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Warkworth

Warkworth Castle loftily guards the
meandering River Coquet.

Warkworth is situated in a loop of the River Coquet, about 1 mile from the Northumberland coast and lies on the main A1068 road. It is 30 miles north of Newcastle, and about 40 miles south of the Scottish border. An ancient bridge of two arches crosses the river at Warkworth, with a fortified gateway on the road mounting to the castle.

Tourist attractions in Warkworth include the castle, church, hermitage, river walks, and the nearby Northumberland Coast, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

St. Lawrence church is unique in Northumberland in being a large and almost completely Norman building.

Of the imposing castle, Nikolaus Pevsner says that the military engineer happened also to be a great architect. He goes on: "Warkworth must be approached from the north. With its bridge, its bridge-tower, then Bridge Street at an angle, joining the main street up a hill to the towering, sharply cut block of the keep, it is one of the most exciting sequences of views one can have in England."

Facilities in Warkworth include three pubs, two hotels, a number of cafés, restaurants and tearooms, a general store, and several galleries / boutiques.

The village is host to Warkworth Cricket Club, a fairly successful cricket team, that has reached the last 16 of the National Village Cricket Cup on several occasions in the past 20 years, and is a regular contender for the Northumberland League title, winning three years running in 2001 - 03. The team plays home matches in a spectacular setting in front of the castle.

There is also a 9-hole golf course (5986 yd; Par 70), set in the dunes between the coast and the village.

Article adapted from the Wikipedia online encyclopedia.

How to get to Warkworth:
By road: Take the main A1 trunk road north from Newcastle upon Tyne, to Alnwick. Take the Alnwick exit and follow the road towards Alnwick town centre until the Oaks hotel roundabout. Take the third exit at the roundabout, on to the A1068. Follow the A1068 for about 6 miles to Warkworth.
By rail: The nearest station is Alnmouth.
By bus: Arriva Northumbria service 518 goes from the Haymarket Bus Station in Newcastle via Morpeth to Warkworth. In the reverse direction, the 518 goes from Alnwick via the coast to Warkworth.

Map of area: CLICK HERE

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Ashington

Woodhorn Colliery - the remnants
of Ashington's mining heritage.

I thought I'd have a change of theme for this entry and talk about the South-East Northumberland town of Ashington. Ashington is different from previous entries in My Northumberland because it couldn't be described as particularly beautiful or historic.

Ashington has a population of approximately 28,000. Ashington was built up from being a small hamlet in the 1840s, as the Duke of Portland constructed housing to encourage workers escaping the potato famine to come and work at the local collieries he was founding. Mining used to be a big part of Ashington's heritage until the 1980's when the local colliery closed. The nearby pit at Ellington, which closed in early 2005, maintained the area's mining heritage.

The town boasts the Queen Elizabeth II country park, popular with walkers and watersport enthusiasts, and a miniaturised railway popular with tourists.

Famous footballers Jackie Milburn, Bobby Charlton, Jackie Charlton and England fast bowler Steve Harmison, and Sir John Hall (businessman) were all born in Ashington. The town is also home to Ashington A.F.C., who were previously members of The Football League.

Inhabitants of Ashington have a distinctive accent and dialect, known as Pitmatic. This varies slightly from Geordie.

Article adapted from the Wikipedia online encyclopedia.

How to get to Ashington:
By road: Take the A189 coast road north from Newcastle upon Tyne. After about 15 miles you'll pass over the wide Wansbeck estuary and come to a roundabout. Take the first exit at the roundabout. Alternatively take the A1 to Morpeth. At the Morpeth exit turn off and follow the A197 through the town. Ashington is sign posted.
By rail: The nearest station is Cramlington, however it is probably easier to travel to Newcastle by train and catch a connecting bus or take a taxi.
By bus: Arriva Northumbria service X18 goes from the Haymarket Bus Station in Newcastle to via Morpeth to Ashington.

Map of area: CLICK HERE

Lindisfarne (Holy Island)

Holy Island Castle guarding
over the small harbour.


Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a small island off the coast of North-Northumberland. The island has a population of about 200 and is joined to the mainland by a causeway which is submerged by the tide twice a day.

The island is a tourist hot spot because of its rich Christian heritage and stunning natural landscape. The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish born Saint Aidan, who had been sent from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria at the request of King Oswald around AD 635. It became the base for Christian evangelising in the North of England and also sent a successful mission to Mercia. Monks from the community of Iona settled on the island. Northumberland's patron saint, Saint Cuthbert, was a monk and later Abbot of the monastery, and his miracles and life are recorded by the Venerable Bede. Cuthbert later became Bishop of Lindisfarne. At some point in the early 700s the famous illuminated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illustrated Latin copy of the Gospels of Mark, Luke, Matthew and John, was probably made at Lindisfarne. Sometime in the second half of the tenth century a monk named Aldfrith added an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) gloss to the Latin text, producing the earliest surviving Old English copies of the Gospels. The Gospels were illustrated in an insular style containing a fusion of Celtic, Germanic and Roman elements; they were probably originally covered with a fine metal case made by a hermit called Billfrith.

Eventually the monks fled the island (taking with them the body of St Cuthbert, which is now buried at the Cathedral in Durham). The bishopric was transferred to Durham in AD 1000. The Lindisfarne Gospels now reside in the British Library in London, somewhat to the annoyance of some Northumbrians. The priory was re-established in Norman times as a Benedictine house and continued until its suppression in 1536 under Henry VIII. It is now a ruin in the care of English Heritage, who also run a museum/visitor centre nearby. The neighbouring parish church (see below) is still in use.

Lindisfarne also has the small Lindisfarne Castle, based on a Tudor fort, which was refurbished in the Arts and Crafts style by Sir Edwin Lutyens (who also designed the island's Celtic-cross war-memorial on the Heugh) and has a garden created by Gertrude Jekyll. The castle, garden and nearby limekilns are in the care of the National Trust and open to visitors.

Lindisfarne had a large lime burning industry and the kilns are among the most complex in Northumberland. There are still some traces of the jetties by which the coal was imported and the lime exported close by at the foot of the crags. Lime was quarried on the Island and the remains of the wagon way between the quarries and the kilns makes for a pleasant and easy walk. This quarrying flourished in the mid-19th century during the Industrial Revolution when over 100 men were thus employed.

Lindisfarne was mainly a fishing community for many years, with farming and the production of lime also of some importance. Tourism grew steadily throughout the twentieth century, and it is now a popular place with visitors — sometimes a little too popular, as space and facilities are limited. By staying on the island while the tide cuts it off (time permitting) the non-resident visitor can experience the island in a much quieter mood, as most day visitors leave when the tide is rising again. It is possible, weather and tide permitting, to walk at low tide across the sands following the older crossing line known as the Pilgrims' Way and marked with posts: it also has refuge boxes for the careless walker, in the same way as the road has a refuge box for those who have left their crossing too late.

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is well known for mead. In the medieval days when the monks inhabited the island, it was thought that if the soul was in God's keeping, the body must be fortified with this elixir of herbs and honey, the wine bequeathed to posterity as Lindisfarne Mead. The monks have long vanished, but their spirit lingers in this aphrodisiac whose exact recipe remains a secret of the family still producing it. Lindisfarne mead is produced at St Aidan's Winery, and sold throughout the UK and elsewhere.

Article adapted from the Wikipedia online encyclopedia.

How to get to Holy Island:
By road: Holy Island is conveniently located just off the main A1 road. It is about 10 miles south of Berwick upon Tweed.
By rail: The nearest station is Berwick upon Tweed. The station is on the main east coast railway line and is served frequently by trains from London and Newcastle upon Tyne in the south and Edinburgh in the north.
By bus: Arriva Northumbria services 501 and 505 (525 on Sundays and Bank Holidays) run from Newcastle upon Tyne and Berwick upon Tweed past Beal road end (the road leading to the island).

Map of area: CLICK HERE

Morpeth

Morpeth town centre.


Cherry blossom over the River Wansbeck.

Morpeth is one of Northumberland's major market towns and is the administrative centre for the County Council. In the town, the Chantry combines a unique Bagpipe Museum with the Northumbrian Craft Centre.

The River Wansbeck flows through the centre of the town and provides riverside walks linked to the attractive Carlisle Park. There is also a leisure centre and swimming pool and a good range of shops, restaurants and hotels.

The clock tower in the town centre is very unusual, being a rare example of a free standing bell tower not connected to any other building, such as church. It still sounds the night curfew at 8 o'clock every evening. The divisions on the clock are also unusual in that there are only four divisions between the hour numbers rather than five as on most clocks and watches. This was because when the clock was first built it only had one hand (the hour hand) and four divisions were thought to be more useful in indicating the quarter and half hours.

If you're interested in music and local heritage you might like to visit the Chantry Bagpipe Museum. Northumberland is the only county with its own musical instrument, the Northumbrian pipes. This museum follows the development of bagpipes around the world using a unique sound system with personal headphones.

The Museum sells a wide range of music for the Northumbrian pipes and also an excellent range of CDs and cassettes.

It is also the venue for some important bagpipe events including the Northumbrian Pipers' Society annual competitions which are a key feature of the Northumberland Traditional Music Festival. The museum also adjoins the Northumbria Craft Centre.

Another Northumbrian tradition, cheese making, can be found at Make Me Rich Farm in nearby Blagdon. Observe the cheese being made by traditional methods and then relax and enjoy free samples in the coffee shop. The Whitehouse Farm Centre is ideal for an educational family outing. Learn about how a farm works and see guinea pigs, rabbits, chicks, ducks and exotic animals plus pedal tractors, go karts, crafts and cafe.

Sport is popular in the town too - Morpeth Town F.C., Morpeth RUFC, the cricket, hockey and tennis club and the golf club all play competitively. The Morpeth Harriers cater for those wishing to compete in athletics. The town also offers opportunities to play sport on a non-competitive basis through facilities such as Carlisle Park, the common and the leisure centre.

Article adapted from the Wikipedia online encyclopedia and Northumberland County Council website.

How to get to Morpeth:
By road: Morpeth is conveniently located just off the main A1 road. It is about 15 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne.
By rail: The nearest station is Morpeth. The station is on the main east coast railway line and is served frequently by trains from London and Newcastle upon Tyne in the south. Less frequent services run from Edinburgh in the north.
By bus: Arriva Northumbria services 501, 505 and 518 (525 on Sundays and Bank Holidays) run from Newcastle upon Tyne to Morpeth.

Map of area: CLICK HERE