Places to visit, attractions, heritage and things of interest in Northumberland, North East England.
A Bit About Britain often refers to ‘Bede’. It occurred to me the other day that some of my readers may not know who – or what – this means. Which, frankly, is fair enough. Thus, for the benefit of the mildly interested, here is a bit about Bede. If you already know this, look …
Frankly, you’ll be spoiled for choice if you’re looking for things to see and do in North East England. From dramatic, wild coast and countryside, to wildlife, castles, Roman remains, the simple grandeur of Durham and the culture and vibrancy of Newcastle upon Tyne, there is something for everyone. To start you off, here is …
Ten of the best places to visit in North East England Read More »
To visit Lindisfarne, a tidal island at the tip of north-east England, is to enter a different world. It is a world of saltwater, seabirds and saints, a world of mudflats, mead and mystery that is still revealing its secrets. Our story begins in the shadow times before places like England, Scotland and Wales had …
A neighbour was taking a short break in Northumberland, and told me that one of the reasons she was excited about it was because, growing up, she had a picture of Grace Darling on her bedroom wall. She would not have been alone; Grace Darling was a perfect Victorian heroine who braved a violent North …
North East England does many things rather well, and one of them is castles. There are dramatic coastal castles, like Dunstanburgh and Bamburgh, grand castles like Alnwick, frontier castles, like Norham, and castles you can stay in, like Langley Castle. Today, we’re going to take a look at Warkworth Castle, one of Northumberland’s great fortresses. …
There are several reasons to go to the little Northumbrian coastal village of Craster. It is famous for its kippers, offers several pleasant eating options, an art gallery and is a popular base for bird watchers, fishers and walkers alike. Our excuse was to revisit Dunstanburgh Castle, surely one of the most dramatic set of …
Cragside was the home of William George Armstrong; and William George Armstrong was probably a genius. Born in 1810 in Newcastle upon Tyne, he was one of those irritating people who seems to have been good at everything. Trained as a lawyer, he was an accomplished engineer, inventor, arms manufacturer, international arms dealer, industrialist, philanthropist, …
This is the skeletal remains of the Temple of Mithras, just outside the Roman fort of Brocolitia on Hadrian’s Wall. The fort, also sometimes called ‘Carrawburgh’ is only visible as lumps in the ground; this is not a place for those cursed with a short attention span. I visited at dusk on a bleak day …
If you didn’t know about this, you wouldn’t know it was there. If you know what I mean. A good friend told me about it – I’d been driving past for ages in blissful ignorance. Just east of Chollerford in Northumbria, a little to the north of Hexham on the northern side of the B6318, …
Including the counties of Co Durham, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear and the Tees Valley. To visit North East England is to enter the old kingdom of Northumbria, formed when Bernicia – which stretched way into what is now Scotland – unified with Deira to the south, between the Tees and the Humber. North East England …
