Fishwick Kirk I Presume?

Indeed yes. At last. After several failed attempts-unfriendly natives and marauding beasts, Huttonian and the wife, led by valiant Sherpa, penetrated the bandit country of the riverine Tweed lower valley to reach the ruins of Fishwick Kirk, where human feet have rarely tread in recent years. This was only achievable by out flanking guard cows protecting the obvious approach from the West while we snuck in from the East.(See image of the savage beasts-no doubt a bull lurking nearby-on Death-by-Coo Hill)The church is obscured by trees from every angle and is only just visible from the northern side when you are right on top of it. The main structure-a mortuary chapel built in the 1830s on the site of a much older church-legible tombstones date from the 17th century. The earliest on an inventory made in 1970 is 1661. The structure, apart from the roof tiling where the timbers are mostly intact is in surprisingly good nick but Vandals (or possibly Goths) have removed brass, glass and no doubt looted the vaults as well.The door was being used as a ramp (by earlier looters?) and the working party aka Sherpa, put it inside the church-image show it propped up outside the entrance

To paraphrase Dr Johnson's description of his visit to the Giant's Causeway:

Worth Seeing. Worth Going to see

But take food, warm clothing (it was 68f yesterday), machetes, midge repellent, dock leaves-the nettles are gigantic, GPS, small arms, stun grenades, flak jackets, and a cell phone. Help would be slow to reach you. So take care

(Click on the images for fine detail)

Labels: Fishwick Kirk, Low Flying Merse, Tweed

  ¶ 7:39 AM