Berwick’s Lowry Trail
Those unfamiliar with Berwick-upon-Tweed may be surprised that the town claims a strong connection with the artist LS Lowry. There are many better qualified than I to provide the history, but if you are interested Visit Northumberland produce a downloadable leaflet, while the Berwick Preservation Trust have a page dedicated to the Lowry Trail (the subject here). It’s a decent walk around Berwick and a good way of introducing yourself to the character of the town. There was also an exhibition over the summer and autumn (Lowry and the Sea) - you may still be able to lay your hands on catalogue.
I can’t lay claim to the idea of photographing all nineteen stops outlined on the trail (that came from Berwick Camera Club). What I did do was tag along on a few of the summer outings to capture a few of the locations before ‘parking’ the project in favour of more immediate stuff. However, as the end of the year approaches I seem to have discovered a small supply of enthusiasm in a bottom of a drawer and am using this to close off a few open loops.
I’m not going to repeat what’s written elsewhere and, not being a huge fan of legal letters from the estates of dead artists, I’m certainly not going to reproduce the original Lowrys - all that information is available in the links above. Instead, I will make a few comments on each location.
Nineteen Locations, Nineteen Photographs
Below is one image from each location on the trail. There’s no consistent style and the quality is mixed, but there’s definitely nineteen photographs…
1. Dewar’s Lane
Starting with a mono of one of the locations that’s still very recognisable from Lowry’s original drawing.
2. Palace Street
This isn’t Palace Street, but it’s one I took when photographing the location and turned around to spot the bluebells. I’m quite fond of this image; it could be anywhere except that the reflection of the rooftops in the window gives us a small clue to those that know the town that it’s Berwick.
3. The Pier
This is pretty much a straight image of the location with a composition not too dissimilar from the Lowry drawing of the pier. This version, however, has added waves and shags.
4 The Sea
This is a more abstract image which I hope coveys the impression of the North Sea without too much detail. Lowry painted a number of simple seascapes.
5 On the Sands
Lowry’s picture of this location is a more vibrant scene, with the sands and pavilion shown teaming with people young and old (as well as a dog). This is not that picture. My intent here was to exaggerate the emptiness of the space; an imagining of a Gursky interpretation of the Lowry scene.
It was this location, and this image in particular, that highlighted one of the key differences between Lowry’s Berwick and the town today. Where Lowry’s version is populated with crowds, it’s quite common to find many of these locations devoid of people, even in the holiday season.
6 The Lions
Lowry reportedly thought about buying the Lions house in the late 1940s, but was put off by it’s poor condition at the time. It now looks over the allotments (one of the places that is rarely empty) and the view from the house over the allotments takes in the pier, the lighthouse and Bamburgh in the distance.
7 Football Match
In fairness the pitch here is still used regularly for football matches. The rest of the time, however, it seems to be a refuge for solitary dog walkers.
8 Town Hall
An iconic and much photographed view of Berwick from the walls at Castlegate. Here there are a few cars, a doughnut stall but, again, very few people.
9 Old Berwick, Strother’s Yard
The view from Strother’s Yard is one that was drawn and painted by a number of artists including Lowry and even featured on postcards that pre-dated Lowry’s visits. This is one of the locations that has fallen victim to redevelopment, so the view highlighting the symmetry and geometry of the scene presented in earlier images is no longer available. The yard itself appears to be private property, so we’re just left with a partially obscured view of the Town Hall.
10 Bridge End
Another familiar view and another view where, even on a Friday afternoon, it is possible to take the shot free of people. This is despite its close proximity to The Barrels, one of the town’s better drinking establishments. Lowry’s scene was recreated earlier in the year - there’s more information on the BBC.
11 Sally Port
This is another scene that is still very much how Lowry would have seen it when he painted it in the 1950s.
12 Old Property
Linking this shot to the original location is taking something of a liberty. Lowry’s painting was set on Main Street. However, a number of the buildings depicted in the original have now been demolished and redeveloped while those that haven’t never existed in the first place! (it wasn’t uncommon for Lowry to add entirely fictitious buildings to a scene).
It’s striking how few of the locations have changed significantly since Lowry started visiting in the 1930s. This shot, while taken at the opposite end of the town, tries to show the style of the buildings, with their terracotta roofs, that give Berwick some of it’s distinctive character.
There’s a quote from (I think) a 1950s guide describing Berwick that I quite like. “A town of red roofs and grey buildings with hardly any irritating buildings anywhere and a town of the most intricate changes of levels.”
13 Berwick Harbour
This is another view that will have changed little in the 75 years since Lowry drew his image. The walls, the town hall and the roofs all come together to make the distinctive Berwick waterfront.
14 Portraits of Lowry
This obviously isn’t a portrait of Lowry. Not wanting to contravene Section 25 of the Burial Act 1857 I’ve made do with a self portrait. I don’t like doing these and I probably won’t do it again…
15 Boats
Lowry’s fascination with boats, and the tankers that were visible from the North East coast is very evident in his coastal work. The harbour at Berwick is still a working harbour with a regular flow of commercial vessels.
16 Spittal Sands
This is another location that Lowry showed teaming with people enjoying the beach in summer. It’s far less packed now and on a summer evening it’s perfectly possible to feel as though you have the space to yourself. This is no bad thing…
17 Spittal Promanade
The Lowry image on display at this location shows a portrait of a girl in a red hat. I do have an image of Helen in the same location and while I’m not saying that she looks madder than the original model, I’m also not, not saying that…
Instead, I like the lines of this shelter and the fact that it would have been new (and undoubtedly popular) when Lowry first visited appeals to me.
18 Beach Scene
This is the most recent addition to the trail, depicting a beach scene around this spot. The original was bought by the Berwick Museum and Art Fund in 2020 and hangs in the museum at The Barracks. Lowry’s scene is, again, heavily and brightly populated; on a Sunday afternoon in December it’s far less busy.
19. Back Streets
This feels like one of locations with a more tenuous connection to Lowry himself. As the board states, there’s no evidence that Lowry ever painted the scene or the nearby panorama. It’s here, I think, because of the similarity to some of his more familiar subjects.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes the point of photography is not the photographs, but rather the process. I didn’t set out to take eighteen portfolio standard images (there’s a trap there, but that’s a subject for another day). Rather I simply wanted illustrate some of the locations and features that help make Berwick uniquely Berwick. The fact that someone far more talented and imaginative than I had led the way gave me a great starting point.
More prosaically, this mini project was an excuse to get out with the camera and explore part of our new home. Sometimes an expedition with the camera can simply be a spur to take a closer look at what’s in our own backyard.
The other attraction of a project such as this is that it isn’t close ended. There’s no need at all to wait for the ‘perfect’ set of images as there’s always an opportunity to go back and revisit some of the locations.
