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Published: March 11th 2023
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Our last day in Northumberland. Another wonderful day. No snow overnight but it’s still everywhere, even on people’s cars that didn’t move yesterday, and certainly still in the churchyard. Getting to the car was a little tricky because it was on a hill, and the snow left over from yesterday is no longer soft and puffy but cold, hard and slippery.
First stop was St Mary the Virgin church at Longframlington where my 2xgreats grandmother was baptised in 1832. She was Ann Dunn, daughter of George Dunn who became the Tasmanian convict 8 years later, and mother of Adam Robinson who moved to Australia in 1912 to set up and bring his family out, but then WWI intervened and he fought in France for Australia, while his son in law (pop) fought in France for England. His family didn’t get to move out to Australia until 1924. George Dunn and his wife lived in Longframlington 1832-1836. Unfortunately the lovely church was locked. We didn’t have anyone buried in the grounds, but it was so interesting I took some pics anyway.
Next stop was Bushy Gap. This is where George Dunn was born in 1805 and his parents, Mary Mitchison-Dunn
and Robert Dunn, died in 1851 and 1852. This was a substantial farmhouse which has now been gentrified with portions of it rented out as Airbnb. It was where Robert smuggled gin and hid it in the walls in vessels known as grey hens, now the name of the expensive converted barn. So this house was our family’s home for a few decades at least. There was a nice couple there as I was sneaking around taking photos from the road - they are staying in Grey Hens for the weekend.
From Bushy Gap we returned to the beautiful bridge over the Coquet River at Pauperhaugh. This is where George found 2 pieces of timber beside the river and had it made into tables 11 months after his marriage. He was then charged with theft. His first offence, sentenced to 6 months hard labour (10 years later, now a coal miner, he stole 4 ducks, also at Pauperhaugh and was sent to Tasmania where they urgently needed coal miners). There was timber laying around the river bank, much to Tom’s delight, but I told him not to touch it unless he wanted a holiday in Tasmania! 😂 While we
were standing on the bridge taking it all in we had to flatten ourselves against a wall for a truck carrying a broken down car to pass by, and several cars. Of course, out in the middle of nowhere and there’s peak hour traffic when we don’t want it,
From there we drove back through Rothbury to Lightpipe Hall, a home halfway between Harbottle and Sharperton. Mary and Robert Dunn were living here with their children in 1797, before George was born. The couple living there thoroughly renovated and extended this house years ago and put photos of the progress on Facebook. The outlook is just beautiful. Lovely stone farmhouses across the valley - it’s all just beautiful.
On our return we detoured to Holystone, a tiny tiny village where Robert and Mary were born in 1773 and 1776. There were about 6 houses all built almost on top of each other in a tight knit group, and one of them had a defibrillator on an exterior wall for public use!
Then a lunch in a gastro pub (no, it doesn’t give you gastro) - a selection of pubs reknown for good food. This was the Three
Wheat Heads, at Thropton. Tom had braised beef in a peppercorn sauce, I had minted lamb shoulder. My Shiraz was from Spain, Tom stuck with cider. The food was lovely. Of course, we were the first ones there, as the chef was laying the fireplace ready to start! But it did get busy.
After lunch we returned to Rothbury and explored the village more, going across to the other side of the river, then back to our apartment for a nap. No dinner needed.
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