Northumberland in a week – part 2

We were only in Northumberland for a week, but we crammed a lot in, such that I only wrote about half the week in last week’s blog post.

The second airb&b was just outside Morpeth, it was a lovely quiet place out in the sticks, more spacious than the first with a well-fitted kitchen, and good views of the sunset. This was a good base that we would use again, and we probably would have been better staying there three nights instead of two.

We ended up going into Morpeth on leaving the airb&b. It is a smallish town that we had always driven past in the campervan, not fancying trying to park it nor leave the dog in it on hot days. It had long been on my “to visit list”. It turned out to be smaller than I’d envisaged and less of the art / craft shops that I thought it had – Covid? wrong part of town? But it was probably just as well, as we were planning on going to Wallington en route to Hayden Bridge for our last three nights.

It did seem to have rather a lot of hairdressers and nail bars, how they all survive I don’t know. We did find a good place for a late cooked breakfast for Colin, and I opted for a homemade burger which was very good.

It was another beautiful, warm sunny day, and we went on to the National Trust’s Wallington. We were longer here, having arrived early afternoon, but still ran out of time without seeing everything. We spent a long time in the house, the staff / volunteers were very friendly and knowledgeable.

The house was much less formal than many stately homes, being home to the Trevelyan family, socialists and unconventional, but very comfortable and liveable. The central hall had been an open courtyard, but was roofed in the 1850s. It had beautiful murals of flowers on the pillars and around the walls, with more formal paintings between them. I especially loved the foxgloves.

The library here was very well stocked, and if only you were allowed to touch and read the books we could have spent even longer in there. It did have another room with comfy places to sit, and books that you could pick up and browse, and we would have spent longer in there if we hadn’t been given a 15 minute warning of the house closing and we still hadn’t seen the room with the Cabinets of Curiosities.

A whistle-stop look, and quick photos to be able to read and look at later. Natural objects fascinate me and it’s quite reassuring to know that other people are intrigued by them too, and can’t resist collecting them. Many of them didn’t photograph well as they were behind glass to protect them, and the lights reflected off the glass.

Once we left the house we were asked if we’d been to the walled garden. No. We were told we must see it. But Colin decided he’d walked enough for one day, so went to find somewhere to sit while I went to look. I’d been told it was 15 minutes walk through the woods, it certainly took me longer, partly as I kept getting distacted by various things including a chainsaw carving done after storm Arwen.

There was a beautiful metal archway……..

……… and a line of ducks in the lake…….

…….. not to mention the flowers and insects in the walled garden.

I only walked around the edge of the garden, barely touching on it; the garden alone really needs a whole day.

I spotted an owl in the woods on my way back.

It had chilled off a bit by then, and I couldn’t see Colin when I got back near where I’d left him.

Fortunately I’d left him with my fleecy-lined jacket, and found him hidden under the tree.

There was just time for hot drinks and a bit of cake, before yet again being the last to leave. Then we took the pretty route on to Hayden Bridge, getting there shortly before dark.

Northumberland in a week?

It’s many years since we last went to Northumberland, in the days of the campervan, teenage son and black labrador. We managed to replicate many of the best bits of those earlier holidays this time. The loose plans, this time only three airb&b’s booked, rather than a few campsites before we left home, and only two definite destinations planned. We’d got the National Trust and English Heritage books with us so could plan other trips later.

The first to visit en route was Mount Grace Priory, House and Gardens near Northallerton, and we were later getting there than I’d hoped. As always we were later leaving home than I’d planned, but no real rush. Then I rather stupidly managed to miss the exit from the M62 motorway after the Ouse Bridge due to lane closures: not a good start on the navigating, but it did mean we went a more scenic route and it was a glorious warm, sunny day with beautiful scenery and less traffic.

This beautiful carpet of cyclamen was the first photo of 800+ that I took during the week.

The mansion at Mount Grace is Arts and Crafts, and I don’t recall ever seeing this obviously William Morris honeysuckle wallpaper before, certainly not on walls.

The model of the Monk’s cell garden looked somewhat reminiscent of my stitched garden from my last post Down the garden path – part 2.

The Carthusian Monks were semi-hermits, living in individual cottage-style cells, with their own garden, living and work space. The mock-up one had a spinning wheel and a loom, table and chair upstairs.

There were also some lovely storage pieces.

The bed looked rather small, but with a few mod cons, like heating and an inside bathroom and some cooking facilities, it looked a very nice place to live….. although I couldn’t cope with the not talking for 18 hours a day.

We then headed on to the first airb&b, above the River Tees amongst the tree tops not far from Barnard Castle. Unfortunately, the temperature had dropped and it started to drizzle so we didn’t get to sit out on the terrace, but this was the view from lying in bed.

At Belsay we both had empty bookshelf envy. Between us we have far too many books to fit on the many book shelves we have in every room at home (so of course they’re “shelved” on the floor).

We couldn’t believe our eyes to find that this room labelled “library” was actually so bookless.

The house is having major works done, and is covered in scaffolding. Apparently there had been a huge slide from the top, but it had gone when we were there – shame, it would have been fun.

The wallpaper here had been damaged in many areas by silver fish, but had some lovely designs…..

……and beautiful cornices.

There are wonderful walks through the gardens, which we didn’t have time to see properly; just a quick walk seeing as much as possible and taking photos for me, while Colin had a short stroll taking in more of the detail. Certainly another one to go back to, and we didn’t even see the castle.

There were some wonderful trees, including this autumn flowering magnolia, which I didn’t know about. I’ve always fancied one, but so often the frost browns the spring flowering ones: something to look into.

I think these are the buds, not the finished flowers. It’s altogether a very attractive tree / shrub.

We were the last out, but the staff were still happy to tell us more as we went out through the shop. They all enjoyed their jobs and were appreciative of their beautiful surroundings every day.

The next day (pre-planned) we went to Amble to go to The Fish Shack, recommended by The Hairy Bikers, and by Alex and family. It was lovely, the food excellent, but without the recommendations we probably would have walked past. It was about midday when we got there, and a bit cool outside. It didn’t seem very busy, and we were lucky to get a table as it was fully booked inside and within about 10 minutes all the tables were taken.

I had the half lobster, and Colin had the hake and mussels, which just about left room for a dessert each, the chocolate delice and the raspberry and pistachio tart, but we shared them so we could try them both.

We had a table close to the window, and watched not seagulls that came scavenging the food from people eating outside, but starlings!

The lobster pots were stacked along the harbour wall.

We then went to Warkworth Castle and Hermitage, again with barely enough time to see it all before closing time. Well, I did, again taking photos so Colin could see the inside, where he wasn’t happy about the steps and uneven surfaces under foot.

There were great views from the castle “windows”.

We then drove back down the coast road and had a stop near Cresswell so I could have a quick walk on the beach. Lots of seaweed……

…….. and interesting textures and colours.

There were very few shells, but I couldn’t resist this photo opportunity.

This has taken us half the week, seeing a few little towns, pottering round the charity shops, having some good food, and mainly good weather. We’ve seen lots, but it was also relaxing going at our own pace, and deciding where to go and what to do day by day.