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MARTIN RANDALL TRAVEL LTD
Voysey House,
Barley Mow Passage
London W4 4GF
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8742 3355
USA: 1-800-988-6168
Canada: (647) 382 1644
Australia: 1300 55 95 95
New Zealand: 61-7-3377-0141
Voysey House,
Barley Mow Passage
London W4 4GF
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8742 3355
USA: 1-800-988-6168
Canada: (647) 382 1644
Australia: 1300 55 95 95
New Zealand: 61-7-3377-0141
Northumbria - Countryside, Castles, Coast & Comfort
- Wide-ranging exploration of the natural and man-made beauties of one of the most interesting but least visited regions of England.
- Castles, country houses, villages, towns and cities and, above all, wonderful landscape.
- Includes a number of special arrangements, a private boat for a day and two exhilarating country walks (optional – alternative visits are provided for non-walkers).
- Good hotels: Jesmond Dene House in Newcastle and Waren Mill outside Bamburgh.
ITINERARY
DAY 1
Newcastle-upon-Tyne—the coach leaves the hotel at 1.30pm and Newcastle Central Station at 2.00pm—afternoon in the city, an undulating site tumbling down to the Tyne through fine buildings and streets—Gothic cathedral, 17th-century Trinity House, Georgian All Saints, predominantly Classical facades and noble institutions—outstanding post-industrial regeneration on the quayside with the Millennium Bridge (Wilkinson Eyre) and Foster’s Sage Gateshead—first of five nights in Newcastle.
DAY 2
Newcastle, Durham, Roker—start at the newly opened Great North Museum then drive to The Angel of the North – Anthony Gormley’s bold and beautiful sculpture outside Newcastle—Durham Cathedral is one of the great monuments of Romanesque Europe, its glories enhanced by a hilltop site in one of the loveliest little cities in England—St Andrew’s Church at Roker is an outstanding Arts and Crafts design—overnight Newcastle.
DAY 3
Bywell, Hexham, Hadrian’s Wall—nestled in the Tyne Valley, the village of Bywell has two fine churches, one with a Saxon tower—the delightful town of Hexham grew up around an abbey founded in ad 674; the grand 13th-century church survives—optional walk along Hadrian’s Wall from Housesteads (31/2 miles), scenically and archaeologically perhaps the most spectacular stretch—non-walkers visit Vindolanda, site of a Roman town; ongoing excavations are yielding exciting discoveries—overnight Newcastle.
DAY 4
Alnwick, Edlingham, Cragside—externally still a formidable mediaeval fortress, Alnwick Castle has sumptuous interiors and a superb painting collection—beautiful drive via Edlingham to see the Norman church and remains of a 12th-cent. hall house—Cragside is the masterpiece of Norman Shaw and the interiors form a wonderful sequence of late-Victorian taste and technology—overnight Newcastle.
DAY 5
Belsay, Seaton Delaval—Belsay Hall is stripped of furniture and decoration, so the severe Greek Revival building approaches the status of ‘pure’ architecture; the woodland gardens, created from the quarry from which the hall is built, form an enchanting micro-climate—also a shell, baroque Seaton Delaval is a masterpiece by Vanbrugh (recently bought by the National Trust)—return to the hotel via Byker Wall, Ralph Erskine’s fabulous housing development—overnight Newcastle.
DAY 6
Warkworth, Craster, Dunstanburgh, Bamburgh—more palace than castle, the 15th-cent. Warkworth Castle towers above the town—lunch in the pretty seaside town of Craster, kipper capital of the UK—glorious coastal hillside walk to Dunstanburgh Castle (21/2 miles round trip; optional), in splendid isolation on a rocky promontory—non-walkers visit the gardens at Howick Hall—drive to Bamburgh, another magnificent seaside castle, and then to the hotel at Waren Mill two miles away—first of three nights here.
DAY 7
Farne Islands, Holy Island—sail on a privately chartered boat first to the Farne Islands and Inner Farne, famously the setting of Grace Darling’s heroism and home to some of England’s richest birdlife—St Aidan lived as a hermit here before establishing Lindisfarne Priory, as did St Cuthbert who later became the patron saint of Durham—sail to Holy Island to see Lindisfarne Priory and the Castle – which was later converted by Lutyens into Edward Hudson’s country home—overnight Waren Mill.
DAY 8
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Etal—the border town of Berwick is protected by the most complete set of ramparts in England—barracks, Cromwellian church and Royal Border Bridge—drive into wild Northumberland to the ruins of the 14th-cent. Etal Castle, slighted by James IV of Scotland, and nearby St Mary the Virgin—some free time at the hotel or in Bamburgh—overnight Waren Mill.
DAY 9
Newcastle—drive south to Newcastle, dropping off at the station by 2.45pm and at the Jesmond Dene House c. 3.00pm.
DATES & PRICES
TOUR CONTAINS
TESTIMONIALS
Diverse and very interesting. .
J. A., Wiltshire
A well-balanced itinerary which gave me an overall impression of the area and an idea of the places I might like to re-visit. .E. M., Buckinghamshire
A thoroughly enjoyable tour thanks to the efficiency and friendliness of the tour manager and lecturer. .J. & A. B., East Sussex
It was lovely to re-visit Northumberland after 20 years. It is a beautiful county with so many varied and interesting sites and places to visit. .B. & C. H., Essex
This was a truly amazing experience. Over 1,000 years of art and architecture covering all social levels. .N. R., Cheshire
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