Northumberland Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Northumberland is a rural county in North East England, on the England-Scotland border. It contains one of the most picturesque and untouched stretches of coastline in the United Kingdom and contains rolling hills and low mountains in the sparsely populated interior. Northumberland feels a world away from London and the south of England in terms of its ruggedness, sense of remoteness, its culture and its geography. It has a distinctly more Scottish feel to it than English and at its closest point is a mere 45 minutes from the Scottish capital.

Most of Northumberland's settlements are in the lowland strip between the coast and the A1, with the main railway line snaking through. The southern parts are the least interesting, with former mining and industrial small towns that are nowadays in the commuter belt for Newcastle.

• 55.082-1.5851 Cramlington is a commuter town.
• 55.126-1.5142 Blyth is an industrial port but has a beach.
• 55.181-1.5683 Ashington is post-industrial but has a beach strip at Newbiggin.
• 55.1675-1.6908334 Morpeth is where you escape the suburbs and reach open country.
• 55.3306-1.57835 Amble is a small fishing village.
• 55.4134-1.706916 Alnwick has a fine castle and charming old town centre.
• 55.388-1.6157 Alnmouth is a former fishing village near Alnwick.

The best of the coast is the rugged, scenic stretch north of Alnwick to the Scottish border.

• 55.583-1.6558 Seahouses (straggling into Beadnell) is the main village on this stretch.
• 55.622-1.6281 Farne Islands are busy with seabirds and curious seals.
• 55.68-1.80252 Lindisfarne or "Holy Island" is reached by road at low tide. Its stylish castle was made-over by Lutyens.
• 55.769167-2.00259 Berwick-upon-Tweed, the most northerly town in England, has stout defensive walls.

Two miles north of Berwick the road and railway cross into Scotland, over the moors to Dunbar and Edinburgh.

A lowland route, with the A69 and a railway, breaks through the hills to link Newcastle with Carlisle in Cumbria.

• 54.961-1.84910 Prudhoe is at the edge of the industrial belt, then the view improves.
• 54.975-2.01711 Corbridge is a pleasant market town with a Roman fort.
• 54.966667-2.112 Hexham is similar, with an ancient priory.
• 54.97-2.45813 Haltwhistle is the last village before crossing into Cumbria.

Hadrian's Wall runs coast-to-coast, but the best sections are along the ridge north of Hexham to Haltwhistle.

The south fork of the River Tyne has a scenic valley, part of North Pennines AONB.

• 55.478-2.1523 The Cheviot is the summit of the hills along the border with Scotland, with the Pennine Way traversing their crest.
• 55.316667-2.2166674 Northumberland National Park takes in the Cheviot Hills and Kielder Forest Park.

Two main routes access the area. The lowland route A697 runs north from Morpeth past Rothbury, Wooller, Ford and Etal to Cornhill. The upland route A696 / A68 runs past Newcastle Airport to Otterburn, to cross the border at Carter Bar and descend to Jedburgh and Edinburgh.

• 55.544-2.01514 Wooler is a small historic town, useful as a base for exploring the Cheviot Hills or visiting Chillingham Castle.
• 55.632-2.0815 Ford and Etal are scenic villages.
• 55.657-2.22816 Cornhill-on-Tweed is where the road crosses to Coldstream in Scotland, running on to Edinburgh.
• 55.145-2.25417 Bellingham is a good base for Kielder Forest.

England's most northern and sparsely populated county, Northumberland is a remnant of the ancient kingdom of Northumbria which once covered an area stretching from Edinburgh to Sheffield and the river Mersey.

The area has a very long and bloody history due to its proximity to Scotland and has fallen into Scottish hands at least once as the border has shifted over time. The more populous towns are either market towns (Amble, Hexham, Morpeth) or former mining communities (Prudhoe, Ashington).

Northumberland has its own dialect, different from the famous Geordie of Newcastle.

The Northumbrian Pipes are a local folk instrument, similar to the Scottish bagpipe.

Ethnically Northumberland is overwhelmingly white and British. While racism against ethnic minorities is not a recorded issue, do be aware that it is very unusual to see a person of a black or Asian background in the county and that people might take a second glance.

55.038-1.691 Newcastle Airport (NCL ^IATA) is the closest, in Ponteland northwest of the city. Take the Metro to city centre for trains and buses north.

Edinburgh (EDI ^IATA) has a wider range of flights.

The London-Edinburgh main line runs up the coastal strip, with stations at Newcastle, Cramlington, Morpeth, Alnmouth (for Alnwick) and Berwick. Trains run this way from London Kings Cross and from the Midlands via Leeds and York, but you may have to change at Newcastle as most of them hurtle non-stop through the smaller stations.

The Tyne Valley line crosses east-west from Newcastle via Prudhoe, Corbridge, Hexham and Haltwhistle to Brampton and Carlisle.

You generally need a car to get about in Northumberland as it is a rural county. There are some regular bus services on the main routes mainly served by Arriva Northumbria. Bus timetables can be found at Nexus' website for services to and from Tyne and Wear and traveline can help you with other routes. There is a cross-county train service from Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, stopping at towns in the Tyne Valley, including Prudhoe, Corbridge, Hexham and Haltwhistle.

Trains from Newcastle stop at Morpeth, Northumberland's county-town. There is also, as of 2024, a reopened branch railway line serving the more urbanised south east of the county - this runs to Ashington and calls at Seaton Delaval on the way.

• Hadrian's Wall is a World Heritage Site stretching across 80 miles of Northumberland on the Scottish border. Housesteads, Vindolanda, Chesters and Corstopitum are all worth visiting.
• Norham Castle (located in the village of Norham, about 8 miles from Berwick) is a romantically ruined castle, immortalised by Turner and Sir Walter Scott (in the poem 'Marmion') alike.
• Northumberland National Park and the Cheviot hills.
• Bamburgh Castle - a large castle nestled between the ocean and the affluent and picturesque village of Bamburgh.
• Northumberland has many castles, some of which have a history of hauntings, such as Chillingham Castle. Other castles, like Warkworth Castle, are preserved ruins and visitors can wander through the stone rooms, imagining bustling castle life.

• Cricket: Northumberland CCC play in the National Counties Cricket Championship, the tier formerly known as "Minor Counties" below the first class competitions. They usually play at Osborne Avenue in Jesmond, Newcastle.
• Northumberland County Show is held on the first Friday of June at Bywell Hall near Riding Mill.

Newcastle Brown Ale from the local city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

As is the case for most of Britain's rural counties, Northumberland is an extremely safe county with very low crime levels. The main problems will be in the towns of Morpeth, Alnwick and Berwick on Friday and Saturday nights when alcohol-fuelled youths spill into the town's streets. Keep your wits about you as anywhere, but you really would be an unlucky tourist if a crime was to be committed against you.

• South to Tyne and Wear, including Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland.
• West to Cumbria, including Carlisle and Lake District National Park.
• North to the Scottish Borders, across the border in Scotland.