Tapp's Travels

The day we left Yorkshire was another windy day for towing – and when we got here, putting up the awning was a real adventure!

Still, we are now in Glenda’s home county.  So far, on the wildlife front, we have seen deer, hares, pheasants, partridges, stoats, rabbits and a peacock!  It’s a wild county!  Wild, wonderful and occasionally windy!

One of our first outings was to Thrunton Woods next to the field in which Glenda and her father used to keep their horses during the summer months.  Thrunton Wood is a large stand of 40 year old pines.  Well, it was until the last week of November last year when Storm Arwen passed through the county.  The storm brought winds of over 100 mph.  Huge tracts of the forest have been flattened.  Hundreds and hundreds of trees are lying in a tangled mess.  Thousands – millions even!

Some snapped off like matchsticks.  Others with their roots just hauled out of the ground …

Apparently, Arwen blew in from the north.  The prevailing winds in this area are easterlies.  The forests’ northern edges were not prepared for the windy onslaught and collapsed.  The vulnerable central areas followed suit!  According to Forestry Commission estimates, there are eight million trees needing making safe and extracting in Scotland and another four million in northern England.  This was said to be going to keep all available foresters busy for 12 months.  We are now six months into the clear up and I’d say they have a great deal of work still to do – and it will probably take at least five years to complete.  But there are a lot of lorries shifting tons of logs about!

We have a little mission – to visit Rothbury.  The River Coquet flows past the town …

… and we have to walk one upstream section of the riverside path.  We do it every time we are in the area.  Family memories are powerful and important things.

While there we also have to check out Flair (and one or two other stores in town).  And I have to say the checking process was very productive.  No magic trousers or fancy tops – or at least I hope not – because Glenda emerged from one emporium with a large box which I’m reliably informed is my birthday present!  I’ve had to hide it in the caravan and forget where I put it!

Cragside has fabulous rhododendrons.  We need to check whether they are in full flower now, in case we miss them.  The entrance to the estate is just about one mile from the centre of Rothbury.  However, we discover that the last half mile of the road is closed for repairs!  (And it will remain closed until after we leave the area!)  We get diverted to Wheldon Bridge,  then up the A697 to New Moor House via Longframlington and finally back down the road from Alnwick to the entrance to Cragside.  A convenient 15 miles instead of 800 yards!

The daft thing is that we passed an exit from the estate less than a mile into our diversion.  Why couldn’t the National Trust open that as a temporary entrance?  I expect there’s a health and safety thing involved.  No risk assessment!  No approval from the council.  Or possibly just a concern that some non-members will nip in without paying while no-one notices!

Moan, moan!  And while the rhodos and far from fully out, there are some magnificent displays!

… and we were able to take a two mile walk around the lake in the middle of the estate.

Now, on a different matter, you may know that we quite like visiting golf courses.  The coffee is usually served with superb views.  Well, this is Rothbury Golf Club.

We now have another good reason to visit each morning.  The sign says visitors welcome.  They have lovely changing rooms with executive loos and well equipped (but almost exclusively unused) showers.  Now they are being more used!  I keep the receptionist talking while Glenda slips in with our golf kit bag (AKA Sainsbury’s shopping bag) with soap and towels.  Two showers, two coffees, a cheese scone and a border tart later, we emerge hoping that there are no CCTV cameras recording our adventures.  Well, they do clearly say visitors welcome!  And the coffees were indeed good and reasonably priced – although still twice what they were in Spain!  We’ll be back tomorrow!

Sunday lunch had to be eaten at the Three Wheat Heads in Thropton.  They do a very good “three-slice carvery” with all the trimmings.  But you have to book.  Luckily we remembered to do this while we were still in Yorkshire.  In fact, you can upgrade to a five-slice version if you are seriously hungry – but by “seriously”,  I do mean “SERIOUSLY”!  We went with Kathleen and David – University friends – actually Kath was responsible for us getting married.  Perhaps “responsible” is taking things a bit far but she did introduce us by getting us to go on a blind date at 5 o’clock one November morning in 1967!

But that’s another story!

Alnwick is the county town.  Home of the castle, the twelfth Duke of Northumberland, Barter Books (one of the UK’s largest second hand book shops and home of the now famous “Keep Calm” posters) and, on the day of our visit, the local market.

Bondgate Tower, through which traffic for the centre of town passes in both directions was clearly built before the Advent of HGVs!  It was indeed completed in 1480.

However, if you want to buy a house in town, you may already be too late!  The local estate agent’s window is advertising houses which have already been sold (subject to contract etc. etc.).  As you can see…

Out of 15 houses listed, 13 were marked as sold, one was part of a museum and the one in the middle is looking for offers over £1.7 million!  Bargain!  I think estate agents in many parts of the UK are having this problem.  Nothing to sell and what they do have goes within minutes of listing!  A difficult time to get on the housing ladder!

Next up was our tangle with the FBI.  Our appointed time was 5.30 pm in Boulmer, a coastal village of about 30 dwellings.  It’s sort of level with Alnwick, itself famous for it’s role in Harry Potter films where the castle was used as a setting for part of Hogwarts School.

We got there early for our appointment, so we walked for a couple miles on the beach.

One thing is certain, Northumberland has a lot of fabulous beaches … fabulous, but sometimes bracing!

On time, we present ourselves at the FBI … and get a corner table with a superb view of the beach!

Did I mention that the FBI in Boulmer is the Fishing Boat Inn?  Thought not!

Morpeth is a lovely market town half way from camp to Newcastle.  It has five main advantages over Newcastle.  It’s closer, has fewer shops, less traffic, a golf course and easy parking!

Having spent a “happy” day in the shops of Morpeth (and at Morpeth Golf Club), we spent another one in Newcastle.  The first stop was at the Biscuit Factory.  Although there was not so much as a digestive or a jammy dodger in sight (well, it is an art gallery after all!), we did have very nice coffee and cakes in their executive dining room upstairs.  I then dropped Glenda in the centre of town and retreated to the Factory!

There are rooms in the gallery equipped with sofas where the mobile reception is excellent.  Surprise, surprise, they do also have a large number of artworks for sale …

… this being one of my favourites,  but I’m not authorised to spend almost £2,000 on a painting – or indeed on anything – without consulting!  So, it remains for sale.

By closing time, allegedly having tried on every dress in her size in the whole of Eldon Square, Glenda bought exactly none of them. So, we relocated to the MetroCentre a huge shopping precinct just South of the Tyne, where another hundred dresses were “bothered” but not bought.

On the way home we were nearly run off the road by a speeding fire engine which immediately proceeded to close the road we needed.  So, we got detoured almost to Hexham before meandering cross country to Ponteland and on to Nunnykirk where we spent a little time ordering dresses to be delivered to Morpeth at the weekend.  In summary then, Morpeth,  Newcastle, Gateshead, Nunnykirk and Morpeth again.  Any bets on whether we end up with a dress or two?

I’m not sure that last section will pass the proof-reader…  It didn’t!

Now, where on earth did I hide my birthday present?

Editorial note:  Glenda insists I tell you that having showers at Rothbury golf course was a figment of her active imagination, enlarged by me!  But it’s a very tempting idea!