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The Jewel in the North
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Northumberland. The very
word conjures up a feeling of open space and wide skies. A history that spans 450 million years would be impressive
anywhere but Northumberland also has a character that is uniquely
different from any other English county. In fact it is not too bold a
statement to say that Northumberland is a country in its own right. Sandwiched between
Scotland and England Northumberland has drawn its lifeblood from both
countries and at the same time influenced them enormously. If Scotland
were to be described as red and England as yellow then Northumberland
would be classified as orange. Northumberland too has her own bagpipes
that have survived over the centuries and become a part of everyday life
and her own unique tartan plaid that speaks immediately of history and
pride. Even the accent changes slowly as it moves Northwards from the steep gorge of The River Allen to the sedately flowing Tweed. When this gradual metamorphosis from the lilt of Yorkshire to the lowland Scots brogue reaches Berwick it epitomises the nature of the county. Here the locals have an accent that is a mixture of Scottish and Northumbrian with both the football and rugby teams playing in the Scottish leagues! It is this
interlinking between her two neighbours that has more than anything
defined Northumberland today. The awful times of the border wars have
resulted in more castles and fortified houses than any other county and
introduced words such as ‘blackmail’ and ‘hotfoot’ to the
English language.
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Northumbrians are rightly proud of their county and why not? If it were not for them the trains of the world would not run on a standard gauge and the kipper would not have graced a million breakfast tables. Christianity, as we know it, owes an incredible debt to a small part time island off the coast and the landscaped grounds of Britain’s grandest stately homes would be nowhere as magnificent. Evidence of the violent past of Northumberland is never far away from your eyes and the coast is no exception with the great fortresses of Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh dominating the cliff tops. Yet move inland onto the Northern plain and there is evidence of even older human occupation with prehistoric cup and ring rock markings defying the wind and rain by still being visible after thousands of years. Within Northumberland’s borders you’ll find England’s largest reservoir situated in Britain’s largest forest. But there is no overcrowding in this one of the country’s larger counties, in fact the residential section of the phone book is less than half an inch thick! Within its pages names such as Turnbull, Dodds, Hindhaugh, Elliot, Nixon, Armstrong and Charlton still ring out as they have down the ages. Yet physically
Northumberland is a county of opposites. The green rolling, wooded hills
of the south are in contrast to the high Cheviots where the curlew and
grouse can be heard and where the wild goats still roam the hills, some
two thousand years after their ancestors escaped from the Iron Age hill
forts that dot the peaks. |
To the south east the contrast could not be greater. Here in what was the industrial heartland, mining, engineering and other heavy industries dominated the landscape and peoples lives. The legacy this industry left behind can be seen in the rows of terraced houses and now landscaped pit heaps as well as heard in the distinct twang of the locals in the former mining towns. Northumberland’s coastline is a different matter still where some of the finest beaches and best-preserved sand dunes in Europe are to be found. The small fishing harbours that are dotted along the coast all tell silent stories of the time when herring was king as do the cobles that are to be found on the beaches. Unique in their design these sturdy craft reveal their Viking ancestry in the sleek clinker built lines. If you’re a visitor to the county we would like to think you’d take something back with you, not only a memory but also a longing to return. If the blood of Northumberland flows in your veins then you’ll know this book is saying, like Northumberland herself, “Come on home, I miss you.”
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