Seaside Special - Under the radar: Northumberland
Sliding down the coast from Scotland, this rambling yarn is finally re-entering territories I know well. Contrasting with previous dispatches from often unfamiliar landscapes and barely known settlements, Northumberland brings into focus towns and coastlines with which I am much better acquainted. I’ve been coming to this quiet, be-castled coastline for just about as long as I can remember. Early family holidays took in windy chalets on a regimented Hoseason’s site in Berwick; and bunking up with Geordie friends relocated to somewhere just outside the remarkable Cragside House, home to the industrialist and inventor Lord William Armstrong. Later, with the future Mrs A, there was a busy tour of the houses, gardens, islands and the pubs, bars and restaurants offered up generously from our base in Alnmouth one bright May over a quarter of a century ago. More on this later. Over the years I have been drawn back to the area a good few times, even from the distant comforts of cosmopolita...