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Welcome to the Port of Berwick
The Port of Berwick is the second largest Northumbrian port, handling in excess of 150,000 tonnes of cargo, with capacity to handle significant additional tonnage and around 250 shipping movements annually.
Berwick is situated on the eastern border between Scotland and the north east of England, at the mouth of the River Tweed, which defines the historic Scottish Borderland. Its coastal position places it equidistant from the Rivers Forth and Tyne.
Berwick is a modernising Trust Port, which has been established for over 125 years. The Harbour Master and staff see to the needs of incoming shipping and provide a friendly and flexible service to all Port users.
Recent regenerative projects have included the widening of the dock entrance in 1993, to accommodate larger vessels; the Harbour wall has been strengthened and the working surfaces increased. In 2000 an extensive dredging programme was initiated, which improved the working berths and facilitates larger vessel movements within the dock.
Repairs to the Pier
In Aug 2009 major repair work was undertaken which involved the replacement of 2 stone blocks dislodged by the Sea and the strenthning of the pier wall with rock armour.
There is easy trade access to all the northern European ports including the Baltic, Mediterranean and beyond. Incoming cargo is transported by road. The main A1 road is situated less than ten minutes away from the Port, serving the North & South of the United Kingdom.
W N Lindsay Ltd Started trading in Berwick in 1947. With over fifty years of experience they are able to tailor their services to suit all customer requirements.
Lindsay's flexible workforce will guarantee a swift and efficient turnaround for all cargoes.
The cranage and discharge equipment consists of dockside cranes suitable for handling bulk and unitised cargo, each with a lifting capacity of 8 tonnes. There are also forklifts with a lifting capacity of 3.5 tonnes, a 6-tonne telescopic forklift and elevators for loading bulk cargo.
There is a public weighbridge on the quayside, to facilitate the convenient inward and outward movement ot bulk cargo transport.
There is a continuous programme of updating of equipment, which is under constant review, and major customers can develop their own facilities, as Lindsay's are always open to discussion for specific customer requirements.
Lindsay's also run a port agency. They offer attractive individually tailored agency and stevedoring packages and are a registered sub-agent for LIoyd's underwriters.
M & W Engineering (no longer operating) was also based on the dockside and had been established for over ten years, geared to the needs of a wide range of customers and tasks - from heavy general engineering works to boat-building, on-site maintenance and installations. They specialise in fabrication, the manufacture of food processing equipment, welding, crane hire and many other engineering technical specialties
and have successfully built and launched two vessels.
Web Design (c) 2009 Ravy Davy
THE BUILDING OF THE TWEED DOCK
IN THE second half of the eighteenth century the Port of Berwick enjoyed a boom such as it had not known since the middle ages. The Berwick smack, a type of sailing vessel built locally primarily to carry salmon speedily to London, captured a great amount of trade in other commodities, notably grain and eggs, which were brought overland from considerable distances for transmission to the Thames. The smacks also carried passengers more quickly and cheaply than any other form of transport. They sailed from the old quay below the bridge, which was still the only part of the Harbour with facilities for loading and unloading.
By about 1800 much of this trade had been lost to Leith, and it may have been the spur of competition that caused the merchants of the town to promote an Act of Parliament for rebuilding the pier and improving the Harbour. This act, passed in 1808, established the Harbour Commissioners in office, and they completed the new pier, extended the quay and built the stone jetty at the Carr Rock. Despite these measures trade scarcely improved. The harbour was still highly unsuitable for the larger steamships that had begun gradually to replace sailing vessels, and in the middle of the nineteenth century the railway took away most of the coastal trade almost overnight.
However, larger ships were attracted to the port, particularly by the needs of new industries established in Tweedmouth and Spittal, and it was evident that improvements would need to be made for their accommodation. A second Harbour Act was passed in 1862, which contained provisions for the election of fifteen Harbour Commissioners, and ten years later another Act of Parliament empowered them to make a wet dock on the shore of Tweedmouth between Berwick Bridge and St Bartholomew's Church and an embankment from the west end of Berwick Bridge to the landward end of the Carr Rock pier. On the embankment they were to build the road which became Spittal low road. They also had powers to construct coal staithes and to enter into an agreement with a railway company for the construction of a railway line to the new dock.
Consideration had at first been given to the construction of a dock at the ballast quay on the north side of the river, but it was clear that there was both a greater demand and a better site for the proposed dock on the south bank. It would replace a large mud bank which was exposed at low tide, and it would be much easier of access than any similar structure on the northern shore.
The plans of the Dock were drawn up by the famous engineering firm, D. & T. Stevenson of Edinburgh (David and Thomas Stevenson were respectively uncle and father of Robert Louis Stevenson). The contractors who executed the work were Messrs. A. Morrison & Son also of Edinburgh.
Work began in 1873 with the building of a coffer dam within which the dock walls were constructed. They were made of concrete, and the upper portions were faced and ' capped with granite. The floor of the Dock was puddled with blue clay to make it water- tight. In plan the Dock is a five-sided figure with 1,550 feet of quay. It encloses three- and-a-half acres and the depth of water at ordinary spring tides it twenty-one feet. The entrance to the Dock is forty feet wide. and the sill of the gates reduces the depth of water by two feet. Entrance to the Dock by large vessels today is only possible for about an hour either side of high water. Inside the Dock, in the north-west corner, there is a slipway for timber which is one of the original features. A steam crane was provided for loading and unloading. Outside, a channel was dug from the Dock gates to the main stream of the river and its course is marked by a wooden quay or jetty. The total cost of the works exceeded £40,000.
THE OPENING OF THE DOCK
THE OFFICIAL opening of the Tweed Dock was fixed for Wednesday, 4th October, 1876. In fact, it had already had an unofficial opening, witnessed by a large crowd of people, some six weeks earlier when the berths at the Carr Rock were overcrowded and more space was needed for new arrivals.
It was in the middle of August that the master of a three-masted schooner from the West Indies refused to enter the harbour until suitable accommodation was made ready for his vessel. The channel to the new Dock was quickly dredged and four ships were allowed in on the afternoon of Saturday, 19th August. The ship that had the honour of being the first to enter the Tweed Dock was the brig " Acacia '' of Hartlepool, and she was followed by the brig " Para " of London, the schooner " William '' and the brig " Vesta '' The three-masted schooner was berthed at the Carr Rock. When the four ships had discharged their cargoes and de- .
parted the Dock seems to have been unused again until tile day of the official opening.
On this occasion the Mayor of Berwick, Andrew Thompson. proclaimed an official half-holiday in the town, and the ceremony began with the ringing of the bells in the Town Hall. The rest of the story is best told from the local papers :
"The Mayor and Town Council assembled at the Town Hall at half-past one o'clock, from which place they marched. preceded by the Sergeants-at-Mace, to the Harbour office on the Quay. Here they were joined by the Harbour Commissioners, and a large number of tile principal inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood. At two o'clock the company embarked on board the steam-tug Tweed and sailed down the river as far as Spittal. The tug was then turned, and sailed down to the docks which was entered about half-past two o'clock.
As the tug entered the dock cheers were raised by a large concourse of people who had assembled to witness the proceedings.
At the south side of the dock the company landed and marched in procession round the dock, and halting at the dock gate, witnessed the entrance of H.M. Gunboat Tyrian, which is to be accommodated in the dock during the winter. Afterwards the brig Vedra of Sunderland was towed in by the steam-tug Tweed. . . ."
The formal opening speech was made by the Recorder of Berwick, William Thomas Greenhow, and the company then partook of wine and cake at the blacksmith's shop before marching back over the bridge to the harbour office. The occasion appears to have been successful and enjoyable, though one bystander wrote to the local Press anonymously, complaining at the funereal nature of the proceedings. It is certain that the evening's celebrations were enjoyed, when 110 gentlemen attended a special dinner in the King's Arms Assembly Rooms, and
downed an enormous meal and gallons of wine. A great many speeches were made, all of them optimistic in character.
The speakers included the Mayor. the Recorder, C. L. Gilchrist, Chairman of the Harbour Commissioners, Capt. David Milne Home, one of Berwick's two Members of Parliament, representatives of the Army, the Navy, the Coast Guard, the North Eastern Railway Company, and of the engineers and contractors. It was agreed that the Dock was a valuable addition to the Harbour which was long overdue, and there was a confident forecast that a second wet dock would be needed within a year or two, a prediction that has not been fulfilled. It was the general opinion that the main trade in the Dock would be in the shipment of coal, and some of the first ships to use the Dock were colliers.
The Harbour Master at the time of the opening was Captain Robert Ferguson. who had been appointed in 1867 and who was closely involved with the building of the Dock.
Invitation to the opening.
(See scan on right - click to enlarge & close)
The Dock and its ancillary works greatly improved the south bank of the river, and its access roads - also made for much easier communication between Tweedmouth and Spittal.
The Dock railway line leading to Tweed- mouth Station was opened on 16th October, 1878, by the North Eastern Railway Comp any. Its steep inclines were suited only to very small trains and it was eventually closed in the 1950s. The embankment by the river and one of the railway's two bridges were demolished in 1975.
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS
In the years immediately following the opening of the Dock the harbour at Berwick was extremely busy, justifying the optimism expressed in the after-dinner speeches. It cannot be denied that there were lean years to come, particularly during and after the two world wars. The Tweed Dock however, has been in some respects more consistently successful than many of its rivals.
One of the principal imports throughout the Dock's life has been timber from northern Europe for use in Allan Brothers wood-yard in Tweedmouth. In 1974, 12,532 tonnes of timber were imported. Again, the success of agriculture in the neighbourhood of Berwick has dependent in part on the use of fertilizers that have been brought in through the Dock. Chemicals and other raw materials (ammonia, phosphates, potash bones, etc.) were imported until the 1950's when the manufacture of fertilizers by H. G. McCreath and Fissions ceased. Since then ready-made fertilizers have been shipped in.
Cement was imported through the Dock from 'its beginning until 1964, when it became more readily available by road from the cement works at Dunbar. There is still a Ready-mix Concrete plant at the Dock. An- other import that was prominent from about 1915 until the 1950s was oil. The existing oil storage depot at the Dock is supplied by road.
The firm of H. 0. Short & Sons Ltd. has had a long connection with the Dock. It now mainly imports maize and other cereals for the use of its associate firm, Border Feeds.
Other imports through the Dock that were of significance for a time were clay for Tennant's Clay Pipe Factory in Tweed-mouth and esparto grass and china clay for Chirnside Paper Mill.
In the Dock's early years coal was one of the main exports, but it had ceased to be of much importance long before the closure of Scremerston Colliery in the 1950's. Its place was taken recently by sand and gravel which were dredged from the Tweed and shipped daily to Blyth. This operation lasted for three years, and at its peak in 1972 nearly 96,500 tons were exported. Stone is also ex- ported in large quantities from the former Herring Quay in Spittal (47,353 tonnes in 1975).
The main export from the Dock how-ever, now as in its first years, its grain, especially barley. In 1974, 7,738 tonnes of barley were exported and in 1975 admittedly an exceptional year when two harvests were involved, the figure rose to 92,859 tonnes. Most of this went to the Continent and to Northern Ireland. Over 2,500 tonnes of wheat were also exported in 1975. The principal firms involved locally were McCreath and John Prentice & Co.
In the years leading to its centenary the Dock has experienced a remarkable increase in its trading activity. A clear indication of the recent trend of improvement is contained in the following figures. In 1963-4 only 37 ships arrived at Berwick, and in the following year the number was 58. Ten years later in 1973, 1974 and 1975, the numbers were 273, 130 and 278 respectively. In the year 1964-5 the total tonnage of cargoes handled was 22,453; in 1975 it rose to 169,162 tonnes.
One of the main reasons for the great increase in trade is the growing reputation of the Dock for the Speed and efficiency with which ships are serviced by the staff. The Harbor Commissioners are also very keen to attract new business of all kinds. In the past two years unusual exports to the Continent have included dried milk, logs, and straw. There has also been an increasing use of the Dock's facilities by pleasure craft and small fishing beats. In the precincts of the Dock there is a public weigh-bridge which is in constant demand, and the wide edges of the Dock serve as an overnight lorry Park.
1994 AND ONWARDS
Being aware of the changing design of 'new building' ships the Harbour Commissioners decided to remove the beam restriction by removing the Tweed Dock lock bates and widening the entrance to allow vessels with a beam of up to 16 metres to safely enter.
The modern motor coaster is longer, broader draws less water than earlier versions and unlike the sailing ships and steamers of yesteryear with deep low keels is flat bottomed and can safely lie aground so does not require to be kept afloat at all times.
Whilst length and draught remain restrictions suitable modern vessels of up to 3000 tonnes cargo capacity can use the Port.
This long sighted policy has brought a Victorian Port into the 21st century and together with the provision of modern cranes, elevators and transit sheds the vessels get the fast turn round demanded by shipowners and merchants alike.
This improved port now allows traders to handle larger parcels and to trade with the Baltic Ports which have reopened to Western Europe since the demise of the "Iron curtain".
This is due of course to an increase in the cargo capacity of ships able to use the port. Before the entrance was widened, vessels of up to about 1700 tonnes deadweight were able to use the port.. Now ships of up to around 3000 tonnes deadweight can safely enter Berwick. The import of Fertilisers has vastly increased and regular shipments from Ports such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam in Holland and Hamburg in Germany have been supplemented by 2000 tonne Fertiliser ships from places new to Berwick such as Vyborg in Russia and Kaliningrad in Lithuania.
Timber, a commodity largely absent from Berwick over the last decade, has also made a reappearance, this being imported from Latvia.
Grain Imports which had also been on a downward gradient, also began to increase, with cargoes of over 2000 tonnes being imported from Denmark.
Cement continues to an important standing trade in Berwick, with regular imports of Snowcrete from Denmark, and also new exports of Sulfacrete to Norway. Shipments of Cement to the islands of Shetland and Orkney remain consistent over the last six years and continue to be an important regular trade for the dock.
The improvement has also meant merchants from further afield have been attracted to Berwick, with regular Wheat exports to Germany and Denmark, and also the aforementioned timber.
The increase in seaborne traffic during 1994 shows what the Port can handle and provides a platform on which to build for the future.
There is quiet confidence that trade can continue to grow and that the Harbour will continue to be the gateway to the Scottish Borders and remain the jewel in the crown of Berwick.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~
From the Centenary news story 1976
Tweeddale press
The Harbour commissioners at their annual general meeting in the Guild Hall in July 1976
(sorry no photo yet...)
Left to right, back row, Mr. H. G. McCreath, Col. J. I. M. Smail, Mr. j. F. Reed, Mr. M. Thompson, vice-chairman; Mr. R. W. B. Bainbridge, Mr. K. I. S. M. Leslie and Mr. T. Gladstone.
Front row, Mr. J. Healy, Clerk to the Commissioners; Mr. D. G. Landels, chairman; Mrs. M. Tait, Secretary; and Captain P. Gibson, The Harbour Master.
Photo: Tweeddale Press Ltd.
THE BERWICK HARBOUR COMMISSIONERS, 1976
IN THIS centenary year it is fitting that the names of the people directly responsible for the successful running of the Dock, and the Harbour in general, should be recorded. The present Chairman of the Berwick-upon-Tweed Harbour commissioners is Mr. D. C. Landels and the Vice-chairman is Mr. M. F. Thompson.
The other thirteen Commissioners are :
Major J. M. Askew, Mr. R. W. B. Bainbridge, Councilor R. C. Blackhall, who is also currently Mayor of the Borough of Berwick- upon-Tweed, Mr. I. Cochrane, Mr. T. S. Gladstone, Mr. A. D. Herriot, Mr. K. 1. S. M. Leslie, Mr. H. G. McCreath, Mr. 1. A. McDonald. Mr. I. F. Reed, Mr. S. B. Simpson. Colonel J. I. M. Smail and Mr. F. M. Steven
The Harbour Master is Captain Peter Gibson, and his secretary in Mrs. M. Steven,
The Clerk to the Commissioners is Mr. John Healy, Chief Executive of the Borough. His secretary is Mrs. M. Tait.
The Tweed Dock is an asset to the Borough of Berwick, and to the. Eastern Borders as a whole. The Harbour Commissioners and their predecessors are to be congratulated on their successful efforts to sustain trading activity in the Dock in the past 100 years. They have also given pleasure to the thousands of townsfolk and visitor who have enjoyed the sight of fine ships sailing in and out of the mouth of the Tweed at high tide.
1st Feb 10 ETA
Vela arriving from Klaipėda with Fertilizer
21st Jan 10
Union Moon arrived in Balast to load Barley for Amsterdam
29th Dec 09
Baltiyskiy-201 Discharging Fertilizer on the 4th Jan 10
16th Nov 22:00
Paper Moon discharging Fertilizer from Poland
10 Nov 09
River Trader Loading Cement for the Shetlands
28th Oct 2009
Islay Trader - arrived from Holland with Fertilizer
23 October 2009
Shetland Trader Discharging Fertilizer.
15th October 2009
Fast Filip - Loading Barley Feed sailing 17th for Drogheda
21st August 2009
Skantic - Loading Cement and General Cargo
ETA: Aug 21 15:30
9th August 2009
Merlin - Discharging Fertilizer
5th August 2009
Water Guardian - taking water samples for the
Enviroment Agency
4th August 2009
Pilsun - Discharging Fertilizer.
3rd August 2009
Sea Hawk - Discharging Fertilizer
2nd August 2009
Forth Sentinel - To carry out repairs to the Pier, this is
expected to take 10 weeks.
30th July 2009
Islay Trader - Discharging Fertilizer
23rd July 2009
POPRAD - Discharging Fertilizer
20th July 2009
DIAMANT - Discharging Fertilizer
Ewald - Discharging Fertilizer
16th June 2009
Ilka -
15th June 2009
Ballyhealy - Discharging Malting Barley
21st May 2009
Sea Hawk - Discharging Malting Barley
5th May 2009
RMS Vindava - Discharging Fertilizer
26th April 2009
Fame - Loading Cement
2nd April 2009
RMS Lagona - Loading feed
25th March 2009
Sea Hawk - Discharging Malting Barley. Loading Feed.
11 March 2009
ORA CHELSEA - Discharging Fertilizer
23rd February 2009
10th February 2009
RMS Scanlark - Discharging fertilizer. Loading Rape
Seed
9th February 2009
Nordstrand - Discharging Malting Barley
17th August 08
Fast Sus - Cargo Ship
8th April 08
Trinity -
Lagoda 106 -
Mikhail Dudin -
22 April 1998
Rema - Loading Redstone chippings
Sank with loss of all lives. MAIB REPORT
Opticians
Facilities at the Harbour for Visiting Vessels
Berths available by prior arrangement.
Water, and Shower available.
W.N. Lindsay Stevedors
Local Spar shop opposite Harbour Entrance
Hopes Newsagents (left at harbour entrance)
Fish & Chip shop & Chinese Takeaway
(right at harbour entrance)
Rob Roy B&B plus Bar and Restaurant
Turn Left along Dock road
Only 10 mins walk to Town Center.
Market days Wed and Sat .
(Turn right along main street and over the old bridge).
Banks are left along Bridge Street to Hide Hill.
Tourist information on Castlegate
Emergency contacts:-
Berwick Infirmary
Infirmary Square,
Berwick-upon-Tweed,
Northumberland,
TD15 1LT
Tel: 0844 811 8111
Nearest Doctor:
Union Brae Surgery,Union Brae
Tweedmouth
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Tel: 01289 330333
Lloyds Pharmacy Tel: 01289 308 547
NHS Web Site:Union Brae Doctors
Latitude: 55º 46'N
Longitude: 01º 59'W
Port Radio: ch12 & ch16
Dentists
Berwick Police Tel: 01289 307111
Google Map
Berwick RNLI Lifeboat Station
Berwick-upon-Tweed Harbour Commission are the Competent Harbour Authority who operate the port, which handles all shipping up to the limitations within the safe tidal Tweed Dock.
Dock Maximums
Length116m
Beam16.5m
Draft4.6 (Spring tides)
3.8 (Neap tides)
No air draught limit
Tonnage rates of discharge:
200/300 tonnes per hour
Tonnage load rate:
150/300 tonnes per hour
Quayside storage facilities:
3100 sq m of warehousing
Harbour Constitution 2009
See us in the
Ports of Scotland
Maritime Publication
Our Pilot Boat:
Old name: Lady of Lancashire
New name: St. Boisil
Date acquired: 11/96
Formerly RNLI Lifeboat
44-015 - ON 1036 based at
Fleetwood and Dun Laoghaire
Click toEnter Photo Album
(opens in new web page)
Stowaway landing in Berwick with Police waiting to take him into custody
(click on pictures to enlarge)
Stowaway found on Fishing Boat Wiron 1
This Morning around 10:00 fishing Vessels Wiron 1 and Wiron 2, who had been standing off Berwick Pier since late Tuesday Evening 8th Sep, reported a stowaway found on board while fishing off Berwick. Humber Coastguard asked vessels to sail to Blyth to meet Imigration but decided to land him in Berwick to be met by Police.
While monitoring Marine ch16 this morning the Master of Wiron 1 contacted Humber CG indicating he had found a stowaway onboard. the vessel sailed from Holland a week ago and he must have been onboard since then.
The Captain indicated the he wanted the stowaway to be dropped off in Berwick but Humber CG indicated that Imigration did not want him to enter the UK.
The Captain indicated that he was becoming aggressive, Humber asked the Captain to Sail to Blyth where they could be met by Imigration but the Captain said he was becoming more aggressive and said he could not live in Holland and all his money was in London and would prefer him to go ashore now.
It was then decided to allow the vessels lifeboat to bring him ashore where the Police were waiting to arrest
New Harbour Masters Office
Work will soon start on the new harbour masters offices.
Repair work to the Pier started on 3rd Aug 09.
Forth Sentinel will be used to carry out the work.
The work will involve the recovery of 11 stone blocks which have been dislodged by rough weather and then repaired & placed back into the pier, with the addition of rock armour the restoration work is expected to take 10 weeks.
Companies involved in the Repair work to the Pier August 2009
Seymour Engineering
Northern Divers
Forth Sentinel
Don't hesitate to get in touch,
You can do so by a number of ways:
Telephone: +44 (0)1289 307404
Fax: +44 (0)1289 332854
Postal Address: Harbour Masters Office, Tweedmouth
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland
TD15 2AB
Any Questions the eMail us here
Here are some usefull links for you.
The Lighthouse
Port of Berwick (Official Site)
Ports of the UK - Berwick
Berwick upon Tweed Wikipedia
Berwick Shipyard History
Berwick-upon-Tweed History
Other UK Ports
Berwick Barracks
Ship AIS
Scotavia Aerial Photography
