Just got back from a week staying in a cottage in Northumbria between Beadnell and Seahouses. Northumbria as such is not an area I have spent much time in other than passing through on the A1 and a 3 week stretch at Ponteland.
Got to say I was pleasantly surprised. A wealth of beautiful sandy beaches and lovely countryside. For those wanting a more rustic look there is Kielder. Not particularly crowded and plenty to see and do.
Took the bike so managed to do some exploring. The Geordies are keeping quiet about this one! Of course good weather played an important part.
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Don't tell the swivel eyed loons in the House of Lords or they'll want to frack it !
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Best to keep hidden gems to yaself or they wont stay hidden and un-crowded for long.
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It's a wilderness according to a Peer.
Last edited by: madf on Sun 11 Aug 13 at 13:25
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Love the place, had a great time there last time, except for a PITA interloper called Raul Moate.
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Lovely quiet roads, and a place that you can really 'lose' yourself in.
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The whole country's like that.
Let the lemmings go to Bournemouth, Blackpool and Yarmouth!
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Went there myself in May, having asked advice from the good folks here about where to stay and what to do. Absolutely loved it, but we need to go back and allow more time. We stayed at the Three Wheat Heads in Rothbury, good food and pleasant enough, plus easy to get places. Never got to Kielder, too much else to see and do!
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There is also the curiously named The Electrical Wizard in Morpeth.
tinyurl.com/lyzf4cy
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>> The Electrical Wizard in Morpeth.
'Friday night: Valve amp exchange night special! Anything messed with, anything repaired! Never knowingly baffled! Hi-fi wonks all over the North East put their trust in Wayne and Winston!'
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We have long term friends who live here.......zoom out to see just how isolated the place is.
goo.gl/maps/ObLcE
On a moonless night you can't see a thing outside once the farm lights have gone off. Just pitch blackness for miles and miles. Farms sheep and a few beasts but it's a hard life up there.
Stunning area though. Wife was SWM's bridesmaid many years ago. Due another visit, I hope.
Ted
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There is this pub in Hexham for well kept beer and good value food. Not too far away.
tinyurl.com/krhzyg5
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Seconded - stayed at the Three Wheat Heads about a month ago.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Mon 12 Aug 13 at 10:09
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I was born and brought up on a farm in North Northumberland not that far from where you were staying Fullchat ....I love the place and the thing I love most is that I can get away from the rest of the world and be completely alone......miles of empty beaches and moors...
It is a seriously beautiful place and nice when the sun shines but vicious weather in the winter.
AC ,if you reckon the farm of your friends is lonely - try this .
When my parents were first married just before the war this is where they lived... Yearning Hall
www.walkingforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14570.0
It was taken over by the army as a training ground and is now a ruin as you see in the photos but every so often I disappear into the hills up there to recharge the batteries.
If you want to go there you need plenty of anti midge cream.....
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We stayed in the Longhouton area. I was strongly reminded of Norfolk by the countryside hereabouts, if that is any indication, and later found my brother had had the same impression. Craster is the place to buy kippers and has a mailing service also but the restaurant attached to the smokery is to be avoided: there is a very nice eating pub opposite. Dunstanburgh Castle is a bracing stroll just north.
Boat trips from Seahouses can be used to view the Farne Islands and their seals. Bamburgh Castle is boring, nothing to see. Holy Island is next up the coast. Berwick-on-Tweed is interesting architecturally, especially its fortifications, but we didn't like the atmosphere there. Back south, at Chillingham, the wild cattle herd is worth a visit. An extreme rarity, the animals cannot have any human contact whatever: any beast that does is killed by the rest in order to preserve the herd's integrity. Nearby Chillingham Castle had only just been open to the public and was a shambles.
Alnwick Castle has a very pleasant café terrace but it overlooks an ugly cement cascade. There is a treehouse restaurant in the grounds which looks as good a firetrap as one could hope to find. The scenery in the Kielder Water area is beautiful and totally different, said to be marvellous for walking. There is a boat trip on the Water but it is another bore, to be missed. Hadrian's Wall is south of here.
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"Craster is the place to buy kippers "
Easier to pop into Waitrose. That's where most of the Craster kippers end up.
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Two small points:
1. Northumberland, not Northumbria.
2. Nothing to do with Geordies who come from Newcastle - a Metropolitan area.
3. Yes, you're right; a wonderful place.
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>> Two small points:
>>
>> 1. Northumberland, not Northumbria.
>>
>> 2. Nothing to do with Geordies who come from Newcastle - a Metropolitan area.
>>
>> 3. Yes, you're right; a wonderful place.
>>
That's three.
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Englands Hidden Gem - Northumbria - R.P.
