snowie Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Hi all, we are getting out in the van for a few days in a week or so; main place to visit is Northumberlandia. We shall also drive around the area of Hexham, Alnwick and the coast. We are calling in on friends in Durham and will visit Donna Nook and The Pink Pig farm on the way back. We've got the guides, CC and C&CC memberships; but personal recommendations are always welcome. Particularly interested in small sites, but at this time of year beggars won't be choosers. Sites with pubs to eat at within 1Km would be good as we have a mobility issue at the moment. Nice pubs for lunch, hidden gems of any kind. I'm making a list of suggestions for each of our trips from now on, so think of it as a resource to share, Happy winter vanning alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Hi Snowie, we had a smashing time at Hadrian's Wall Campsite: http://www.hadrianswallcampsite.co.uk/ Very friendly owners. They only had white bread in the shop but the lady said she would get me a wholemeal loaf when she was in the town that afternoon. No extra charge, just what she paid for it. Lots to do in the area Roman Forts, museums etc. Site has a small cafe serving breakfast and lunch. Or visit the Twice Brewed Inn for a good beer and meal. Menus are on the website: http://www.twicebrewedinn.co.uk/ It is about a mile walk from the campsite. Over the fields is pleasant but may not be suitable in the dark. As it was raining very hard we drove the van to the inn, they have a sizeable car park. A lovely little village is Allendale. You can park in the village centre, several pubs or lots of short walks. I do not know of a campsite close to Allendale. If anybody has suggestions I would be greatful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambukashot Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 I have a few wild camping and pub stopover spots for that region, just click on the link below and zoom in. If you discover any more please let me know...http://www.camperstops.co.uk/index.php/uk-motorhome-stopovers/all-uk-motorhome-stopovers#!/catid=40;32;20;6;17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 The map shows the Drift Inn at Seaton Burn. This has not been a stopover for at least 2 years since the new manager took over. Unless it changed again? Has anyone used it lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syd Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 When in Durham area you should visit Beamish museum, step back in time by about 100 years and ride the trams, absolutely great day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Syd - 2012-11-19 4:01 PM When in Durham area you should visit Beamish museum, step back in time by about 100 years and ride the trams, absolutely great day Thanks for that Syd; weve been a few times when visiting our friends in Durham, the last time was when our kids were about 8 - 13 years old, which is 10 -15 years ago, so it's due another visit. We are planning to visit Masham on the way up, spend a couple of days around Bamburgh, drop in to Alnwick and Northumberlandia, Durham and home via Donna Nook. Not a lot of sites open after end of October, so final overnight stops yet to be concluded. Hoping for some decent weather, Thanks, alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 The public car park by Alnwick Castle has some dedicated motorhome spaces, big enough for most vans. We only discovered them after we'd booked a CS last September, otherwise we'd have used it for an overnight. Easy walk (or wheelchair ride) from town centre as well as castle, and an open-top tour bus stops by the carpark too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 And if you get as far North as Bamburgh why not go a little further and pop over to Holy Island (Lindisfarne). You will have to check the tides for getting there and back as they do not allow overnighting on the island but there is a small car park just back on the mainland which we have seen others use for overnight stops and did not appear to have any restrictions in place during the summer when we visited. You get the most wonderful view of the tide closing the causeway from there and in the summer we watched seals basking on the sandbanks. Keith. Edit. Forgot to add that if you go through Alnwick town centre there is a low arch with a 9' 3" height limit so watch out. And the entrance to the car park Tony mentioned is off Greenwell Road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithR Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 for alnwick there is camping at alnwick rugby club, and a campsite at the shepherds rest just to the west of town (both are in ukcampsites website). there is also the railway inn at acklington (12 miles east of alnwick) good pub and excellent restaurant. was £10 per night, including electric (early this year)' there is also a CC cl at rashercap farm, right on the A1, 8 miles south of alnwick, and also a small campsite/CL at the oaks (good pub and good restaurant) also on the A1 (well signed) about 12 miles south of alnwick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildBill Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 The Shepherds Rest does good food etc and Bob the LL is a character but he charged £20 per night for a CS. The Railway does good food, my Mam is a regular and she is fussy so it must be good. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syd Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 When in Alnwick remember to find the old now closed pub/shop window, sorry but cannot for the life of me remember the street that it is on. The story goes The window display was to be changed, designated person started the work and before it was finished he collapsed and died. After the funeral second person was designated to finish the job, before they finished they collapsed and died, After the funeral a third person was given the job to finish when they also collapsed and died. After the funeral the window was never touched again and can to this day be seen through a very dirty window exactly as it was left about 100 years ago It is somewhere behind the market square Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syd Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Holy Island Beautiful place As I understand it Christianity first came to this country there but they were raped and pillaged once too often so they moved to Sunderland Once in Sunderland (Sun - Der- Land in those days as the town was split in half by the river) the monks introduced glass making to this country hence the Sunderland Glass Centre. Maybe they were raped and pillaged by the Sunderland residents too as they moved to Durham and the safety of they cathedral that they built there and lived happily ever after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 When staying at the CCC site at Beadnell in Sept I found a leaflet on Alnick castle and grounds, the cost was stupidly high, suffice to say they did not get my money, just because of Harry Potter. Northumerland is a great county to tour though, dont try to park in Berwick on Tweed with a coachbuilt. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 Thanks to those who made suggestions; as I said in an earlier post I'm going to provide feedback, for what it's worth: Masham: The Old Station Yard; £20/nt Commercial Site. We were the only ones on site, but that just meant we had facilities all to ourselves, and very nice they were too. A dark walk into Masham for a few drinks at the White Bear; and a recce next morning with a view to staying a couple of nights in spring so that we can visit the Theaxtons and Black Sheep Visitors Centres. Before we arrived at next site we called in at Seahouses and despite the grey sky and stormy sea we had a pleasant want along the harbour. Bamburgh: Caravan Club C.L. Fowberry Farm was tucked away at the end of a single track lane. It was raining when we arrived so didn't hang about sightseeing in the dark! Stepped outside to fetch some water, and WOW! Bamburgh Castle on the other side of the fence floodlit. Had a walk over the fields to Bamburgh and lunch in the Castle Inn, nice food and nice walk despite the showers and chill. Down the coast to Craster for some kippers, but they were closed on Saturday when we arrived at about 1:00pm, nice little harbour. On to Alnwick Gardens, which will probably be a better visit in spring and summer. Alnwick was worth a visit; nice pork pie bought at R. Turnbull and Sons Market Street Alnwick, along with some Craster Kippers. It's getting Christmassy with lights ready to be switched on in the market square. I've decided that the area from Bamburgh to Amble is worth a longer look in nicer weather. Acklington; Railway Inn. £17/nt Commercial Site. NORTHUMBERLANDIA Amazing, and well worth the trip. Despite being almost blown off the earth mounds, the sculpture is as impressive as The Angel of the North (IMHO). Not well signposted from A1. Worth a visit. Durham for 2 nights was eneventful, with friends. Down the Ai , M18 and M180 to Tetney Lock, Caravan Club C.L. £7 inc hook-up. Pub meal at the Crown and Anchor, very helpful site owners, we parked on site road because grass areas were waterlogged. Great little trip despite weather. Any trip at this time of year will be a bit of a struggle, as not many sites are open, so you pay the asking rate (or don't go!). Thanks again; regards, alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 good report Snowie and photos..nice to see some proper feed back for a change.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-11-29 11:12 AM good report Snowie and photos..nice to see some proper feed back for a change.... Thanks Judge; I think it's only right if people are generous with their info and suggestions. Where to next, that's the question! cheers alan b p.s. must have the kippers on saturday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B. Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Think I'll give that area a miss as it appears you get raped, pillaged, drowned on the causeway or if you survive all that you drop dead doing a window display! What an exciting place for a holiday-Valhalla springs to mind :-D Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 Mike B. - 2012-11-29 12:32 PM Think I'll give that area a miss as it appears you get raped, pillaged, drowned on the causeway or if you survive all that you drop dead doing a window display! What an exciting place for a holiday-Valhalla springs to mind :-D Mike I think that applies to most of the east coast; vikings hit most counties, but don't think it's been prevalent for quite a while now! alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Alan, Please don't shout out too loud about how nice an area it is or else it will get too busy :D We've been 'up that way' for our main hols for the last 3 years and love it and always seem to find soemthing new to see each year. Next time you must try and get over the causeway to Lindisfarne and have an explore there, it really is great. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewartJ Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a great place to visit, there is no overnight camping whatsover on the island itself. We usually stay at this CL a short distance from the causeway:- http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/planning-your-holiday/uk-holiday-planning/uk-site-search-and-book/certificated-locations/site-detail/?Id=27946&town=-1&county=27930&facilities= There is only one very large car park on the Island operated by Northumberland Council bless them who seem to have a policy of gross overcharging at such places visited by many tourists, ie last month it was £2.60 for 3 hours (may have been 2?) or £4.30 per day. We usually park on the foreshore at Chare End (see large scale map of the island for location) this is where road after following coastline curves sharply left up onto the island. In all but the highest tides (check the tide heights) is very safe and dry many other vehicles do the same. Parking in the car park at the East end of the Island (The Snook) is free. For anyone visiting especially outside of any holiday periods its a magical place at high tide you've almost got the place to yourself and well worth experiencing. Thats my little secret out;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Brown Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 If of course you have difficulty in reading a clock you may get trapped on the island in which case you will have to stay in your van!!! Just make sure you will not be visited by the tide. Look at the debri line and you should be ok. Otherwise, stay in the car park on the mainland side. Art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam151 Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 there has been alot of debates (and probably thousands of pounds spent) by the local council about the causeway to holy island recently, it was about how to make it safe to stop people crossing when the tide came in & getting stuck, there is a refuge box incase you do get stranded it is on stilts to keep you out the sea but your vehicle is drowned. im not sure if they have came up with a solution yet but if the council had asked the ordainary person in the street im sure it would have been sorted out in 1 day such as traffic lights, if its red it is illegal to go through them. onto another bit if your going to stay in northumberland your only a short distance from the scottish border & it is well worth a trip just a bit further to visit the scottish borders & north northumberland with some good sites & cls but make sure you do it in the next couple of years incase alex salmonface has introduced passport controll *-) jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam151 Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 there has been alot of debates (and probably thousands of pounds spent) by the local council about the causeway to holy island recently, it was about how to make it safe to stop people crossing when the tide came in & getting stuck, there is a refuge box incase you do get stranded it is on stilts to keep you out the sea but your vehicle is drowned. im not sure if they have came up with a solution yet but if the council had asked the ordainary person in the street im sure it would have been sorted out in 1 day such as traffic lights, if its red it is illegal to go through them. onto another bit if your going to stay in northumberland your only a short distance from the scottish border & it is well worth a trip just a bit further to visit the scottish borders & north northumberland with some good sites & cls but make sure you do it in the next couple of years incase alex salmonface has introduced passport controll *-) jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 jam151 - 2012-12-04 8:54 PM there has been alot of debates (and probably thousands of pounds spent) by the local council about the causeway to holy island recently, it was about how to make it safe to stop people crossing when the tide came in & getting stuck, ............................. jamie Maybe they should just introduce an IQ test for drivers who wish to visit the island....? :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Slightly unfair Malc, you know how it's Local Authorities' responsibility to make sure no one has to ever think about anything themselves. *-) We went to Lindisfarne and found it little more than a honeypot type place. It's not the best at anything in the county, apart from trapping tourists maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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