It seems a very long time since there has been a trip on this forum and in this section, so having just got back, washed the car of the road filth thought a short story could correct things.
We missed taking the Boxster to Europe this summer (fly-drive instead) and to SPA 6 hours (bathroom rebuild) so we packed a small bag, a lot of rain clothes and headed to Northumberland. for 4 nights.
Never been there before, so with everything 'new' it had promise.
Trish found (after a long search) a suitable pub for BB + evening meal in the countryside close to a landmark, Cragside, a Nat Trust property with glowing reviews, a good start.
The run up was from the West Midlands, up the M6, stop just before Carlisle and turn right so to speak to Hadrian's wall, another new to us local spot.
The M6 on the Sunday morning was a dream, almost nobody on it and near deserted after Manchester, so the car flew to the Roman Fort remains at Housesteads.
This was well worth the stop even though the weather was deteriorating quickly. As with all these old buildings, just how the Romans built all 76 miles of the wall is a major feat in my mind.
We continued the run making really good time despite the stops and got to the pub early in the afternoon. The place was packed with locals, what a din! I thought the Boxster was noisy, but...
Sorted the room out, even got an upgrade to the suite, about 2 times the area of the original room for free.
The pub turned out to be great, the food was perfect, the staff more-so and the price was right, did we ever score on that one. No web in the room mind, but that is not a bad thing, we had to talk to each other more!
As you can see from the pics, it was getting grim, no sun and lots of rain and then lots more.
Following day we went to Cragside, a marvel in many ways. The building was developed by an engineer of great repute Armstrong, and boasted the first electric light and so much more. It is full of striking innovations inside and out, the grounds have been planted with a real 2,000,000 saplings in around 1850 and the red wood trees now somewhat grown would be the envy of California, brilliant visit and all free as we are members. There are 7 car parks to allow touring by car around the estate..
Next day was a visit to huge castle, real and well restored crammed pact with the trappings of money in the victorian period and before. Stunning artifacts and far too mush to babble-on about here, but something else.
One example though were 2 17-something cabinets from Louis 14th's palace but bought by the family way back when the palace was re-fitted with modern furniture. A unique pair, each as big as a generous wardrobe. A smaller cabinet (1/4 of the size) was sold a few years back for 10 million Euro, and here are the pair and much larger. The same room has portraits painted by all the famous artists of the days long gone.
The family still own the castle and were about to return for the winter months to entertain...
Our final day in the area found us in a new whiskey distillery. Unique as it has a large museum about Anglo-Saxon times and the struggles of the 'kingdoms' of our islands to win the ground of the others. A very difficult time in the country, but quite fascinating all the same.
Didn't touch the fire water, but the rest was really good and got us out of the torrential rain with flooded fields, roads etc everywhere.
We got back to the pub a bit early, so caught up with emails etc in the bar with the noisy locals and their damp dogs!
This is a picture of the museum's illustrated local history, wish I could draw like this;
Ok, gone on for far too long now, so a few other pics and I'll sign-off for now.
The car did 37 mpg there and back, 34 mpg touring around, and covered 743 miles all on E10 too.
We missed taking the Boxster to Europe this summer (fly-drive instead) and to SPA 6 hours (bathroom rebuild) so we packed a small bag, a lot of rain clothes and headed to Northumberland. for 4 nights.
Never been there before, so with everything 'new' it had promise.
Trish found (after a long search) a suitable pub for BB + evening meal in the countryside close to a landmark, Cragside, a Nat Trust property with glowing reviews, a good start.
The run up was from the West Midlands, up the M6, stop just before Carlisle and turn right so to speak to Hadrian's wall, another new to us local spot.
The M6 on the Sunday morning was a dream, almost nobody on it and near deserted after Manchester, so the car flew to the Roman Fort remains at Housesteads.
This was well worth the stop even though the weather was deteriorating quickly. As with all these old buildings, just how the Romans built all 76 miles of the wall is a major feat in my mind.
We continued the run making really good time despite the stops and got to the pub early in the afternoon. The place was packed with locals, what a din! I thought the Boxster was noisy, but...
Sorted the room out, even got an upgrade to the suite, about 2 times the area of the original room for free.
The pub turned out to be great, the food was perfect, the staff more-so and the price was right, did we ever score on that one. No web in the room mind, but that is not a bad thing, we had to talk to each other more!
As you can see from the pics, it was getting grim, no sun and lots of rain and then lots more.
Following day we went to Cragside, a marvel in many ways. The building was developed by an engineer of great repute Armstrong, and boasted the first electric light and so much more. It is full of striking innovations inside and out, the grounds have been planted with a real 2,000,000 saplings in around 1850 and the red wood trees now somewhat grown would be the envy of California, brilliant visit and all free as we are members. There are 7 car parks to allow touring by car around the estate..
Next day was a visit to huge castle, real and well restored crammed pact with the trappings of money in the victorian period and before. Stunning artifacts and far too mush to babble-on about here, but something else.
One example though were 2 17-something cabinets from Louis 14th's palace but bought by the family way back when the palace was re-fitted with modern furniture. A unique pair, each as big as a generous wardrobe. A smaller cabinet (1/4 of the size) was sold a few years back for 10 million Euro, and here are the pair and much larger. The same room has portraits painted by all the famous artists of the days long gone.
The family still own the castle and were about to return for the winter months to entertain...
Our final day in the area found us in a new whiskey distillery. Unique as it has a large museum about Anglo-Saxon times and the struggles of the 'kingdoms' of our islands to win the ground of the others. A very difficult time in the country, but quite fascinating all the same.
Didn't touch the fire water, but the rest was really good and got us out of the torrential rain with flooded fields, roads etc everywhere.
We got back to the pub a bit early, so caught up with emails etc in the bar with the noisy locals and their damp dogs!
This is a picture of the museum's illustrated local history, wish I could draw like this;
Ok, gone on for far too long now, so a few other pics and I'll sign-off for now.
The car did 37 mpg there and back, 34 mpg touring around, and covered 743 miles all on E10 too.
yuck.
