Turner Trail in village is now complete

The unveiling was carried out by Sue Churchill, Chris Hardie, Berwick Preservation Trust, and Dr Mark Douglas, English Heritage senior property curator. Picture by Jim Gibson Photography.

Established by Norham Arts Group, the trail marks the connection between the village and world-renowned painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), who attributed his fame to his early paintings of Norham Castle.

The first panel, on the banks of the Tweed, was unveiled in May this year and the group thought that it would take much longer to raise the funds to complete the other two boards – one on the village green looking up at the castle and one in the grounds of the castle itself.

But as Sue Churchill, Norham Arts Group chairman, explained: “Berwick Preservation Trust, very generously and quickly, funded the last two boards in Norham, and it has plans to continue the trail in Berwick.

“In addition, English Heritage was hugely supportive and pulled out all the stops so the necessary permissions could be put in place promptly.

“We are also very grateful to Ben Smith of MGH Consultants, who helped us with design of the boards.

“His skill, and endless patience, was invaluable.”

The Norham panel description of J.M.W. Turner, often referred to as ‘the painter of light’, includes the following: ‘He is considered by many to be the greatest English Romantic landscape painter.

‘Turner was obsessed with Norham Castle, sketching and painting it repeatedly.

‘He loved to paint at dawn and at dusk.’