Low Newton by the Sea & The Maltings Theatre in Berwick upon Tweed

Thursday started off in a leisurely fashion (after taking Ruby for her early morning perambulation.) We made our way down to Bamburgh in time for morning coffee & scones which we had at the Copper Kettle Tea Rooms, in Front Street, on the side of the Village Green.







Then we moved on to Low Newton by the Sea. Low Newton is a rather special little hamlet. Three sides of a square are to be found, and the fourth open side faces on to the beach. The whole of the properties which comprise the three sides of the square are owned by the National Trust, including the Ship Inn.







The hostelry is famous and visited by people from near and far. When we arrived (at about 2.00 pm) the place was heaving with customers. There were lots sat outside at the tables as well as lots of other people sitting on the grass in the centre of the square.

The pub also has its own micro brewery, and brews two beers. I sampled their “India Pale Ale” - a rather gentle and tasty brew, and most refreshing.

Ship Inn Low Newton - The Bar

Dot took Ruby for a long walk along the seashore, and Ruby enjoyed playing in the water too!

We returned to Cove cottage, and then went up to Berwick to see a performance of A Winter’s Tale which was on in the Maltings Arts Centre. The Maltings was built in 2000 and has very recently been refurbished. It is a lovely little theatre, decorated and equipped to a very high standard.



The Maltings Theatre - Berwick upon Tweed

Theatre Interior

One of the coincidences this year was that I had picked up a leaflet of what was on in the Maltings and seen that on Thursday, Friday and Saturday there were performances of A Winter’s Tale. The day previously, when we were in Wooler Dot had seen a poster advertising the performances, and noticed that one of the actors was Ferdinand Kingsley. Here’s the coincidence……

Dot nurses his grandmother, and she has met Ferdinand (who incidentally is the son of Ben Kingsley – the well known actor) when he has been visiting his grandmother in Cottingley Hall!

So we decided to visit the theatre and see A Winter’s Tale, which had got extremely good write ups.

We were sat in the theatre restaurant having a pre performance meal,

and Dot noticed that Ferdinand was also there eating. He obviously recognised her, but couldn’t place how he knew her. I said to her, “Go and introduce yourself and put him out of his misery!” She did, and the upshot was that we were invited to join him after the performance, in the bar. We spent about 45 minutes chatting with him. He is a very unpretentious and pleasant young man, who doesn’t trade on the family name. Oh, and he gave an excellent performance too!



The Stage Door Bar

Wooler, Kelso & Melrose

Wednesday 30th September dawned damp and misty, so we decided to take the “Border Abbey Tour”. Normally this includes visits to Kelso Abbey, Dryburgh Abbey, Melrose Abbey & Jedburgh Abbey, but we spent time at other places en route, so the only two abbeys we visited were Kelso and Melrose.

Firstly we headed to Wooler, a market town and the entrance to the Cheviot Hills. We spent some time looking round here before we moved on.

The weather improved and we had bright sunshine before we reached our next stop at Kelso. In the Millennium Year a viewpoint was built, which looks over Kelso and provides some splendid views.

Kelso has cobbled streets, and a very regal Town Square with the Town Hall and Cross Keys Hotel occupying pride of place in the Square

After spending some time exploring Kelso we moved on to Melrose where you will find the Abbey, Priorwood Gardens, and a typical Scottish Main Street.

Melrose Abbey

Priorwood Gardens

Melrose

We left Melrose and headed for Scott’s View, the spot where Sir Walter Scott used to pause his horse when he rode by. It is said that when he died his horse pulled the funeral dray and when it got to Scott’s View it paused as it had done each day when Sir Walter was riding it! There is a wonderful view from here of both the River Tweed and the Eildon Hills

The River Tweed

The Eildon Hills

Bamburgh and a Meeting with Judith O'Reilly

Tuesday dawned grey and damp, so we didn’t venture out until after 10.30 am, although I had taken Ruby for a walk round the block at about 7.30 am! We went down into Bamburgh and bought some sandwiches from a little delicatessen shop called the Pantry.

Talking to the lady who runs the shop we discovered that she came from Saltaire originally, and knew lots of places in Yorkshire as her father had been a policeman, stationed at Toller Lane during part of his duty. The shop stocks an amazing range of locally produced foods, and all are absolutely delicious. We decided to have turkey and cranberry sandwiches.

The house adjoining the pantry is the one where Grace Darling died, a few years after her heroic rescue of shipwrecked sailors on the Farne Islands



We then went to visit Judith O’Reilly the blogger who had invited me to join her for a cuppa whilst we were in the area.

I found the cottage where she lives without much difficulty, having made enquiries locally before we came up to Waren Mill. We were very warmly welcomed and met Judith, her husband Alastair, and her Mum Veronica, as well as little Sophie. The two boys were at school, but they eventually arrived and we were introduced to Gabriel and Raphael. A cuppa and a freshly cooked bun and we spent a great deal of time chatting about life in general. Alastair, Judith’s husband works for the Times (I think as their Education Correspondent) and commutes between the village they live in and London. Veronica, Judith’s Mum, comes from Leeds, and we spent some time reminiscing about the trams that used to run in Leeds, the markets and Arcades.

It was lovely to meet Judith “in the flesh” as I had followed her blog for a long time, and last year I had purchased her book, based on her blog. My last words to Dot before we left for our holidays were I must remember to take Judith’s book with me to get her to sign it. Guess what was forgotten………

During the course of the after noon Judith appeared with a copy of her book, and duly signed it for me. So I now have two copies. Anyone wanting to borrow the non signed copy – just ask for it, then when you have read it persuade all your friends to buy it! It’s called Wife in the North”, published by Penguin ISBN Number 13: 9780141033433

Here is just one of the 5* reviews she received:

Judith O'Reilly got her book deal as a result of a blog; but for anyone thinking of following in her footsteps, she also got it by being a superbly accomplished writer who is capable of making you laugh and cry on the same page. Judith has a truly rare gift with words, coining lyrical phrases that you read over again for their beauty and others that bring forward a welter of emotions in one short phrase. Nothing I have ever read sums up the desperation of a mother giving birth and longing for the pain to end, as the phrase. "Does the baby need shoulders?...I will buy it shoulders on e-Bay." Many will identify with Judith's situation of living somewhere they have no real desire to be, but few would have the bravery to be as honest as Judith about the difficulties - or describe the joys as lyrically. The best bit - when I finished Wife In The North I went onto the Net and read some more straight from the blog. How many books offer you that? Marvellous.

After a drive round some of the country roads near Bamburgh we ended up at the Lord Crewe Arms in Bamburgh for an Evening Meal.

The Lord Crewe Arms is situated in the village green.

Northumberland (Waren Mill) Holiday 2009 - Part One

On Saturday 26th September we crossed Scotland from Ardrossan and headed to Bamburgh in Northumberland. Or to be more precise, Waren Mill, [Yes! That is the correct spelling!] This is two miles North of Bamburgh. We unloaded the car and settled in to Cove Cottage – the same self catering accommodation which we had stayed in last year.




Then it was down into Bamburgh for a meal at the Victoria Hotel, at the top of the village green. Dogs are welcome here, so Ruby accompanied us.

On Sunday we did the coastal run from Bamburgh down the coast to Seahouses, Low Newton by the Sea and Warkworth.

Driving south from Waren Mill, you eventually come over a crest on the road and round a long sweeping left hand bend, and then suddenly before you Bamburgh Castle is revealed in all its glory. It’s a view I say that has the “Wow!” factor.

Warkworth is a picturesque village situated in a loop in the River Coquet. It has a pretty main street with flower lined cottages,

the remains of a magnificent castle at the top of the high street,

and an old church in Dial Place.

On the way back we called in to Alnwick and visited Barter Books, which is probably the largest second hand bookshop in the British Isles. I have visited the bookshop many times, but have failed to get Dot to go in, however this year she went in and was most impressed. She spent as much time looking at the selection of books as I do! Barter Books is housed in what used to be Alnwick Railway Station

We also spent some time hunting a small hamlet where the author and blogger Judith O’Reilly lives. It is as a direct result of reading Judith’s blog that I started doing this blog. She is the author of a book called “Wife in the North” which was taken from her blog. The book was a best seller last year, and I bought a copy of it when we were up in Bamburgh. This year it has been translated into German, and has reached number ten in the German Bestseller Lists. There will be more about Judith (who kindly invited us to join her for a coffee and cakes whilst we were up in Northumberland) and her family, later on in the blog.

She wasn't the only literary person we met. We attended a performance of "A Winter's Tale" at the Maltings Theatre in Berwick and met up with one the the actors after the performance. Our second week really was a culture with a capital K week! I will explain all in a later blog!!!

Eating Out on Arran

As I mentioned some time previously, when we visit the Isle of Arran we usually dine at the Brodick Bar, but prior to our visit I had been on a website called Trip Advisor, which is compiled from the comments and experiences of actual holiday makers.

It has sections on Hotels, Bed & Breakfasts, Self Catering, Camp Sites, Restaurants, Places to Visit etc., and because all the comments are written by actual holiday makers I find it gives a true and accurate picture of the establishments that are written about.

Under the heading Isle of Arran – Eating Out, various places were listed and commented on, including the Brodick Bar (which has a comment by me!) but the comments on the meals at the Pier Head Tavern (known by the locals as the PHT) in Lamlash caught my eye.

I had heard previously that they served up excellent value for money meals, so this year we decided to visit and give it a try. We were not disappointed; in fact we had meals there on three of the seven days we were on Arran! There was a quite large selection of meals available, and all the ones we sampled were well cooked and presented and very tasty. All the staff were very helpful and attentive too. During our visits here we fell into conversation with the daughter of the owner, who manages the restaurant and originally comes from Halifax.

The other discovery we made (on the meals front) was a newly opened Bar Bistro in Brodick called Eilean Mor. The owners Vicki McAlister and Calum McNicol (who originally ran the Eden Lodge Hotel in Whiting Bay) have taken over this establishment and serve excellent food.

Some years previously we had had a meal here when it was called Stalkers, and not to put too fine a point on it, the place was only a little bit better than a “greasy spoon” type of establishment!!

Now it is a trendy red painted bar-bistro serving a wide selection of delicious meals. I can recommend their haggis filled pasta!

We also visited the “Coffee Pot” in Whiting Bay, which serves delicious home made cakes and pastries.

“Copperwheats”, which have a restaurant in the pier buildings at Brodick have opened a café in the Duchess Court complex. We were disappointed with the food served here, which was bland. The service too was slow, particularly as we and another couple were the only people in the café.

Holidays 2009 - Isle of Arran - Part Two

On Tuesday we visited Kildonan, where you can see what looks like an upside down Christmas Pudding, but what is in fact the island of Aisla Craig – known to the locals as Paddy’s Milestone because it is reputed to be halfway between Glasgow and Belfast,

and the Isle of Pladda with its lighthouse.

Ruby went for a walk on the beach here and enjoyed chasing pebbles and seaweed.

We then drove on to Lagg, and took the Ross Road via Glen Scorrodale back to Lamlash. There are some distant views of Holy Isle and the monk’s settlement from the summit of the Ross Road.

On Wednesday we took the Northern Island tour and stopped off at Lochranza to view some of the very tame deer,

and the approaching Lochranza - Claonaig Ferry.

There is a fine ruin of a castle at Lochranza, sitting on a spit of land which juts out into Loch Ranza.

The North West side of the island is much less developed, and there are some delightful and picturesque little villages. One such village is Pirnmill, so named because in days not too long ago, this village supplied all the pirns for the mills in the Borders region. There is a tea room called the Lighthouse, and adjoining the building is the Post Office and village stores.

On Thursday we paid a visit to Brodick Castle and gardens. The gardens are known throughout the gardening world for their rhododendrons, and the variety of flowers and plants which grow there.

Whilst we were visiting Robin and Ann, who we used to stay with when we first visited Arran, we saw a lone seal hauled out on a rock in front of their bungalow.

Our last full day on Arran (Friday) we spent buying presents for the family, and revisiting one of our favourite spots – the village of Corrie.

On Saturday morning we waved goodbye to a resting seagull sat on one of the picnic tables on the sea front at Brodick,

and boarded the "Caledonian Isles" Car Ferry to head for Waren mill - two miles north of Bamburgh in Northumberland.