Northumberland – Land of Many Castles

Northumberland is in the far northeast corner of England, just south of Scotland. We planned our visit because Kim was giving a lecture there. Since we had been invited to stay with Kim’s friend Tim, and his wife Margaret, we didn’t bother to research the area at all. We had no idea that Northumberland was so beautiful and historically fascinating; what a wonderful surprise!

We took the train from Chepstow to Cheltenham Spa, then hopped on board the train that goes the longest distance in the UK. It originates in Penzance, Cornwall, and goes all the way to Edinburgh. Maybe someday we’ll do the entire trip. In contrast to Scandinavian and Swiss trains, this one was pretty chaotic, and a bit cramped.

As we boarded with our 2 large suitcases, we found the aisle blocked by a refreshment cart, while 30 or more passengers piled up behind us. Some needed to be in that specific car because they had reserved seats, so we gave up and moved into another car. All the seats seemed to be reserved, and while we were puzzling over where to sit, there was an announcement that due to some muddle or other, there would be no reserved seats on this train. That worked out fine for us, but for the rest of the 4 hour ride, we had to explain to everyone who got on, why people were sitting in their reserved seats.

In the middle of the trip I looked for my iPod recharger, and found that my entire bag of rechargers (camera, phone, iPod etc) was missing from my carryon bag. Then in all the frenzy of tearing apart the bag, I managed to lose one knitting needle. I hope nobody sat on it! That evening I called the B&B in Wales: they had found my bag, and sent it off by Royal Mail overnight delivery. Whew. I found knitting needles in the Oxfam “Charity Shop” for 50p; I had been told I would have to ask for them, because they are considered weapons and must be kept under the counter!

As soon as we arrived, at 4pm, the guys went sailing; 2 guys on an old one-man Laser! Time was of the essence because it was high tide.

Margaret and I went for a walk on the beach. I was immediately taken with the natural beauty of the place.

The North Sea is a different color than I’m used to; when I look out at the ocean in New England, or California, it has a greenish blue hue, whereas the North Sea seems like a pure blue, with some gray; no green, no turquoise. I wonder why?

It was a real treat to stay in a house for a change, and luckily Margaret enjoys cooking, so we had delicious healthy dinners every night, as well as breakfasts and lunches, and lots of homegrown plums from the garden!

They are small pinkish purple plums, with very thin skins, and don’t have that terrible chewy sour taste like American grocery store plums. Yum. We tried to do our civic duty and eat as many as possible, even leaving with a bag of them.

Wednesday was terrifically windy, and the guys went on a long hike in the Cheviots, while the ladies stayed home; Margaret working, and me catching up with laundry and the blog. In the afternoon I took a walk, and discovered that Warkworth Castle was just a block away!

This ruined castle, set on a hill over the Coquet River, was the part-time home of the Percy family until the 16^th Century. They now occupy the nearby Alnwick Castle, which we visited the next day.

Tim and Margaret live in a lovely antique house (probably built in the 1600s), right in the charming village below the castle. Very picturesque, and no Burger Kings or Walmarts!

At the other end of the tiny village is St Lawrence Church, which has occupied the same site in Warkworth for 12 centuries; although the present building is Norman, it sits on a Saxon foundation.

Thursday was Kim’s lecture day, so Margaret and I dropped them off and stopped for lunch in the market town of Alnwick.

Then we visited the famous Alnwick Castle, site of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies.

Of course it was famous long before that.

The Percy family, the Earls and later Dukes of Northumberland, have been living there for 700 years (it’s their anniversary this year), and it has survived many battles.

Sir Henry Percy, known as Harry Hotspur, became quite a folk hero due to his courage, skill, and sometimes recklessness in fighting the Scots and the French. Later he led a rebellion against King Henry IV, but was killed in battle. Shakespeare used him as a main character in Henry IV, and there is a large statue of him in the castle.

Alnwick is the second largest inhabited castle in England, and very nicely preserved and presented to the public, for a substantial fee…it’s expensive to keep up these old castles after all. I got a kick out of the timeline that included both President Obama and Harry Potter.

There is an area for children to dress up like knights and ladies, play with toy swords, slay dragons, etc. There is a museum of the archeological collections of the various amateur geologist Dukes. There I saw examples of Early Neolithic Cup and Ring stone carvings, something new to me.

There are some opulently furnished rooms whose walls are lined with portraits of the family….I don’t get off on that stuff, but the carved and gold painted wooden ceilings are very impressive. I enjoyed the outside of the castle, the landscaping by Capability Brown, and the views of lawns sweeping down to the river Aln.

In the evening we took a walk down to the splendid Warkworth beach. When I asked Tim how long the walk would take he said “Not long, only about 20 minutes each way.”

That seemed pretty long to me, but apparently when it comes to walking, I’m pathetic. Behind their house is a lovely walking trail along the river, which Margaret and I had walked the night before.

I have never walked so much as I have on this trip!

Now I’m having fantasies of living in a tiny village under a huge castle, where I can walk to the beach and the village shops.