Holiday in Morpeth - recommendations?

[Leon]

...(buying books in Alnwick was the #1 priority)...

Yeah, we were in Barter Books last week!  Then along to Seahouses for fish + chips before I was dragged to Ikea...

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Yeah, we were in Barter Books last week!  Then along to Seahouses for fish + chips before I was dragged to Ikea...

Did you leave any stock in the book shop Leon?

[Leon]

Did you leave any stock in the book shop Leon?

We were there for Adele's birthday so the crime/detective section took a fair hit!

[Heedless Horseman]

There used to be a decent Bookshop on a corner of the top on Morpeth high street. As far as reading goes, for the 'Border Reiver' period, G.M Fraser's 'The Steel Bonnets' is a 'Must'. I also had a book, 'Castles And Peles Of The English Border'... but probably long out of print.

Mitford Castle , (+ Pillbox!), looks great. Not sure about access. Morpeth had a castle. I think it was bombarded by Montrose. Never visited and haven't' looked it up... but there might be some interest there. (Somewhere on the hill to the left as you drive down to the town from South).
Maybe as a 'pub meal' stop, 'The Blackbird Inn', Ponteland, used to be my local. Part was originally a 'pele' or Tower burnt by Scots, (The 'square bit with later chimney'.). Much modified since, but a 'barrel vaulted' (but rendered!) 'Tunnel Room', now an eating area, has fireplace which once concealed a tunnel to the Old Church across the road. There is also the ruins of a 'Vicar's pele' off the Main Street.
For trips to Tyne valley, 'The Lord Crewe' at Blanchland very similar.
Already mentioned, but Warkworth has always been a fave ruin. Tynemouth castle and Priory on the seaside 'Fish & Chips' run.
Afraid I'm not all that clued up on castles... Alnham, or Norham, a long drive North to Flodden, may be worth looking up. LOADS of peles... or remains of!


Roman... well, there is a reconstructed stone Gate Tower and short wall stretch at South Shields Fort. Wallsend... not much apart from a visitor centre... but you can 'imagine' The Tyne' as it used to  be in my childhood... Shipyards, Cranes... Supertankers, or the KG V, or Mauretania... on that little river.

I used to like Morpeth as an occasional 'shopping' jaunt... or 'pub trip with The Lads'... 20+ yrs ago. Much of the Parking has been developed or pedestrianised... so have not visited for a long while. There may be a cardboard disc system still in use? Earlier, Ma could be persuaded to take me to the LONG GONE Model shop and the Bookshop if she could get into the'ornament' shops on the high street. LOL! A small 'Raiway Modelling' shop opened up near to the bookshop... (!) but no idea whether still there.

Anyway, hope you all have fun.

[Heedless Horseman]

Some other thoughts. Hexham has the old 'Town Gaol' which had a small but interesting 'Border Reiver' museum... armour, mannequins, etc. ... and shops/ eateries.
Depending on month, the heather moors , Otterburn / Rothbury way can be pretty. 'Elsdon Gibbet'...'just that.. a fake head on a gibbet, lol. Be warned, though If you go on a Pele / Castle hunt... some of the drives can be very long, on twisty roads... passengers may get a bit 'testy'! lol.

If there are those of a 'horsey' inclination, there USED to be  small stables which could provide 'Hacks'. One near Elsdon and another for 'Beach Hack' under Bamburgh Castle. NOTE... these were hacks, not pony trekking... I managed to fall off on the beach ride! lol. There may be pony trekking stables around. Long time since I looked.

Not castles, but there are some 'ancient' sites that may interest. Lordenshaws nr. Rothbury, had a couple of ring marked stones and remains of 'iron age' foundations. More further north... but would need a 'hike'.

If one could be bothered, there is an 'attraction' Nr. Keilder which, due to absence of lighting, is being pushed for 'Stargazers'... IF not our usual clouds! LOL.

[Heedless Horseman]

On 'looking up' Morpeth Castle... only a 'Gatehouse' done up as Holiday Accommodation left. Oh Well.
Still, sometimes people's interests can surprise!
On a 'Horse Holiday' in Allendale in 90s, a group of 'Girlies' went off 'to see Hadrian's Wall. Came back 'Full Of Themselves'! Couldn't have cared less about the Roman Wall... THEY HAD SEEN 'THE TREE' upon which Kevin Costner had parked his b*m in Robin Hood P o T! Yes, That 'iconic' Tree! LOL! 

Apparently, Harrison Ford has been rootling around Nothumberland... maybe Alnwick Castle... for an upcoming 'Indiana Jones' Film. Might be worthwhile following up any locations?

[Raider4]

Apparently, Harrison Ford has been rootling around Nothumberland... maybe Alnwick Castle... for an upcoming 'Indiana Jones' Film.

They've been filming that on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and bits of Glasgow have been standing in for New York.

[Heedless Horseman]

They've been filming that on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and bits of Glasgow have been standing in for New York.

Now, there's a Wow! lol!

[Heedless Horseman]

Funny I forgot this Castle and Hall at Belsay, (about 6 m SW from Morpeth?).. I've never visited, although 'just up the road'. Mother has been round gardens and mentioned a 'quarry' that one year/month was 'full' of Foxgloves. Have intended to visit 'sometime', but just never got round to doing.  
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/belsay-hall-castle-and-gardens/

Website links to other places of interest.

[Elliesdad]

Funny I forgot this Castle and Hall at Belsay, (about 6 m SW from Morpeth?).. I've never visited, although 'just up the road'. Mother has been round gardens and mentioned a 'quarry' that one year/month was 'full' of Foxgloves. Have intended to visit 'sometime', but just never got round to doing.  
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/belsay-hall-castle-and-gardens/

Website links to other places of interest.

Thanks for the tip HH - I may well have overlooked this. The pele tower looks nice & ticks the "medieval" box. The fact it has a tea room and a second hand bookshop tips the balance in favour of "we need to visit this place" - especially as there will doubtless be things to distract the rest of the family.

Cheers,

Geoff

[Heedless Horseman]

Thanks for the tip HH - I may well have overlooked this. The pele tower looks nice & ticks the "medieval" box. The fact it has a tea room and a second hand bookshop tips the balance in favour of "we need to visit this place" - especially as there will doubtless be things to distract the rest of the family.

Cheers,

Geoff

Glad to be a help.  In some previous years, there were occasionally, 'Jousting', etc. events there... though not 'regular' 'site' happenings. Might be worth a check when things get sorted out?
Hope all enjoy Hol, anyway. Keith.

[Heedless Horseman]

Have not been to Corbridge for many years... but after a visit by an fb friend, found this place has opened up.
https://www.visitcorbridge.co.uk/pele-tower-pub-opens/

[Elliesdad]

Have not been to Corbridge for many years... but after a visit by an fb friend, found this place has opened up.
https://www.visitcorbridge.co.uk/pele-tower-pub-opens/

The pele tower looks nice. I prefer ruins though and the improvements for the pub may rather spoil its appeal for me.
Worthy of consideration though.

Geoff 

[Heedless Horseman]

Well, hadn't heard about it before, so thought I'd mention.
Sigh! Maybe someday... I might get to Normandy,  Brittany... or Orkney... or the ancient  sites in S UK. I DID visit some but was too young! What I 'REMEMBER' about Stonehenge... was a warm can of coke and a soggy cheese sandwich! LOL!!!

[Ithoriel]

Holidays, when I was a teenager, consisted of being packed into the car with my parents and siblings and trundling around Britain, staying with relatives or in guest houses.

Not as exotic as the holidays schoolfriends took in Torremolinos or Ibiza or the French Alps but it did let me experience a huge slice of British history and geography.

Stonehenge, Avebury, West Kennet, Silbury, Kit's Coty House and Little Kit's Coty House, Bryn Celli Ddu and many others were part of the fabric of my late childhood and teen years.

In early adulthood I graduated to the likes of Knossos and Phaestos, Ostia Antiqua and the amphitheatre in Arles.

Then I had kids and was back to packed cars, relatives' houses and British antiquities.

Is that what they mean by The Circle Of Life?