Well, that was a surprise. Although living less than an hour and a half from its borders, neither of us are at all familiar with Northumberland. My day trip to Holy Island as a youngster and the Mister's week's camping at Kielder when he was 14 just about sums up previous visits. As someone who once (mistakenly) thought civilisation ended at Leeds, I've always tended to turn left onto the A1 and headed south. Now we know what we've been missing.
The country's most northerly county, and reportedly the least populated, Northumberland offered so much (despite some dismal weather). Wide, empty beaches, breathtaking countryside, castles, priories, stately homes, gardens, a very long Roman wall, an island accessible by a causeway at low tide, rollercoaster country roads resulting in Incredible Levitating Dog in the back of the car, lakes, forests, market towns, seaside villages, the knitted Royal Wedding (displayed in the window of a house), Waitrose (there are no branches near us) and sheep. So many sheep. My little camera really couldn't do justice to any of it.















Our base for the week was a cottage (a converted byre) on a small farm near Hexham. When I say cottage, think underfloor heating, woodburning stove, antique furniture and accessories, fully equipped kitchen and situated next to the farmhouse which originally was a Tudor long house. Boo took a while to settle in, though this farm resident caught his eye as a potential playmate .
Alas, he wasn't her type.