Blogs from Northumberland, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 7

Northumberland Viking Raiders, Pilgrims and English Castles April 2015 It’s a pilgrimage really. Not in any way religious you understand, but none-the-less a cleansing of the mind; a refreshing contrast to the endless routines of daily life: the going to bed and wakening to the clock, shaving yesterday’s stubble from the same sleepy face staring back at me in the same mirror, the washing-up at the same sink with the same mundane thoughts as yesterday and the day before and the day before that. It’s a pilgrimage to wide open skies and endless beaches, to boats and islands and castles, and rolling hills, green with the first flush of spring. It’s a pilgrimage to puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, shags and terns, which return here each year from far and wide - for love. It’s a pilgrimage ... read more

Geo: 55.6065, -1.71703Just stayed on the A1 for hours on end until we broke the journey up in Northumberland. We had been driving in torrential rain for miles, making Bill very reluctant to divert from his driving mission. However, as if by magic, the sun appeared over Bamburgh and we had a wonderful windy time on the golden, moving sands against the beautiful castle backdrop. Finished off by a pot of tea and cake in the warm. The runny noses started here and they are yet to stop running!... read more

Our journey south continued in Northumberland. Until one of Russ's brothers moved to the region, we had never visited, and therefore we never imagined what delights it held. We stopped for lunch at a picturesque part of the coastline, the small fishing village of Cove which has suffered from many nautical tragedies throughout history. A very moving memorial stands atop the cliffs with the figures of families looking vainly out to sea hoping to see their loved ones return safely home. Newbiggin-by-the-Sea was our destination and the sun shone gloriously when we first arrived, soon to be hidden by a mist rolling in from the North Sea. We parked up near the beach and had a stroll around. Most notable is the bizarre Sean Henry sculpture simply titled "Couple". The sculpture itself is situated on the ... read more

Today we saw several sections of Hadrian's wall. Pretty cool that they made a 135 kilometer wall across Britain. We stopped at Vindolada, a former Roman outpost and village was steeped in history. The ruins there were awesome to see and are still being excavated to find history and evidence from more than a thousand years ago. Our favourite thing was to see was that the Roman's also like to have heated floors! It looked like a lot more work to maintain though! When we arrived at the hotel, we were surprised to see that there was a high school prom happening. I seemed to be quite an event! People were arriving by Limo and Hummer Limo. One couple actually arrived by helicopter! ... Only in England!... read more

Update mainly to check blog updates OK. More preparing, still 2 visas and carnet to sort. We did 900 miles two up on bike this week, about same rate as trip, easy on UK roads. Fitted fat shock from Reactive Suspension, bike is 50mm higher -oops, but rides bettter. Testing everything! OsmAnd satnav for route planning, Crimea looks more possible... Finding. compatible GPS package for iPad. Drift camera works well mounted on bikee, bit video from Hartside. Will be fun to contrast images from Amsterdam and Tehran.... read more

I had a few days rest, watched Sunderland's last game of the season v Swansea caught the train back to Wootton Bassett, saw my family and then caught the train back up yesterday. I then checked back into the Roker Hotel and got a late ticket to see ''Warhorse'' at the Sunderland Empire - a great old theatre and the play was great. My room in the Roker Hotel was huge and looked straight out across the North Sea which today was calm and blue and everything was good with the world. After breakfast I collected my bike which I had left here and then by about 10am I was heading north from Sunderland along the cycle route that goes along the coast to Newcastle and cuts in through Newcastle into the very empty county that ... read more