Today reminded me of that Howard Keel song in Oklahoma, "Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day" We awoke to a lovely sunny morning, it was sunny all day, and in the evening we were blessed with clear blue skies. Probably the best day of the week.
And it wasn't just the weather that made it such an enjoyable day, but also today's destination; we headed 25 miles across country to Cragside - the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. As you drive across you start to get a feel for the stunning Northumberland countryside, it's relatively flat until you get a few miles past Alnwick but then the views become a little more rugged and interesting.
We arrived at Cragside around 10:45am, and what a setting. As the name suggests it is set amongst crag sided hills, surrounded by forests and streams, an absolutely beautiful setting and looking resplendent in the sunshine. I did feel a little stupid as we donned our gear, after asking Donna before leaving the cottage if she'd put some socks in the rucksack, guess who had forgotten to bring socks; yes moi! So hiking boots and bare feet, not a great combination.
As the house itself didn't open until 1pm we set about walking through the grounds and the numerous trails. After taking some photos around the lake we headed over to the new Archimedes screw that was installed and opened in 2014 by the well known geordie actor Robson Green, then walked through the trees towards the iron bridge that spans the gorge.
As we reached the iron bridge we got our first glimpse of the house high above us, peeking out through the trees with the rock garden nestled below it. Our route then took us uphill to the formal garden; and what a garden. We spent around an hour looking at all the plants and flowers, many still in bloom and just so many colours. The view out from here over the surrounding countryside added to the beauty of the setting.
At around 1:30pm we hoped that most people would now be heading for the house, so took a walk back to the visitor centre to grab some lunch from the cafe, however people were queueing outside the door of the cafe so a definite 'no no'. Thankfully neither of us were that hungry.
We took the path the quarter of a mile or so to the house itself, and found that there was a small cafe up there so took in a sandwich and a drink sat outside of the house. Just as I was about to start my egg and cress baguette I heard my name called out, and to my surprise a friend who I had worked with for 15 years was there with his wife. We had a 10 minute natter and then they continued on their way.
People were commenting on how busy the house was; in fact someone came out saying that it was claustrophobic, so we weren't sure whether to bother or not. However, we decided to give it a try and whilst it was quite busy, you could still get around and enjoy the delights of this beautiful home. And yes you could take photos, so a bit of a bonus.
Just over an hour after entering the house we headed back to the car for the drive back to Beadnell. We had enjoyed the attraction so much we are very likely to come back again some time in the future and enjoy more of the walks around the estate and catch some of the areas that we missed out on this time.
It was around 5:30pm when we arrived back at the cottage, and after promising ourselves jacket spuds for the last few days, today we made sure we had them. Mine covered in tuna mayo and Donna had cottage cheese. Whilst jacket spuds might not sound that exciting, we just love them. And as the weather was still stunning outside we popped on our jackets and grabbed our cameras and headed for a walk on the beach and around the small west facing harbour. A nice end to a lovely day out.,
And it wasn't just the weather that made it such an enjoyable day, but also today's destination; we headed 25 miles across country to Cragside - the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. As you drive across you start to get a feel for the stunning Northumberland countryside, it's relatively flat until you get a few miles past Alnwick but then the views become a little more rugged and interesting.
As the house itself didn't open until 1pm we set about walking through the grounds and the numerous trails. After taking some photos around the lake we headed over to the new Archimedes screw that was installed and opened in 2014 by the well known geordie actor Robson Green, then walked through the trees towards the iron bridge that spans the gorge.
As we reached the iron bridge we got our first glimpse of the house high above us, peeking out through the trees with the rock garden nestled below it. Our route then took us uphill to the formal garden; and what a garden. We spent around an hour looking at all the plants and flowers, many still in bloom and just so many colours. The view out from here over the surrounding countryside added to the beauty of the setting.
At around 1:30pm we hoped that most people would now be heading for the house, so took a walk back to the visitor centre to grab some lunch from the cafe, however people were queueing outside the door of the cafe so a definite 'no no'. Thankfully neither of us were that hungry.
People were commenting on how busy the house was; in fact someone came out saying that it was claustrophobic, so we weren't sure whether to bother or not. However, we decided to give it a try and whilst it was quite busy, you could still get around and enjoy the delights of this beautiful home. And yes you could take photos, so a bit of a bonus.
Just over an hour after entering the house we headed back to the car for the drive back to Beadnell. We had enjoyed the attraction so much we are very likely to come back again some time in the future and enjoy more of the walks around the estate and catch some of the areas that we missed out on this time.
Comments
Post a Comment