A house on a hill

We have arrived back in Northumberland. A current English county that was once a Scottish earldom, a kingdom before that, and before that it used to be two kingdoms; Bernicia and Deiria. It has had a very complicated history. It is though, a most wonderful place.

We’ve visited quite a few times. It is somewhere you cannot fail to be impressed by. Historically fascinating, the landscape is both emotive and dramatic. It also contains one decent road, from which everything seems to be accessed from by car. Once you leave the A1 you journey on classic rural A roads/B roads which wind through some of the most stunning scenery in this country. Every day is a rally drive if you don’t use the A1!

As I’ve said we’ve visited a few times now, but this time we have visited two places that we’d not covered before; Cragside and Berwick upon Tweed.

Cragside is built onto the side of a crag (No, I am not sure how they decided the name of the house either!) A house that has grown glacially out of the stone surrounded by a protective wall of woodland. Virtually invisible from prying eyes. Yet, once seen I doubt it could be forgotten. It is an exceptional building. It is a testament to the great wealth that Victorian industrialists could generate on the back of the technological advances. In this case, hydraulic power.

It’s a house given to the nation in lieu of death duties. When I die, in lieu of death duties I might have to provide a spoon at most. Here, the family decided between Cragside or Bamburgh Castle. I think deciding between baked beans on toast and spaghetti on toast as a Thursday meal is classed as one of life’s hardest decisions. I imagine this one must have been almost, but not quite comparable!

It was certainly worth joining the National Trust for. The ascend to the height of middle class existence continues at a pace. From the humble beginnings of being members of English Heritage last year we have moved to a group where their properties still have most of their roofs. Luxury indeed! And yet, still the ubiquitous gift shop seems to have just swapped names. Indeed. Both the National Trust and English Heritage must be responsible for 94% of this country’s supply of Preserves, tea towels and Calligraphy sets.

Although more expensive than family membership of English Heritage. I again presume it is related to the fact that the NT have roofs to look after! This is more than acceptable. We generated over £500 in entrance fees last year with EH. We’ll have to monitor the NT membership as we need about £70 to break even after which everything else is a bonus!