… and it’s true because I read it in a book. Several books in fact as that is how all the Stanley Bagshaw books begin….
Not that we went to Huddersgate so we never saw any famous tramlines but we did get a train (actually 4) Up North.
Some people were queueing for their photograph to be taken at Platform 9 and ¾ we managed the amazing feat of catching a train off a platform that doesn’t actually exist...
Really on our way now we passed through York...
Tickets Please!
We successfully got our way to Newcastle where we were collected by my aunt who drove us to her home in Hexham. New to us but she has now been there a while so a visit was long overdue. We arrived in the afternoon so fitted in a walk around the town to get our bearings.
Hexham is endowed with a multitude of Churches and at the bottom of this street is the Abbey.
To celebrate our arrival Sally had bought some sparkling mead! Lots of honey and maybe a taste of elderflower. Very yummy anyway and would recommend it. The mead I made was too sweet to drink too much of so remains in our cellar developing.
We went to Corbridge… well it was Coria back in the day. We visited an English Heritage site https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/corbridge-roman-town-hadrians-wall/
And saw the ruins of the old town and saw the evidence of how it had been a very successful place with good trade and supplying those who were manning the wall. It is good to know that not all Romans are equal as some of their building wasn’t quite right and they had to shoehorn the second grain store in as their first lot of measurements had been somewhat off. We amazingly arrived just a few minutes before a guided tour started so we joined our Remainer and Proud tour guide for an entertaining whirlwind history of the town.
Then it was into Corbridge proper - the modern town complete with walls and rooves.
We went to this bakery and bought some huge yummy looking florentines and some cakes for dessert.
We went to this Deli and had our lunch. I had a ploughman’s though sadly the pork pie was out so had smoked mackerel instead which was a very tasty alternative. Sally had a huge bowl of healthy soup and Woody had a locally sourced well presented tasty fry up.
We really struggled to enjoy it
The town square
The town pump thing is in memory of one of the Percies.. dukes (or earls?) of Northumberland.
We went on to Heavenfield….which is here…..
St Oswald had a vision before winning a battle here. There is a Church here with amazing views.
Lovely in the sun but chilly wind
The crag is the rock in the middle foreground.
Another day we we went to The Sill which is this place - https://www.thesill.org.uk
We saw some work Sally had done on an exhibition there and admired their green roof before heading up the hill to a nearby part of Hadrian’s wall.
Getting ones wellies and gaiters on ready for the mud!
The view from the carpark
We walked one way along the wall….
And saw this view…
And then the other way which was more uphill again following the line of the wall….
I see no sheeps...
Woody carried on to the trig pojnt being the highest part of the wall and took some extra photos. He is actually returning to join us in the one above - a small spot on top of the hill coming down by the wall. It shows how well he has recovered as pre op he couldn’t have managed this without significant chest pain and a lack of energy and he mostly ran down this slope to where we were waiting for him.
We had a special Christmas present where Sally took us on a surprise treat where we had dinner at a pub with this fellow...
I had a chicken and ham pie, Sally had confit of duck and Woody had slow cooked roast lamb -
all of which was fabulous before going further into the depths of Kielder forest….
Where we saw this….
the moon rise… this photo is on my phone through the view finder of the telescope
And all sorts of other sites at the observatory - lots of different kinds of galaxies and stars, shooting stars and the Milky Way amongst other things. Well worth the late night! And what was amazing was that the cloud had cleared perfectly for a great stargazing night and as we were leaving before the next group arrived it clouded over again.
It got down to about 2*c on the way home… and there was fog in places making a very atmospheric drive home
We spent one morning in Hexham Abbey where Sally was stewarding….
It is not strikingly impressive on the outside with its squat tower and quite often it can’t be seen as it doesn’t dominate the view getting lost in the surrounding town but once inside it is most impressive with a fantastic history - lots of rebuilds due to a variety of tourists who hadn’t found the architecture to their liking though they had been appreciative of the gold stored there.
The original crypt of the Abbey built by St Wilfrid had been found by accident as had been in the graveyard and somehow (ask Sally) a builder (?) had fallen through into it. It is now “back" inside the church due to more recent rebuilding bringing it back into the building and you can go down and see where the relics would have been stored and the entrances of the monks and the public to the other side. At the end of the tunnel where Woody is standing and looking up is a stone that is carved that used to be found at Coria. Many stones from Coria and surrounding area have been re used throughout the Abbey including a Roman tombstone and lots of other carved stones.
Lunch was at a greek restaurant where we got to enjoy great food. - maze dips and spanakopita and then souvlakis and a kebab with salad and chips which we all shared, and some sunshine...
We had a walk down by the river but didn’t manage to see any jumping salmon on the weir.
We will have no miracles here…. No walking on the water
The trees are much more autumnal here and will look stunning if the sun comes out!
We had some fabulous food including this salmon and prawn kedgeree cooked by Sally mmmm
Our last morning we had a walk around Hexham up a secret valley to a reservoir which is more about flood prevention than water supply so is more of a pond but has potential to be much deeper. It has been nicely done to be accessible for all.
We did a round walk heading back along the top of the hill with views of Hexham before being dropped off in Newcastle for the train home which was an easy and thankfully uneventful journey once on the first train.
Packed lunch! Washing down lovely chocolate brownie with a cuppa.
We are back to work as normal now but rested and having had a lovely break away. Next stop for Woody will be South Africa and then we both go to Wiltshire over Christmas.
Love to all W&B xxx
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