Warkworth

Our day to go back to Ellingstring via Warkworth ...

Tuesday, 17th July. Our room at the Old School House B&B in Newton on the Moor just before leaving.

 Again our room and en-suite at the B&B.

Pretty little town called Warkworth near the Northumberland coast.

Morning tea in the Beer Garden of a Warkworth pub before driving back to Ellingstring.

Same Beer Garden! 

Warkworth church on the way back to the car. This was our final outing of our 8 week holiday (apart from a pub dinner in Masham on Wednesday, 18th July). Thursday, 19th July, after completing the packing, we head to Manchester Airport for a night before our early morning flight to Singapore thence Sydney leaving on Manchester on Friday 20th July and arriving Sydney on Saturday 21st July.

Alnwick & Alnmouth

Back to Alnwick, this time the gardens ...

Monday, 16th July. We go back to Alnwick Castle but this time to visit the gardens. The ingenious fountains in the Alnwick Gardens.

Yet another fountain that starts when certain water levels reach the same height. 

 This is Alnwick town centre.

 Another of Alnwick town centre.

Back to Alnwick Gardens and the wobbly rope suspension bridges at the the huge Tree House.

Definitely best to cross one at a time unless you can all walk in unison! 

Anne and Christine with the Tree House in the background.

The Tree House contains snack bars and a full restaurant.

The full size of the Tree House can be seen in this photo.

Anne and Christine wanted to visit Alnmouth and find a Church Hall in which they spent had spent a wonderful week looking after under-priviledged children when they were about 18. It was generally agreed that this must have been the Church Hall.

 The main street of Alnmouth.

This was on out nightly walk to the Pub for dinner in Newton on the Moor.

This was the Pub which had great food for very reasonable prices.

 The inside of the Cook & Barker Inn.

Cragside

A day looking around Cragside ...

Sunday, 15th July. The National Trust estate of Cragside was about 20 minutes from where we were staying in Newton on the Moor. This is the world of Lord Armstrong who originally built the Victorian estate. This was a thatched boat shed on a lake which has since been drained.

The estate covers many hundreds of acres and this was part of the 6 mile drive around the estate.

The weather was even warm enough to dispense with coats, raincoats and umbrellas!

Anne enjoying some sunshine for a change.

Lots of walks (about 70 miles) in the estate and plenty of places for a picnic! 

Oh dear! The coats have come out again!

Cragside is built on the side of a rocky hill and started as a 10 room house. After three extensions it became 100 rooms of which 30 were open to the public. Lord Armstrong was an ingenious man and Cragside is well known as the first house in the world to be lit by hydro-electricity. There was also a lift installed which was water powered!

This was the main kitchen.

The ostentatious fireplace in the Drawing Room. Unfortunately the next two generations to inherit Cragside lost most of Lord Armstrong's money but 95% of the house and estate survived to become National Trust.

Apparently Lord Armstrong planted 7 million Douglas Firs on the estate.

This is the Iron Bridge over the river and valley that connects the Formal Gardens with the house.

Alnwick Castle

A four day escape to Alnwick and Cragside ...

Saturday, 14th July and we headed off to Alnwick (norh of Newcastle and not far from the Scottish border) with Chris and Alan for a few days. Alnwick Castle has been the family home of the Duke of Northunberland for over 700 years. It is also the location they used to film various scenes for the Harry Potter movies.

The Knights Quest has some Harry Potter themes as well as some fun things for the kids!

Scary creatures and all.

Here is more kids having fun!

Can't resist, can they?

This is a serious Castle with some beautiful State Rooms where, unfortunately, photography was not allowed.

You can see that the wet weather gear was always at hand!

Christine and a "friend" in one of the museums!

A walk on the ramparts was a must!

Visitors were welcome to try their hand at archery (GBP 3 for 8 arrows). The guy was very good at training and spent about 15 minutes with each person.

A very good effort!










Anne persuaded Christine to also have a go!

A good result all around!

This was our Bed & Breakfast accommodation for three nights. The Old School House in Newton on the Moor not far from Alnwick. This place had a great local pub just 5 minutes walk down the road

Anne and Christine leaving the B&B for another busy day of sightseeing.

Richmond & Reeth

Good weather meant a day out ...

This is the town of Richmond about an hour from Ellingstring

Richmond's town square.

 Anne browsing the shops.

We walked around the town and down by the Castle to the river.

The town and countryside is very picturesque.

With all the rain the river had plenty of water. The brownish colour is due to the peat in the local soil.

 A good looking river through the town.

Anne was successful in the art of skimming stones!

Anne just had to have a plodge!

Moving on to Reeth for a pub lunch. 

Waiting for our food at the Black Bull. Yes, that sign has been upside down for years! 

The Black Bull and another pub right next door.

 The beautiful setting of Reeth.

On the way back to Ellingstring across the moors. 

This was looking back towards the town of Reeth.

Sheep seemed not to care about the occasional passing car. 

Mind you, sheep are not the only obstructions on these country lanes!