Weekend Trip to Northumberland

A small portion of the beach in the evening when the tide was in

Hello everyone! One of the perks of being a member of the English Heritage is that I have an excuse to travel around the country and visit many historic sites for free. On the 19th - 22nd of June 2015, my mum, my dad and I went to Northumberland to visit our 70th castle yet. 

The Friday was spent travelling up to Northumberland as it is fairly far from where I live. For this trip, we were staying in a caravan/motor home, and we had a sea view which was very relaxing and comforting to look at every morning and evening.

We spent the Saturday at Alnwick Gardens. This was my favourite day of the trip because I love Alnwick so much. As soon as you enter, you are greeted by a MASSIVE water fountain (shown in the image to the side). During this visit to Alnwick Gardens, we looked around their Poison Garden (where we got to look at plants which could kill you), the Cherry Tree Trial, the Ornamental Garden, the Water Fountain Exhibit and the Rose Garden. This was a beautiful day and there were multiple weddings going on. The weather was beautiful on this day and I had a truly magical time. Alnwick garden is a place I'd love to get married at one day. 

Alnwick Fountain

Alnwick Fountain 2.0

On Saturday evening, my parents and I went to the clubhouse to have a few drinks. However, on this evening, I had more than a 'few' drinks and ended up coming back to the caravan tipsy and in such a state that I had to drink over 5 glasses of water to prevent myself having a hangover the next morning. At least I'm actually behaving like an 18-year-old now!

On the Sunday, we went to Walkworth Castle & Hermitage and Brinkburn Priory & Manor. Walkworth castle was so lovely and very big. We also visited the Hermitage, which was where the Lord of the castle built a cave into the cliffs to create a small, isolated hideaway for himself - this is where the term 'hermit' comes from. To get to the hermitage, we had to take a rowing boat across the river, which was such a tranquil moment.

Walkworth Castle

View of Walkworth Castle from the Hermitage

After that, we then went to Brinkburn Priory & Manor. I was amazed at how the priory was still complete and was not in ruins, and I was surprised at how it is still not currently used today. Again, this would've been a lovely spot for a wedding. The manor was also really lovely, however it was super spooky being in there alone because it was dark and looked like the kind of thing out of a horror movie!

Brinkburn Priory & Manor

On the Monday, which was the day we travelled back home, we stopped off for a day trip to Belsay Castle, Hall & Gardens. The Belsay estate was a truly wonderful experience and the legendary quarry garden was really beautiful. However, we walked so much on this day that my legs are still aching now because we decided to go on the woodland walk through the Rhododendron forest. Rhododendron's are very important in my family as we have a Rhododendron bush in my garden which has been there since before my mother was born. Our Rhododendron's are purple, therefore seeing this forest with blues and yellows and pinks and reds was incredible! I couldn't believe how beautiful nature is, and it definitely made me appreciate my Rhododendron bush a lot more!

Rhododendron forest at Belsay Castle, Hall & Gardens

And then we arrived back home again. I had such a wonderful trip away and I'm really glad I get to go on adventures like this! This trip to Northumberland made me appreciate the beauty of nature and historic sites, and was definitely the break I needed after exams!

Thank you for reading this blog post. Make sure to leave requests if you'd like to see me post anything specific in the future, I will most probably do them. Follow me to keep updated on my blog. I hope you have a wonderful day, and let me know of any trips you've been on recently! Thank you so much for reading and I'll be back soon with another, and more relevant to you, blog post.

-bunnydiver.