Hidden Treasures and Inspiration - a Talk on Friday, 21st October

Last summer, as part of the Berwick 900 Our Families family history research project, we set up a small creative writing group to write fictional family stories about incidents and historical characters in Berwick’s, Tweedmouth’s and Spittal’s history, using research produced by the volunteers.

There's lots of scope for imagining what led up to incidents, what impact it had on people, what happened afterwards and creating a family story. One story, a poem written by Sandra Whitnell, is about a woman murdered at Middle Ord, Northumberland, in December 1876.

This year, Linda Bankier, the Berwick Archivist will give a talk at Berwick Literary Festival about the variety of records available in Berwick Record Office, and the audience will hear excerpts from three stories based on research into the Berwick Town Council account books, a newspaper cutting from November 1863 about a crinoline that caused an accident and a poster.

The talk is this Friday, 21st October at 12 noon at the Holy Trinity Parish Centre, Berwick; cost £5. 

Have Fun Exploring North Northumberland's Heritage

This weekend (9-11 September) is Heritage Open Days in England. There are a number of events taking place in Berwick and North Northumberland which may be of interest. This includes the Ravensdowne and Greenses Walks.  The following is a selective list:

Friday 9 September

Berwick
Georgian Berwick – a walk down Ravensdowne led by Linda Bankier.
Find out about the people who lived there in the past and how the street developed. Starts 2.30 pm at the Parade Car Park.
Booking via Berwick Tourist Information (01670) 622155 or email Berwick.tic@activenorthumberland.gov.uk

Saturday 10 September

 Berwick
The Greenses -  walk around the Greenses area of Berwick.
Come and find out about the people who lived there and the nature of the community. Starts 10.30am at the corner of Bell Tower Place and the High Greens.
Booking via Berwick Tourist Information (01670) 622155 or email Berwick.tic@activenorthumberland.gov.uk

A Hint of History at Spittal Point - an historical walk around Spittal.
Starts 1pm at Carr Rock.

Berwick Castle Tour  - find out about the history of Berwick Castle.
Starts 9.30am and 1.30pm. Meet at Railway Street.

From Ditch to Bastion – Find out about Berwick’s medieval defences.
Starts 11.30am and 3.30pm at entrance to Berwick Holiday Camp.

Masonic Hall – find out about the history of the building, situated in the Parade and erected in 1872.
Open 10am-4pm.
 
The Trewe Description of Her Majesties Towne of Barwick – a walk led by Catherine Kent around Elizabethan Berwick finding out about the town’s 16th century buildings and inhabitants. Starts 2.30pm at The Louvre, Bankhill.

Georgian Berwick  - a walk down Ravensdowne led by Linda Bankier.
Find out about the people who lived there in the past and how the street developed. Starts 2.30pm at the Parade Car Park.
Booking via Berwick Tourist Information (01670) 622155 or email Berwick.tic@activenorthumberland.gov.uk

Belford
Belford Hidden History Museum Open Day – come and visit the museum and find out about the area in 1916; Middleton Hall and the suicide at the Blue Bell.
Open 10am-4pm.

Sunday 11 September

 Belford
Belford Hidden History Museum Open Day – come and visit the museum and find out about the area in 1916; Middleton Hall and the suicide at the Blue Bell.
Open 10am-4pm.

Berwick
Archaeology and Artichokes – Discover some of Berwick’s history at the Lion’s Allotments. Starts 12.30pm and 4pm at the Allotments on the Walls.

 The Tower Tour – Find out about 500 years of Berwick’s history in 500 yards.
Starts 10am and 11.30am at Ness Gate.

 The Trewe Description of Her Majesties Towne of Barwick – a walk led by Catherine Kent around Elizabethan Berwick finding out about the town’s 16th century buildings and inhabitants.
Starts 2.30pm at The Louvre, Bankhill.

Branxton
Flodden Battlefield Walk – guided walk over the battlefield at Flodden.
Starts 2pm at the car park opposite Branxton Church

 The Battle of Flodden – come and find out about the documentary evidence which exists about the Battle of Flodden; the work of Tillvas, enjoy some children’s activities or try your hand at reading old handwriting.
From 11am to 3.30pm in Branxton Village Hall.

Full list of Heritage Open Days events in Northumberland and the rest of England

Be Famous for a Few Weeks

Inspired by the town’s history of rope making and the legendary rope walks that residents and visitors to Berwick-upon-Tweed still remember, The Great Performing Rope is producing a 900 metre rope, which will be threaded through the town with objects and family stories attached to it.

Add your memories of Berwick, interest in Berwick or hope for the town's future by adding your story, now.

Also, consider sending us an email to

with your family story (and possibly a picture ?) connected with Berwick, Tweedmouth or Spittal for the family stories section of the blog.

Berwick Literary Festival, 16 to 18 October

There's more than 25 interesting talks and workshops to engage you during Berwick Literary Festival which runs from 16 to 18 October.

For example,
Friday, 16 October at 10am  
Archives for Creative Writing
A talk by Linda Bankier at Holy Trinity Parish Centre (tickets £2).

Friday, 16 October at 12 noon  
History in Historical Fiction: Icing on the Cake or Main Ingredient?
A talk by Margaret Skea about her latest book; A House Divided. Set in Scotland in the 16th Century, Munro, one of the Earl of Glencairn's followers, is trapped in a longstanding feud between the Montgomeries and the Cunninghames.

Sunday, 18 October at 2pm  
Archives for Creative Writing
A workshop led by Linda Bankier at Holy Trinity Parish Centre (tickets £5).

Full list of Berwick Literary Festival events.

Bookings for a talk or workshop.

Are you an author or want to be one ?
Are you interested being part of a creative writing group, based in Berwick, uses your own historical research, newspaper clippings or research produced by the Berwick 900 Our Families Project to write fictional family stories about incidents (before World War I) and historical characters in Berwick’s, Tweedmouth’s and Spittal’s history ?

There's lots of scope for imagining what led up to incidents, what impact it had on people, what happened afterwards and creating a family story.

If you're interested, please send me an email

A Salmon Fishing Card from Spittal to John Kyle of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Going out for a sail with the Salmon Fishers, Spittal

I discovered the Tuck Postcards database yesterday and thought this was a nice example.

It was sent to John Kyle, 167a Beach Avenue, Vancouver, Canada on 28 June 1912.

The first line reads:
We are spending our holidays here & enjoying it a1.

I doubt that the scene is a typical salmon boat, the boats didn't normally have ladies sitting in their finery in the boat !

A1 was early 20th century slang for something splendid, derived from the A1 road being the first numbered main road in Britain.

Who was GAK ?

If you're related to either GAK or John Kyle of Vancouver, Canada, please let us know in the comments, below or send a tweet to @Berwick900.


Images courtesy of Tuck DB and reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence.

Berwick 900 Seaside & Maritime Story

This video looks at some of the visual elements in the Spittal Seaside Festival and the exhibition in Tweedmouth Watchtower (introduced by Annie Robinson) where Margaret Kenny and volunteers work on creating a rag wall-hanging to celebrate Berwick 900. 

You'll see nice views of Berwick's landscape and architecture, Spittal promenade, Captain Jim (James) Evans talking about his cooper ancestors, colourful kites on Spittal beach, a teddy bears' picnic with an assortment of knitted woollen food.

Loss of the ‘Lerwick’ and the Heroism of the Crew of the ‘Margory’ in March, 1927

From Trudy Gray:
In the early morning of 24 March 1927, the boats, Lerwick and Margory, left Berwick harbour to fish off the coast to the south.  As the weather began to deteriorate they set out to return to Berwick.  The Margory returned to the harbour, facing very rough seas as it crossed the entrance.  As it reached safety the skipper, Robert Tait, heard a cry from the shore that a boat was in difficulty at the harbour entrance.  The Lerwick was swamped by huge waves.  Despite the extreme seas, Tait returned to attempt a rescue of the four men from the floundering boat.

Under very difficult conditions, the crew of the Margory rescued Robert Borthwick.  The other three on board the Lerwick: the skipper, Robert Cowe Burgon, aged 74, retired fisherman and ex-coxswain of the local lifeboat; Robert Bruce Leith, 29, motor mechanic, and William Payne, 19, all lost their lives.  Their bodies washed ashore at Spittal, a few days later. 

Details of the inquest were reported in the Berwick Advertiser of 31 March 1927. 

The coroner, Mr H R Peters, praised the courage the crew of the Margery and the recognised the dangers regularly faced by the local fishing community.  The Advertiser also reported the huge crowds that gathered at the funerals of Robert Burgon, Robert Leith and William Payne, including many members of their extended families.

Robert Burgon, skipper of the Lerwick, and Peter Dixon and his son Peter, crew of the Margory, were related by marriage.


The crew of the ‘Margory’, skipper Robert Tait, Stephen Tait. Peter Dixon senior and Peter Dixon junior, were all honoured at a civic ceremony in May 1927 and received recognition from the RNLI.

From Berwick Advertiser May 12 1927:

Berwick Fishermen honoured
Public Testimonial to Margory Crew

A thrilling story of the brave conduct of the crew of the Berwick fishing yawl ‘Margory’ was recounted by Councillor P Spowart at a Public Meeting in the Town hall on Thursday evening when silver watches, suitably inscribed, with silver guards, cheques also as a result of public subscription, an illuminated scroll giving a list of the subscribers, and a cheque from the R.N.L.I. were presented amid applause to Skipper Robert Tait, Stephen Tait, Peter Dixon, senr and Peter Dixon junr.  There was a very large attendance of local people, who after the meeting, waited outside the Town hall and raised a hearty cheer when the crew descended the steps and proceeded home.

 Does your family have any links with the families involved ?

Do you have a photograph of the boats,  Lerwick or Margory ?

Do you have memories that you can share ?

If so, please use comments below.

Berwick-upon-Tweed's Fishing Story

Berwick-upon-Tweed's Our Fishing Story video begins with a view of the fishing boat, Reaper, entering Berwick harbour carrying Lauren Dixon, the outgoing 2014-15 Salmon Queen from Eyemouth to Berwick quayside.

As well as nice views of the quayside and the harbour, there's views of the nice food stalls on the quayside taking part in the Mouth of the Tweed food festival celebrating food that is harvested, grown or produced in the Berwick-upon-Tweed area.

On the quayside, that group of red tops and red caps is Prior Park First School there to entertain the crowds. The camera shifts to the Tweedmouth Watchtower and the Silver Shiels and Salmon Darlings exhibition with history displays about fishing and craftswork and paintings related to fishing: fishes, nets, a huge collage of fishes in the waves. Next comes Spittal Promenade with glimpses of Tidal's contemporary dance depicting the sea and River Tweed, then the Tweedmouth Feast carnival parade through the streets of Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal. There's commentary by Berwick's Mayor, Hazel Bettison, too.

Several views of people avidly reading the displays in Berwick's Maritime Connections Exhibition at Berwick Guildhall on 18 July, where volunteers were collecting family stories mainly about salmon fishing around Berwick and herring fishing inhabitants in the Greenses area of Berwick. More views of the town are followed by a pipe band leading the procession to the crowning of the new Tweedmouth Salmon Queen, Shannon Blackhall.

The video closes with the departure of Reaper.

James Nelson Trainer, 1818-1890

From Elizabeth Trainer:

James Nelson Trainer's Gravestone

My dad always said we had a beadle of Berwick in the family, so doing our family tree, have found out.

He was my 3 greats grandfather, James Nelson Trainer, 1818-1890.
His father, William Trainer, died in 1847, and James took over as borough beadle, a position he kept until a few years before he died at the age of 72. He was a member of the Primitive Methodist Church.  He was also keeper of the exchange in the Town Hall, and keeper of the 'lock-up'.

He was an original member of the Borders Union Lodge of Good Templars.
His wife, Eleanor, born about 1820, was from Spittal and they married in or about 1839.
He lived in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle then in Church Street, Berwick. They had 2 sons; one, William, died in India in 1875 and 6 daughters.


Do you have a picture of James or William ?
Are you connected to the family ?

Let us know in the comments below.

Berwick's Maritime Connections Exhibition at Berwick Guildhall on Saturday, 18 July

Part of the Central Display

Part of the Central Display and another Display

Fishing and Whaling

The Salmon Fishing on the Tweed Story-Telling Booth

We were very busy (496 visitors) today, talking to people at Berwick Guildhall exhibition on Berwick's maritime connections, about their Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal connections, to people whose family lived on the Greenses, or live there now, people with salmon and herring fishing connections, their family stories, seeing if they are related to anyone on our massive Burgon family tree. Several details on the tree were updated, there and then, others said they would look at their family trees tonight and come in tomorrow (Sunday), others said they would email us.

Some people wrote a family story for us and others will email us a family story, another family story with lots of photos was handed to me and will go on the blog at some time.

The Salmon Fishing on the Tweed project were there with their story-telling booth - come and tell your story, tomorrow.

We had visitors from further afield too, from Bedford, Glasgow, Poland, Switzerland and Yorkshire.

Tell Us Your Fishy Stories at Spittal

Another chance to join Newcastle University's project engaging residents of the Berwick area in a process of recording their untold stories and multi-sensory knowledge of salmon fishing on the Tweed (past, present and future) through a series of 'pop-up' events including Poetry Booth™ use for several days at the Town Hall and Watchtower Gallery in July/August. 

•Do you have fishing family connections or stories that you would like to share?
•Do you feel inspired when you see pictures of net and coble fishing? If so, how?
•What is it about the fishing heritage and river landscape that you cherish most?
•What are the qualities that distinguish Berwick salmon?

A selection of stories and artefacts representing ‘lost fishing futures’ will be included in a souvenir publication.

They would like you to share your experience with their community-based project at their second event on
Wednesday 17th June, 6pm to 8pm, Spittal Residents Association Jubilee Social & Community Centre Highcliffe, Spittal, TD15 2JL. Map.

If that's not convenient, please phone Helen Jarvis on 0191 208 6959 or email her at helen.jarvis@ncl.ac.uk

Salmon fishing on the Tweed – now coming to Spittal !

From Helen Jarvis:
A recent public event celebrating local impressions of salmon fishing and the river Tweed caused quite a stir in the function room of The Pilot Inn, Low Greens. 

The event attracted a dozen or so local residents, many bringing with them faded news cuttings and documents recording historic family connections to the netting industry.  Several former Berwick residents travelled in from as far away as South Tyneside to share childhood memories of growing up in a fishing family.  Adding to the lively mix were contributions from those who were enjoying a quiet pint at the bar who came in to browse the displays out of curiosity.  Each came with their own motivation to view rare film clips, photographs and quoted anecdotes and to share their passion for the river, the fish and the fishing. 

This was the first in a series of ‘pop-up’ citizen-led story-telling events organised by a team from Newcastle University (funded by the Institute of Social Renewal) accompanied by local history experts representing Our Families (a Berwick Record Office, Heritage Lottery funded project for Berwick 900).  

Advertised attractions included several rare film-clips (credited to the North East Film Archive, Berwick Record Office and local film-makers). These were playing on a continuous loop on computers with head-phones available for anyone who wanted to listen in to the likes of Richard Dimbleby, 1950, and Fyfe Robertson, 1959, talking to people in Berwick and Seahouses about Salmon Fishing. 

A rich variety of narrative and visual media and a large-scale map of the Tweed prompted enthusiastic conversations and reminiscing. We heard about the hard working conditions of the netsmen “standing in the middle of the river in February- four hours twice a day and always shifting according to the tides” and the great flood of 1948.  One contributor brought along a pewter tankard presented by the Berwick Salmon Fisheries Company to commemorate the presentation of a Tweed Salmon to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 7th July 1956. 

We also heard touching personal reflections of a childhood in which the salmon fishing “was part of our play-time- legs dangling over the side of the pier and always the oohs and ahhs when the fish were brought in”.  Some of the stories would benefit from additional local knowledge: does anyone recall, for instance, bringing salmon home for feast week in a purpose-made bag of women palm leaves? We have scope over this series of events to gather a more detailed picture of salmon fishing in the past together with opinions about how to sustain this local knowledge and expertise for the future.

The next event is at the Spittal Residents’ Association Jubilee Social and Community Centre in Highcliffe on Wednesday 17th June.  The session will be open between 6pm and 8pm. It will again feature the films and display materials.  Anyone who feels connected to fishing community traditions and the river is invited to come along to browse- or to bring along stories, anecdotes, images, opinions and artefacts. 

Please come along to this event: everyone is welcome!
For more information on this and other events associated with the Salmon Fishing on the Tweed project, please contact Helen Jarvis, Newcastle University, email helen.jarvis@ncl.ac.uk or telephone 0191 208 6959.

Another Tidal Short at Spittal

Following on from the Tidal Taster on Spittal Beach,

here's another short Tidal performance with Chloe Smith.

Tidal Taster on Spittal Beach

One of the events in the Berwick 900 Festival is 'Tidal' on 18 and 19 July.

There'll be various venues for this imaginative outdoor community dance project directed by local choreographer, Chloe Smith, - see the Berwick 900 Festival programme for more details.

See a video taster of Chloe Smith of the dance group Tidal on Spittal beach.

Come to our Easter Family History Surgeries at Berwick-upon-Tweed

This weekend is the start of the Berwick 900 Festival that celebrates 900 years of Berwick’s history.

The theme of the Easter weekend, 3  to 6 April is “Our Christian Story” that celebrates Christian institutions, religious life and a few of the great Christian leaders in the town.

At St Andrews Church, Wallace Green, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1ED as well as the “Moments in Time” Flower Festival, inspired by the church’s history, there will be display panels about Robert Balmer, an inspirational minister at Golden Square, Dr John Cairns and Berwick’s well known physician, Philip MacLagan, a church elder.

Although all these men were born in Scotland and at times lived elsewhere, they all had strong links with Berwick. Like them, John Hamilton Hall, a freeman, was born in Coldstream, moved to Berwick as a child where his father was a doctor, left the town to fight in India, returned when he retired from the army, aged 40, got married and then moved to Edinburgh.

Did your family move into or out of Berwick ?
Why did they do that ?
If your family is associated with Berwick, Tweedmouth or Spittal, the Berwick 900 Our Families Project would love to hear your family stories.

Normally you need to visit Berwick Record Office to consult the transcripts of church registers of baptisms, marriages and burials for Berwick and Tweedmouth. However, over the Easter weekend, you can look at some of the registers in the churches where the events took place – Berwick Parish; St Andrews and Berwick Roman Catholic churches and Tweedmouth Parish Church. Look on the Berwick 900 website for opening times.

Are you wondering how to start your family history ? Perhaps you’ve started researching your family but have hit a brick wall.

If you need any help why not come along to our Family History surgeries in St Andrews Church from 12 to 2pm each day from Good Friday to Easter Monday and speak to experienced genealogists.

Family History Volunteers Needed, Please Help !

The Our Families Project is looking for volunteers to help research families and their stories for displays as part of the other themed weekends for the Berwick 900 Festival in Berwick, Spittal and Tweedmouth this year.

If you are an experienced Family Historian, we’ll provide you with advanced training on specific resources.

If you are a complete novice, we’ll train you in basic family history and provide you with resources.

We are holding an initial meeting for Beginners on Tuesday 7th April at 10am in the Berwick Record Office, Council Offices, Wallace Green, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1ED.

Do come along if you want to find out more and are keen to help us. Researching family history is fun and interesting.

For further information please contact Linda Bankier at berwickarchives@woodhorn.org.uk or tweet @Berwick900.

Free Access to Swedish Records on 21 and 22 March

Considering that Berwick was a major port for hundreds of years, it's fairly likely that some of the sailors would have been Swedish, whether on Swedish ships or on ships from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia participating in the Baltic Trade.

Perhaps some of those sailors decided to drop anchor and stay in Berwick, Tweedmouth or Spittal or were stranded when their ship sailed off without them.

Perhaps one of them was your ancestor.

Also, many Scots (including one of my ancestors) went to fight as mercenaries for the King of Sweden, so perhaps they married and had a family there.

To celebrate Genealogy Day in Sweden, which is on 21 March, ArkivDigital is offering free access to Swedish records in their collection at the weekend.
Sweden is one hour ahead of us so the free period is from 11pm on 20 March to 11pm on 22 March.

You'll need to register and download the ArkivDigital program.

There's also a useful guide to Swedish Genealogical records.
If this helps you to widen your family history, please let us know.

Get Your Name Up in Lights

Well, not really. Not up in lights, but on websites and in the newspaper, if that appeals to you.

From April to October 2015, Berwick-upon-Tweed is celebrating 900 years of its history - a long festival of exciting events in Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal - more information on the Berwick 900 website.

The Berwick 900 Our Families Project is looking for volunteers (both experienced and beginners) to help them unearth and research the stories of people who have shaped the history of Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal and to present them in interesting ways.

You'll get training in family history research skills, working with Berwick Record Office and using local resources, the internet and social media to look at families and people who have not only helped shape the communities of Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal but had an impact in the wider world.

Some of the research you do will be presented as exhibition displays, others as plays scripted and performed by the Maltings Youth Theatre, or as articles in local newspapers and on our blog.

If that sounds interesting, please come along to our Open Day at Berwick Town Hall on Saturday 14th March between 10.30am and 1.30 pm or alternatively contact Linda Bankier by email at lbankier@woodhorn.org.uk.

If you prefer not to have your name published, that's fine with us, too.
If you have a friend or a family member who would be prepared to volunteer to do research or help steward an event, please bring them along.

Ancestry Offers Free Access at Easter between 18 April and 21 April

To celebrate Easter, Ancestry are offering free access to some of their collections at Easter (from 00:00 on 18 April until 23:59 on 21 April).

You'll need to be registered to take advantage of the offer and be signed in when you search.

The collections are:

    1901 Scotland Census
    1901 Wales Census
    1911 Channel Islands Census
    1911 Channel Islands Census Summary Books
    1911 England Census
    1911 England Census Summary Books
    1911 Isle of Man Census
    1911 Isle of Man Census Summary Books
    1911 Wales Census Updated!
    1911 Wales Census Summary Books Free Index
    British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920
    British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920
    British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920
    England & Wales, Birth Index, 1916-2005
    England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007
    England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Free Index
    England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 Free Index
    England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Free Index
    England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005
    England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966

Access Ancestry's Easter offer and find your Berwick-upon-Tweed, Tweedmouth and Spittal connections !

Interesting Family History Stories Shared at Coffee Morning

I had an interesting day at Berwick-upon-Tweed on 5 April, talking to people about their families at the Riding of the Bounds coffee morning at the Guildhall, Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Linda Bankier, the Archivist at Berwick Record Office created a new exhibition about the ceremony and the people involved in the 20th century and that attracted lots of interest. The slideshow of a recent riding was also popular and I was surprised that one lady was able to name lots of the horses.

I was pleased that people came to share their family stories.

• One older man told me that in his youth there were 4 fishing families of his surname in the Greens area of Berwick. That's a huge contrast with the 1891 census when there 15 fishing families of his surname in the Greens area. He started going fishing with his father at the age of 5 or 6, and apart from 3 years war service had spent most of his life fishing - for salmon, sea fish, lobsters, and became a ghillie in his retirement.
• A lady told me proudly that her ancestors were freemen (of the Berwick-upon-Tweed Guild)  back to 1730, at least. One ancestor who had married again after the death of his wife was jailed for a debt of £3 but his wife and children needed welfare. In those days, the welfare was paid by the husband or the father's home parish and one of the parishes did not recognise the prisoner's second marriage as valid so there was a court case to decide which parish should bear the cost. Another man was involved in election irregularities in the 1860s.
• A visitor from York, whose father and uncle were freemen, told me his family were widely scattered, in Canada, Kenya, New Zealand
• Another lady told me that her grandfather attended a tribunal twice during World War I so that he could avoid being conscripted. His reasons were understandable and the tribunal agreed to exempt him.
• The granddaughter of a carter from Spittal told me that he carried stone to build the new bridge at Berwick-upon-Tweed; the business stopped at the start of World War I and her great uncle was killed early on, probably on the Somme.
• Another man told me that his surname was from around Newton Stewart and his grandfather came to Tweedmouth to work on the railway. That contrasted with a lady whose family came from Tyneside to work on fish curing.

Of course, more detail is needed on these stories, but these show the antiquity of the Berwick-upon-Tweed Guild and that Berwick has both immigrants and emigrants.

If you have an interesting family story, please give me a summary in the comments below.