fish store house before being sent to Berwick. In earlier times the salmon were salted and packed in barrels and sent to London by sea and in later years the salmon were packed in ice which was gathered locally and stored in ice houses during the winter. The ice packed Salmon and then sent from Berwick by sea to London. Famous early customers for Tweed Salmon included Edward the second who sent orders in 1308 for 3000 barrels of Salmon for his army who were marching north to Scotland. The grounds of the Paxton estate along the river side were very picturesque and we all enjoyed walking through the woodland along the edge of the River Tweed. Shortly after leaving the estate we crossed the border into England again. The walk continued over some pleasant walking ground on water meadows until we reached Whiteadder Water slightly above the point where it joined the Tweed. This slight diversion allowed us to cross over on a very twisted bridge platform which initially seemed alarming but was adequate for the walkers to cross safely. We soon passed under the A1 road where it crosses over the Tweed and we could now see in the distance Berwick and the impressive Royal Border Railway Viaduct which were around 2.5 miles away. After crossing some tidal meadows we entered into some woods were the walking was made difficult due to the wet and often muddy paths. These difficulties soon passed and the walking condition got better as we closed in on the Berwick town walls. One final climb to complete the walk got us up to the town walls at the railway station which is built on the site of the Medieval Castle where Robert Bruce's claim to the Scottish Throne was originally declined, and John Balliol's accepted. Berwick was one of the most wealthy trading ports in Scotland, providing an annual customs value of £2,190, equivalent to a quarter of all customs revenues received north of the border. By the middle of the 13th century, was considered a second Alexandria, so extensive was its commerce." However, Berwick appended its signature to King John Balliol's new treaty with France, England's old enemy, and on 30 March 1296, Edward I stormed Berwick after a prolonged siege, sacking it with much bloodshed. His army slaughtered almost everyone who resided in the town, even if they fled to the churches, some eight thousand inhabitants being put to the sword. "From that time the greatest merchant city in Scotland sank into a small seaport." The walking group enjoyed our social hour in Berwick before returning back to East Kilbride by Coach.