Alnwick - South Shields

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Today we tried to break a record for the most English Heritage/National Trust properties visited in one day! After we settled up for breakfast – same breakfast, third different price in three days (at least the price was going down not up!) – we packed up all of our gear and programmed the SatNav for Edlingham Castle which is administered by English Heritage.

Edlingham Castle was built in about 1300 by Sir William Felton at a time when Northumberland was relatively peaceful. The best-preserved part of the castle that remains today is the solar tower that was added in 1340-50 by William’s son. With the advent of Anglo-Scottish hostilities William (junior) also strengthened the defences with a gate tower and stone curtain wall. After passing to the Hastings and Swinburne families the castle was abandoned in the mid-17^th-century and locals started removing stone to build with. Hence the ruin that remains today.

From Edlingham we drove down through Longframlington and across to Pauperhaugh to Brinkburn Priory which is also administered by English Heritage. Edingham was very remote, and the site was not staffed so it was free to enter. Although the priority seemed equally remote and had to be accessed via a virtual goat track, the site was staffed, and we needed to show our card to enter. That was another £17.00 recouped on the investment in our annual membership.

Like Warkworth Castle Brinkburn Priory is situated on the River Coquet but in woodland further inland within a loop of the river rather than on a bluff near the river mouth. Same river, but quite a different setting. The church was part of an Augustinian Priory founded early in the 12^th-century. It is considered to be one of the best examples of early Gothic architecture in Northumberland. The church features some beautiful stained-glass windows and a William Hill organ which we were lucky enough to hear being played. Spine tingling!

Following the dissolution of the monasteries, the prior’s lodgings and the refectory were converted into a manor house while the church continued to be used as the parish church. After falling into disrepair, the church was completely reroofed and restored in the mid-19^th-century and the manor house was repaired and remodelled before again being abandoned.

Just a short distance away near Rothbury we visited National Trust property, Cragside. Cragside, built atop a sandstone crag was once the home of William and Margaret Armstrong. William made his money from his engineering business and together with Margaret they set about creating England’s original smart home and a vast garden to surround it. The landscape was designed to be beautiful and functional incorporating lakes to produce hydroelectricity to light the home and power other hydraulic mod-cons such as a lift and a rotisserie. The house and the rock gardens surrounding it were truly astonishing.

After lunch in the National Trust café, we drove around the six-mile Carriage Drive. The estate was so vast and the plantings so extensive that the circular route around the estate was created for Margaret to view the grounds while horse-riding or driving. I suspect it also provided the Armstong’s with an efficient way to show-off their holding to visitors! The drive is planted with acres and acres of rhododendrons and must look spectacular when they are flowering.

It was time to start heading south a bit more seriously with accommodation booked in South Shields for tonight BUT there was still time for one more stately home and garden! We headed down the B6342 towards Scots Gap then via minor roads to Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens. We arrived about quarter to four and we were a bit concerned about what last entry time might be with this English Heritage property scheduled to close at 5.00pm.

Phew, we made it in. In fact, with an hour until closing we were told we would have plenty of time to see the hall and then make our way down through the quarry gardens to the castle and back again. The way the tour of the property is arranged is backwards historically starting with the hall because, of course, the castle was built much earlier, in 1270, by Sir Richard de Middleton who was Lord Chancellor to King Henry III. The Middleton Family has lived there almost continuously since then.

The castle was modified over the centuries and later made into more of comfortable home than a fortress with manor wings added to the original castle. It was the 6^th Baronet, Charles, who decided to build the new hall. He was passionate about Greek architecture, so his new home adopted that style. It is considered a masterpiece in the Greek Revival style and one of the earliest examples of its use in domestic architecture in England.

Work began in the summer of 1807, a year after Sir Charles and his wife returned from their honeymoon in Greece. He drew inspiration from sites he had seen and books on Greek architecture that he had collected. The two massive Doric columns supporting the inset portico were copied from the Theseion in Athens. The entry hall filled with columns is impressive, but the rest of the house is … empty. When the Middletons left in 1962 they took everything with them and the house is presented as they left it. A bit of a dusty old pile really!

Sir Charles’ romantic quarry gardens connect the old with the new. These gardens were created in the quarry created when the stone was cut for the hall. The gardens are as whimsical as the hall is austere. Created in the Picturesque style that was fashionable at the time the garden is planted amongst the ravines, pinnacles and sheer rock faces that were left after the quarrying. An hour was just enough time to see the site, but probably not enough time to do it justice. It would be a lovely place to bring a picnic to enjoy the beautiful setting properly.

We set the SatNav for South Shields and Syri took us on a route that I never would have suggested! We took back roads past Kirkley Hall and through Berwick Hill before passing through a red-flagged DANGER AREA. We’re not sure if that was something to do with Newcastle International Airport nearby or … something else more dangerous than aeroplanes potentially dropping out of the sky???

Eventually Syri’s instructions fed us onto the A19 which took us out to South Shields via the Tyne Tunnel. There were no toll barriers, just signs up saying that we had until midnight tomorrow to pay online. Hmmn, we’ll have to look into that later on. Should be relatively straightforward. I suppose we need to pay, or we might have the car hire company chasing us for an unpaid toll.

Tonight’s B&B doesn’t have off-street parking, but we found a parking spot in a nearby side-street without restrictions or the need for a resident’s permit. On the plus side, the room is substantially larger than where we have spent the last three nights AND it has a window. Thank goodness for that. It also has a Morrison’s at the end of the street and plenty of eating options.

Bernie asked Google about restaurants nearby and found that Ish (a little bit Italian-ish and a little bit Spanish) had a 4.8 rating so we decided to try it for dinner. I was somewhat bemused when we were seated next to a dead tree stump in the middle of the restaurant. The poor thing must have been brought from the mother country and is being retained for sentimental reasons?? The décor was very 70s with brown tablecloths and velvet mustard chairs. After a while I noticed that Bernie was wearing his mustard-coloured polar fleece and was blending into the décor like a chameleon, ha, ha. Since I had already taken a photo of the tree stump Bernie wouldn’t let me take a photo of him blending in! We both decided on a pizza. I chose a margherita and Bernie opted for marinara. Good, thin and crispy pizzas.



Steps: 17,106 (11.56 kms)

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