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England 2017 - Northumberland

After nearly 6 weeks in Scotland we returned to England and spent a couple of weeks in Northumberland. We visited several castles, a Victorian Estate, some of the sites along Hadrian's Wall and had some lovely cycle rides.

Holy Island.

This island is only linked to the mainland at low tide so visiting is only possible when the causeway is open. This is the view of the harbour and town from the road to the castle.

Looking towards Lindisfarne Castle. We were unable to visit it as it's closed for renovation in 2017.

Lindisfarne Priory is run by Englsih Heritage and is on the outskirts of the town.

 

Bamburgh.

We cycled to this small town on the coast which is dominated by its large Castle.

The Grace Darling Museum is in the town. She was famous for helping her father, the lighthouse keeper, to resue survivors of a ship during a terrible storm in 1838. They managed to row their 21 foot boat around the island to pick up the survivors.

One of the displays in the Grace Darling MUseum.

Bamburg Castle and the sandy beaches from the coast road.

 

Dunstanburgh Castle.

This huge ruined castle is on a headland north of Craster. It's about 1 1/2 miles from the car park to the castle. The audio guide gave lots of interesting information about the history of the castle.

 

Beadnell

Another small town on the Northumberland coast. We walked from the campsite to the harbour.

Beadnell harbour with large lime kilns in the background.

We saw several families of eider ducks.

 

Cragside

The house and gardens were created by Lord Armstrong, a Victorian inventor and industrialist. It was the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity and is a fascinating place to visit.

The house has been extended several times.

There are extensive gardens. Lord Armstrong planted millions of trees.

The kitchen has some ingenious early gadgets, including a kitchen spit, running water and a dishwasher.

A recent addition is a room showing some of the electrical experiments that Lord Armstrong did.

The formal gardens and orchard house are laid out on a south facing slope and provided flowers, fruit and vegetables.

 

Warkworth Castle

Another Northumberland Castle that's well worth a visit. It's also worth having a wander through the town and along the river.

 

Hadrian's Wall

We visited 3 sites along Hadrian's Wall. The first was Corbridge Roman Town which was once a bustling town and supply base 2 1/2 miles south of the Wall. It was a base for Roman soldiers and where local people would supply goods and services. We happened to arrive just before there was a guided tour which we joined. The guide was very interesting and knowledgeable about the town and other Roman sites. The Museum on the site has lots of information and artifacts.

Chesters Roman Fort is the most complete Roman cavalry fort in Britain. The photo shows the well-preserved baths and steam room, The Museum has lots of Roman objects and inscriptions.

Housteads Roman Fort. Some of the best preserved Wall remains are in this area. As with the other sites there's an informative and interesting Museum.

 

Burston Hill, Bucks

Weybourne, North Norfolk

Carnforth, Lancashire

Northumberland

Woodend, Cumbria

 

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Lanercost Priory is not far from Hadrian's Wall, neat the town of Brampton.