{"id":4388,"date":"2023-09-20T21:13:19","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T21:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=4388"},"modified":"2025-12-24T22:28:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T22:28:02","slug":"3-northumberland-where-it-usually-never-rains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=4388","title":{"rendered":"3. NORTHUMBERLAND – WHERE IT (USUALLY) NEVER RAINS!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Arriving at Nunnykirk in glorious Northumbrian sunshine and temperatures that are rarely reached this far north, we parked on our favourite pitch.\u00a0 To be fair, there were only a handful of pitches available.\u00a0 So we were really lucky!\u00a0 Awning up straight away to give some shade.\u00a0 (John and Carina will appreciate that!)<\/p>\n

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And off for a walk.\u00a0 We know there’s a bridleway from Greenleighton Quarry to Fontburn reservoir which is less than a mile from the campsite.\u00a0 We tried to find it last year.\u00a0 It took us two attempts just to find the quarry on that occasion!\u00a0 The road was blocked, as it had been last time, by a herd of free-range cows.\u00a0 Unpredictable things.\u00a0 To be avoided where possible!<\/p>\n

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Anyway, we managed to start off on the right path.\u00a0 Clearly marked.\u00a0 Obvious Quarry.\u00a0 Well defined track.\u00a0 No problem!\u00a0 But after less than a mile we we being taken to the left into an ex-forest.\u00a0 I’m guessing it was a victim of Storm Arwen.\u00a0 All that was left was a pile of logs and a very rough and churned up field.<\/p>\n

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So, that’s two years we’ve failed to find the reservoir.<\/p>\n

However, it’s our wedding anniversary this week.\u00a0 Unsure what to get for Glenda and knowing she prefers experiences to material things, I called the Red Arrows to arrange a fly past.\u00a0 They were happy to oblige so long as we shared the display with the Great North Run – and settled for it a couple of days early.\u00a0 True to their word, fly past they did.\u00a0 Just as we retreated towards the caravan!<\/p>\n

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The GNR ended in chaos as torrential rain closed the centre of Newcastle!!!\u00a0 So, having binned Skiathos because of flooding, we now find great tracts of the city here closed by … flooding!\u00a0 No buses, no metro, no swimming!<\/p>\n

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As they say, if we can’t take a joke, we shouldn’t have joined!\u00a0 Luckily, although we did have some rain at Nunnykirk, it could never be described as torrential.\u00a0 As I write this, several days later, we are hearing reports of massive flooding in South Devon!\u00a0 Newton Abbot, Dawlish and parts of Torbay were hit by best part of a month’s worth of rain in an hour!<\/p>\n

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Thunder storm over Brixham Harbour!<\/p>\n

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There’s a pattern developing here.\u00a0 And what’s that about a joke!\u00a0 (Clearly these photos are not mine.)<\/p>\n

OK, I’ve got a bit out of sequence here, so, trying to get back on track…<\/p>\n

We had an excellent Sunday lunch at the Three Wheatheads in Thropton near Morpeth.\u00a0 \u00a0We will be back!<\/p>\n

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On Monday, (after the floods!) we elected to visit Newcastle.\u00a0 The Biscuit Factory is an excellent gallery with a bit of parking.\u00a0 Lots of bonsai trees for Barry.<\/p>\n

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As the name suggests, the gallery is housed in what used to be the factory of the “Newcastle upon Tyne Biscuit Manufacturer”.\u00a0 Originally built in 1870, now sympathetically re-purposed with a cafe and (did I mention?) a free car park.<\/p>\n

There are some fabulous pictures hanging around …<\/p>\n

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… and a few which would suit other people’s homes better than ours!\u00a0 But their bacon sandwiches are very tasty.\u00a0 Just don’t tell Glenda.\u00a0 She thinks the restaurant in the gallery is vegetarian!<\/p>\n

A quick morning walk to counteract the forthcoming anniversary celebratory lunch at the Cook and Barker Inn at Newton-on-the-Moor.\u00a0 We walked past a farm which said it specialised in beef and venison.\u00a0 But their yard said something different.<\/p>\n

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We can see ewe!<\/p>\n

We had our anniversary lunch…<\/p>\n

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… with the person.who was responsible for Glenda and I meeting way back in 1967.\u00a0 Kathleen.\u00a0 Now Kathleen and David.<\/p>\n

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Thanks, Kath!\u00a0 Good move back then!\u00a0 And great recommendation for the restaurant on this occasion!<\/p>\n

And perhaps this is a good place to pause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[pmb_print_buttons] Arriving at Nunnykirk in glorious Northumbrian sunshine and temperatures that are rarely reached this far north, we parked on our favourite pitch.\u00a0 To be fair, there were only a handful of pitches available.\u00a0 So we were really lucky!\u00a0 Awning… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uk-tour-not-greece"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4388"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4611,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4388\/revisions\/4611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}