History and Nature of Northumbria

Northumberland Today

Northumberland is situated in the North-East of England and is one of the most beautiful places to visit in the UK.

It is a favourite with many and it is slowly growing in popularity due it offering everything from beautiful beaches to mountain walks to historic castles, it really has something for everyone.

Kielder Water and Forest Park

Kielder Water and Forest Park is a great place for sports enthusiast, nature lovers, families, walkers, cyclists... anyone who loves being outdoors.

The scenery is breath taking, it is like stepping into another world because it is so remote, it is home to England’s largest forest and it harbours a huge man-made lake which is every water sports lover’s dream.

There are so many activities on offer here that you can easily spend an entire day in the park and, if you haven’t tired yourself out, it is worth spending sometime there after dark to experience real star-gazing which is star-gazing without the interference of light pollution.

Grace Darling Museum

Like most places in the UK, Northumberland has a lot of history behind it.

However, unlike most places, it also has its own heroine!

Grace Darling was a national hero in the mid 19th century; she lived in Longstone Lighthouse on Farne Island with her family (you can still visit the Island and the lighthouse today) and is famous for her hand in the rescue of the survivors of the ‘Forfarshire’. Grace and her father set off in rowing boats across a stormy sea to save the survivors clinging to the rocks and, even in such dreadful conditions, they saved all nine survivors.

Their heroics became known worldwide and Grace even got recognised for her efforts by Queen Victoria; she was also highly praised in a poem written about her by William Wordsworth and she also had the song ‘Amazing Grace’ written about her. She was an incredibly modest young woman and never took any royalties and, unfortunately, she died at the tender age of 27.

You can visit her graveside at St Aidan’s Church in Northumberland as well as take a trip to the Farne Islands to see where she lived and the place where she risked her life to save others. There is also a Grace Darling Museum set up by the RNLI where you can explore her life, her heroics and her untimely death.

These are just two of many different sites to explore in Northumberland; you can also venture around Alnwick Castle, that has famous links to both the War of the Roses and the Gunpowder Plot, as well as peruse its gardens which has Europe’s largest treehouse, a labyrinth and its very own poison garden. If that’s not for you, why not just head to one of Northumberland’s famous beaches and relax near the sea. This county really does offer something for everyone so make sure it is on your list of places to visit.