There are high spiked railings separating Tweed Dock from the street but the gates stand wide open allowing curious passersby a good view of comings and goings in the port.
Unfortunately there’s no choice of viewpoint for a photo (it’s the gateway or nothing) and the average cargo ship is rather long – nearly 90 metres in this case.
(Click twice on the photo for a closer view)
This is the Derk, a Dutch vessel, loaded yesterday with oilseed rape and now on it’s way to Erith in the Port of London. Today’s surprising fact is that Erith (which I’d never heard of before) is a specialist dock with handling facilities for bulk oil seed and liquid vegetable oil. Since the 17th century the Port of Berwick has been the gateway to London for crops from Tweed valley farms. The shipping and the crops have changed but (against the odds) the trade continues.
Beyond the Window Box 
January 25, 2019 at 8:45 am
For a port concerning itself with transporting bulky agricultural items, it looks pleasantly low-key and un-industrial.
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January 25, 2019 at 11:30 am
It’s a small port on a tidal river, equipped for the loose cargos that big container ports can’t handle – grain, timber, fertiliser and the like. With only four or five ships passing through each week it’s a peaceful part of the local scene.
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January 25, 2019 at 2:15 pm
“Derk” is owned by Wagenborg Shipping and was built in 2000. Looks a clean and well run ship. Just wondering why AMADEUS is on the front of the wheelhouse, yet Derk is the vessel name. Also it’s a vital part of the local economy for these ships to continue trading to the larger ports, I would think.
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January 25, 2019 at 3:30 pm
I’ve noticed that the name of the shipping company is often painted in large letters on the wheelhouse or the side of the ship while the individual name is less conspicuous on the bows. There’s a German shipping company called Amadeus so I guess that’s related in some way to Wagenborg. And yes, a lot of the local economy depends on trade passing through this port, even though few people work in the port itself.
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January 25, 2019 at 10:09 pm
This is true. Usually the larger shipping companies also have the funnels painted, but the name of the shipping company is either on the hull of the vessel or on the front of the wheelhouse. It may be that the vessel is chartered (loaned) to Amadeus or the other way round so they are allowed to put their name on the vessel. Ports have become far more modernised now, with much of the activity resting on machinery and computers and less on manual labour.
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