An insider guide to Northumberland's medieval beauty
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- Rex Features
At Allen Banks you can stand on the ridge next to the Byronic ruin of Staward Pele tower overhanging the River Allen, and see nothing but deciduous woodland in every direction. In summer there are bluebells, wild pansies and dog violets. In autumn fungi in various shades of yellow pop up through rustling beech leaves. You can walk to Beltingham (estate village of the Bowes-Lyons) and see a thousand-year-old yew tree from which, or so the story goes, the local archers cut the bows that harvested the flower of Scottish chivalry further to the north on Flodden Field.
Northumberland is one of the most spectacular counties in Britain, an area of white-sand beaches, heather-topped fells and wooded dales. It is a place of wide-open spaces beneath big skies. Stand on the top of Warden Rock at the confluence of the North and South Tynes, and you feel as if you can see the whole world before you. Yet it is, it should be noted, a rigorous beauty, the sort that attracted early Christian saints, a beauty unlikely ever to induce languor.
This is a county where the Barbour jacket (invented and made on Tyneside) is workwear not a fashion statement, and whose greatest contribution to the world of high-end accessories is the Hardy split-cane fishing-rod (made in Alnwick). No one is ever going to mistake Seahouses for Rock, and if you're looking for a north-eastern Ludlow, you will be sorely disappointed. Northumberland aspires to neither refinement nor sophistication. It is a place of good, robust pleasures.
Above: Embleton Bay, Northumberland
Where to stay in Northumberland
THE LORD CREW ARMS
A little bit of the Cotswolds in the North Pennines, Blanchland is notable for its utterly charming cottages with uniform red doors, all made of stone salvaged from the ruins of 12th-century Blanchland Abbey. And the village has a hotel worth staying for, managed by the owners of Calcot Manor and Barnsley House in Gloucestershire, no less, two of the country's most fabulous country-house hotels. The Grade II-listed main building was the abbot's guesthouse until 1539, when the monastery was sold. It changed hands several times before its namesake, Lord Nathaniel Crewe, took over. He died in 1721, leaving his estate to the Lord Crewe Trustees. Rooms - seven in cottages along one side of the village square, four in the main building, plus 10 over the road - are named after moors, mines and figures associated with Blanchland. There's an argument for staying in each of them: Bamburgh has stained-glass windows from the abbey; Tom Forster has the best view of the gardens; Egglestone has a divine roll-top bath; Whiteheaps has a log burner. The Northumberland moors are reflected in paint shades of heather and moss, and there are tartan blankets and Roberts radios. While you're here, borrow some wellies from the boot room (next to the gun room) and head out with the explorers' kits along the River Derwent. By Hazel Lubbock
Address: The Lord Crew Arms, The Square, Blanchland, Northumberland
Telephone: +44 1434 675469
Website: booking.com
Prices: Doubles from £140; suites from £180
Book your stayCARRAW BED & BREAKFAST
Carraw Farm sits quite literally on top of Hadrian's Wall, a few hundred yards west of the Brocolitia temple. In all likelihood, its robust Northumbrian walls – two feet thick and ample defence against even the most invasive gale – are partly fashioned from stone that was cut and dressed by the masons from legions II and VI of the imperial Roman army. There are now four guest rooms, two of them large enough for families. The stripped wooden floors, exposed beams and stonework in the large uncluttered rooms reflect a clear decision on the part of Kevin and Leah Vigars, the cheery couple who run the farm, to distance themselves from the antimacassar-and-doily tradition of the rural English B&B.
Address: Carraw Bed & Breakfast, Carraw Farm, Humshaugh, Hexham NE46 4DB
Telephone: +44 1434 689857
Website: booking.com
Prices: Doubles from £80
Book your stay- Tracey Bloxham
CALDER COTTAGE
Beautifully positioned between the wide sandy bay and Embleton’s village pub, Calder Cottage is so cosy even the most committed outdoorsy types will be hoping for a lashing storm so they can nestle down by the wood-burner within the half-panelled living room. The one-bedroom, one-storey cottage has been lovingly furnished and comprehensively equipped for modern living, but it’s the views from the rear windows and decking that are its standout feature – gaze out across rolling green fields speckled with sheep to the turbulent sea, with the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle looming to the south. From Embleton walk down the coast to L Robson & Sons' celebrated smokehouse at Craster to pick up a picnic lunch, and across the sand dunes for dinner at The Ship. On a cloudless night, you can stroll back along the beach in the moonlight. Romantic? Just a touch.
Website: emble.org
Prices: £450 per week
Book your stay LIMPET COTTAGE
Owned by the Duke of Northumberland, this tiny cottage has French windows that open straight onto the beach. Fishing cobbles still launch from the sands, and there are great walks along the cliffs towards Craster and Dusntanburgh Castle, a ruin so romantically wasted that it is the architectural equivalent of Keith Richards. My partner and I stayed here 25 years ago. We arrived late at night after a long drive from south London, and the next morning I opened the curtains to find a grey seal staring at me and flapping his tail. We moved to Northumberland six months later.
Address: Limpet Cottage, Boulmer, Alnwick & Alnmouth, Northumberland
Telephone: +44 1668 219941
Website: alnwickcastlecottages.co.uk
Prices: £392 per week
Book your stayCAUSEWAY HOUSE
Traditionally, homes in Northumberland were roofed with thatched heather; but heather is notoriously easy to set on fire, which explains why this is the last cottage of its kind in the county. Built in 1770, and featuring a cast-iron range, it is looked after by the Landmark Trust. Causeway House is situated a few yards from the entrance to Vindolanda, a Roman settlement that sprung up to serve the Hadrian's Wall garrison. It was here that archaeologists found a large collection of wax writing tablets, which bring to life the people who lived in Vindolanda; they include letters home requesting news of relatives and asking their mothers to send them warm underpants.
Address: Causeway House, Henshaw, Hexham NE47 7HD
Telephone: +44 1628 825925
Website: landmarktrust.org.uk
Prices: From £315 per week
Book your stayAbove: a guest room at Causeway House
The best gastropubs in Northumberland
THE DIPTON MILL INN
With its wood panelling, roaring fire and no-frills cosiness, this small, ivy-clad building just south of Hexham is the sort of place Holmes and Watson might have stopped at had they ever ventured Watford. The consulting detective would have approved of the food, too, all made by the landlord's wife in a tiny back kitchen. Beef pie, cheese-and-onion flan, blackberry crumble and custard all feature. Ale is from the local Hexhamshire Brewery. Afterwards, you can walk along the wooded Dipton Burn to the cave in which legend says Queen Margaret of England hid after her Lancastrian army was defeated at the Battle of Hexham in 1464.
Address: The Dipton Mill Inn, Hexham, Northumberland
Telephone: +44 1434 606577
Website: diptonmill.co.uk
Prices: About £30 for twoTHE SHIPP INN
The coast here is quite rocky – ideal for searching out sea anemones and hermit crabs – and the beach at Low Newton is the most resoundingly middle-cass in the country. The presence of The Ship has much to do with that. It's frankly a wonderful place – the sort of ideal English coastal pub you expect to encounter only in fiction. The interoir has a monastic simplicity, and when the weather is bright you can sit outside and eat fresh local lobster, rare-breed ham from Fontburn Farm, or kipper pate from the smokehouse at nearby Craster, washed down with ale from the pub's own micro-brewery.
Address: The Shipp Inn, Low Newton by the Sea, Northumberland
Telephone: +44 1665 576262
Website: shipinnnewton.co.uk
Prices: About £35 for twoTHE FEATHERS INN
In an age when practically any publican who can put scampi and chips in a deep-fat fryer claims to use 'locally sourced produce' (even if that source is Costco), The Feathers is the real thing. The raw materials come from small suppliers across Northumberland and north Durham – mussels from Holy Island, heritage potatoes from Cornhill-on-Tweed, game from the Minsteracres Estate – and the food is genuinely seasonal, which, in winter, requires a high level of ingenuity on the part of the kitchen, especially when it comes to vegetables. Luckily, chef Rhian Cradock and his team are more than up to it, and serve rich and hearty food, including a terrific homemade black pudding.
Address: The Feathers Inn, Hedley on the Hill, Northumberland
Telephone: +44 1661 843607
Website: thefeathers.net
Prices: About £45 for twoAbove: black pudding and poached egg, a signature dish at The Feathers Inn
Where to eat in Northumberland
QUAYSIDE CAFE AND CHIPPY
The fishing port of Amble offers all the traditional culinary delights of the British seaside, including Mr Whippy ice cream, candyfloss and rock shaped like a baby's dummy. The best fish and chips in the county can be found at the Quayside Cafe and Chippy in the fish market. It's always busy, but if you're lucky the pub across the road will have a karaoke competition on to keep you entertained while you queue.
Address: Quayside Cafe and Chippy, Amble, Northumberland
Telephone: +44 7526 126583THE WHEATSHEAF AT SWINTON
The town is actually three miles north of the Tweed River and technically in Scotland, but it is the ideal base for exploring northern Northumberland. The Wheatsheaf is a sprawling country inn, popular with the sort of grand people in damp tweeds who are happy to spend a couple of hundred pounds for a day standing in a river in pursuit of salmon. It serves just the sort of food you might expect in the circumstances – roast loin of venison, slow-braised beef, steamed treacle pudding with clotted cream. The guest rooms are large and comfortable, and the owners will even let your dog sleep in your room.
Address: The Wheatsheaf at Swinton, Swinton, Northumberland
Telephone: +44 1890 860 257
Website: wheatsheaf-swinton.co.ukTHE CONGREGATIONAL ART GALLERY AND CAFE
Good coffee was once hard to find in the cafes of Northumberland. Many owners were apparently under the impression that caffeine was a Class A drug, so served up a milky drink that resembled Ovaltine more than anything else. This new cafe and art gallery in the pretty town of Rothbury has one the best cappuccinos in the county and delicious homemade cakes.
Address: The Congregational Art Gallery and Cafe, Rothbury, Northumberland
Telephone: +44 1669 621900
Website: thecongregational.org.ukTHE RUNNING FOX CAFE
There's more good coffee and excellent bacon sandwiches 15 miles or so further south-east at The Running Fox Cafe. It also has a bakery if you want to pick up a picnic on the way to the coast.
Address: The Running Fox Cafe, Felton, Northumberland
Telephone: +44 1670 787090
Website: runningfoxbakery.co.ukAbove: rack of lamb with rosemary served at The Wheatsheaf at Swinton
What to see in Northumberland
- Alamy
Flodden, Northumberland
Flodden (pictured above) is perhaps the most atmospheric of all English battlefields; it's been more or less untouched since the Earl of Surrey defeated James IV here in 1513. If you park near the little church at Branxton and walk the field when the sun is going down, you can almost hear the whistling shafts of the English bowmen as they cut down the Scottish knights (14,000 men died here in less than three hours). You can learn more about the Battle of Flodden a few miles away, at Lady Waterford Hall in the remarkable thatched estate village of Ford. There's also a light railway here, which is sure to please little ones. flodden.net
Back in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Borders region was home to ruthless robber clans called the Reivers, who made a living by stealing cattle and sheep, and were later romanticised in the work of Sir Walter Scott. Traces of the Reivers are to be found all over Northumberland, but the best way to understand more about them is to undertake the signposted walk around Black Middens Bastle House, near the tiny hamlet of Tarset. It's in the wild country north of Bellingham, a landscape so thinly populated that even Captain Hook could count the houses on his fingers. There are plaques along the route describing an infamous raid here in 1593, during which marauding Scots sacked the valley. Details of what the raiders escaped with, such as chairs and cooking pots, suggest it was no Brink's-Mat job. english-heritage.org.uk
Spend a while in the soggy trough of land around the Brocolitia temple (a plateau scoured almost featureless by an abrasive gale, with the purple mass of the Pennines looming to the south and, to the north, nothing) and you soon feel as our ancestors must have done: tiny in a large world. Here, soldiers from Belgium, Romania and Syria once offered sacrifices to the Persian god Mithra. Visitors have recently reported seeing 'people in robes carrying loaves of bread' across the boggy ground to this ancient ruin, although whether they were pagan worshippers engaged in some eldritch ritual or simply Dutch tourists wrapped up against the elements and determined to have a picnic, remains uncertain. roman-britain.org
Pictured: Flodden battlefield, Northumberland
What to do with children in Northumberland
- Rex Features
A seal on the Farne Islands
FARNE ISLANDS
Take a trip to the Farne Islands from Seahouses. The boats that make the journey are small fishing vessels, generally presided over by a man in mirrored shades with a Lambert & Butler wedged in the corner of his mouth. If the North Sea is choppy, he chucks a tarpaulin over his passengers to save them from a soaking. You'll rarely get a better chance to see grey seals, dozens of which will bob up from the waves and stare at you with inquisitive expressions. on Inner Farner you can stroll about and spot kittiwakes, puffins and guillemots. farne-islands.com
VALLUM FARM
Farmers Peter and Vicky Moffit make thick and creamy ice cream from the milk of a pedigree herd of Brown Swiss cows, and serve it here in their tea room next to Hadrian's Wall. The lemon meringue, made with homemade lemon curd and baked by one of the herd managers, is particularly delicious. Some barns have recently been converted and there's talk of an organic bakery and a restaurant opening in the near future. vallumfarm.co.uk
Above: a seal on the Farne Islands
Originally published in the January 2013 issue of Condé Nast Traveller; updated April 2019
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