Let's Build Berwick Castle

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

T. E. Lawrence

The Background

An economist once told me, "There is only one way to increase the wealth of a system [such as a town]: money has to come into your system from outside.  There are only two ways to do this: either make things and export them, or persuade people to come to your system and part with their money."

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Berwick is the most northerly town in England.  It's a fabulous place but has lost much of its traditional industry and the jobs that go with it. This is due to our relatively isolated position, improved access to transport, and the way all industries have become less localised.  Over the centuries, for many reasons, towns and villages have "disappeared" because the reason for their existence ended.

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Berwick was once the hub of bustling agricultural, fishing and manufactory businesses serving a 20 mile radius and further.  Sadly, no more.  Berwickers often hanker after the "good old days" (whenever that was), remember the independent shops and bemoan the charity shops, or worse, empty shops that now replace them.  Sad though that may be, many other towns including tourism honey pots like York, suffer the same problems.  It is of no use complaining however.  Berwick is no York.  It has to reinvent itself to progress.  It has to find a new raison d'etre.

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In an ideal world, Berwick would be able to attract new businesses.  This is not happening on any large scale, certainly not enough to counter the continuing closure of "large" established businesses.  The jobs that exist are mainly part-time and poorly paid.

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There is no reason why any number of firms could not set up in Berwick, especially those that are internet based and so do not rely on the transport of goods; the lack of a dualled A1 may be a deterrent.  So in the short to medium term, while it must continue to be encouraged, it is my opinion that we cannot rely on private business to regenerate the town.

 

Locals and visitors alike ask me why, with the rich tapestry of history we have woven behind us, we do not attract more visitors.  This is something of concern to Northumberland as a whole, not just Berwick.  Is recent surveys, 

41% of visitors to Northumberland stated that the reason was for our heritage, yet only 4% of domestic visits within England are to the North East.  This suggests a huge descrepancy between actual and potential market share.

 

A major problem is Berwick (and Northumberland) has no money to spend on the advertising needed to attract people to the town.  This is not helped by the impression one gets that the official tourism bodies have forgotten us; Berwick gets scant mention in any brochures for Northumberland.  For them, the tourist trail stops at Bamburgh and Holy Island and so, it is often the case that people stumble upon Berwick.  Another problem is that over the years, for various reasons, Berwick does not have the infrastructure and facilties that the modern tourist demands.  Thirdly, despite having a heritage second to none, very little is left of it.  In short, visitors enjoy Berwick, but there is no "unique selling point" that brings an instant image to the outsider's mind.  Berwick has no "Alnwick Castle and Gardens". Yes we have a unique set of Elizabethan town walls but that does not conjure an instant vision in the same way.

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So often, the "chicken-or-egg" scenario is forwarded.  Hotels and other tourist businesses wil not come to the town unless there are the visitors, but the visitors won't come without the facilities!  It is not intended to demean the many great projects and events that many people and groups organise, but none are truly "unique"; none will make the would be visitor think, "We HAVE to go there to see that!"  

 

The Build Berwick Castle project means to correct this.  

 

The project envisages the creation of hundreds of construction jobs during the building phase and then many others to run it.  The visitors it would attract would kick-start the general tourism sector in the town and area thus attracting more non-tourism businesses.  I would like to make it clear that I am not doing this for any great personal profit.  It is for the community as a whole.

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The Vision Thing

In short, the idea is to build a full-scale replica of Berwick Castle, based on the years of research I have undertaken and written about.  The proposed location would be on Carlin Braes near Castle Hills House on what appears to be an open field with a similar topography to the original's location.  Access could be directly from the A1 bypass.

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This project could be a solution to so many of Berwick's problems: lack of jobs, young people leaving the town, stagnation and disillusion. If you've read this far, I'm guessing you are intrigued to know more.  Thank you.  My vision is for a full size replica of Berwick Castle and can be outlined thus:

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• A major tourist attraction that will draw thousands of visitors to Berwick. Discover the history of this major border fortress and what life was like in medieval Berwick in an outlying recreation of Bondington, a long disappeared village in the area.

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• The establishment of a "heritage college" at which students of all ages can learn anything from tourism to traditional crafts such as traditional stonemasonry and woodworking.  These students would get the experience of helping build the castle.  The presence of young people in town bringing outside money revitalises the town's businesses and gives local youth a new opportunity on their doorstep.

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• Education.  A vital part of the project will be to bring to the children of the area and elsewhere, awareness of the significance of Berwick in the shaping of both Scottish and English history.

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• There is huge potential for use by the film and TV industries.  At the time of writing, a major Hollywood franchise were filming at Alnwick and Bamburgh.  

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• Accomodation.  Possibly either/or luxury accomodation or a heritage experience of staying in an "authentic" manner complete with straw matress, cold and cold running water (from the walls!), etc.

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• The construction of a castle is a pretty remarkable concept.  Just the publicity this project could garner would be fabulous.  I will be launching a serious publicity campaign to promote the project.  This in itself will bring much needed atttention to the town.

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More information about the original castle.​