Touring Northumberland
Hi All, we are planning a tour around Northumberland area early September in our 7 meter motorhome and would like some advice on visiting sites of Hadrian's Wall. Having never being in that part of our country, I was wondering if it was easy to visit and
park the tourist areas in a van of this length. Also any recommendations on sites to stop over would be appreciated.
Comments
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pretty sure the car parks are big enough at all the attractions and on the wall road itself. Depending on overhang of your MH be carefull of bottoming out as there are a couple of severe dip's on the wall road. There is a hrit stop at a brewery just off
the wall cant remember the name but that was excellent.0 -
We "did" Hadrian's Wall last year, staying at Nunnykirk. A motorhome will enable you to select sites at differing points along the wall with more ease.
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It might be worth joining the National Trust and/or English Heritage (if you haven't already) to save on admission fees as most of the site are run by them.
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Might be worth a look as a couple o fpubs close to the wall on here
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Hi DrP, and welcome to the Club. Northumberland is lovely and rather easy in a MH. We did the whole of the Wall, and the coast as well last year, right up to Berwick. We used a mix of CLs, small private sites and Nunnykirk on our trips, some with loo and shower, but mainly used our own facilities. Our MH is a bit smaller than yours, but we had no parking issues, with a bit of care, and all the Wall sites have easy car parks. Would recommend you join NT and EH as someone else stated, you will save a lot of money if you intend visiting places like Housesteads, Chesters etc..... If you have time, consider the Northumberland Coast. Stunning, with some of the best castles in England. For a nice CL close to the Wall, look up the one at Gilsland. We stayed three times last year, great for walking and some of good parts of Wall like Steel Rigg, Sycamore Gap etc.... Let me know if you want any more sites?
edit: CL is called Whitlees, look under Haltwhistle in CL search.
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As has already been mentioned, do try and make it to the coast. Stunning beaches. Bamburgh Castle. The Farne Islands. Holy Island.
Plenty of good sites there, not least the C&CC one at Beadnell.
Also Kielder is worth a visit, especially if you're into hiking / biking. But beware of midges (it isn't only Scotland that gets them :-)
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Hadrian's Wall is OK - but it's down south & practically in Durham....
As has been suggested, get yourself to the real Northumberland further north!!
Amble (take a boat across to Coquet Island), Alnwick, Warkworth, Alnmouth, Boulmer, Craster & Dunstanburgh, Beadnell, Low Newton By The Sea, Seahouses (take a boat across to the Farne Islands), Bamburgh, Holy Island (Lindisfarne), Budle Bay
Oh, and Kielder!
I'm sure I've still missed some.......
Cheers
Bugs
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....Cocklawburn Beach......
Wall was handy for keeping out rampaging savages at one point! There are some interesting places across in Cumbria as well. Lanercost Priory, for example.
Fabulous Roman Fort at South Shields as well, in middle of a housing estate! (Lock your valuables up well!)
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100%with you Bugs, home sweet home eh? I would add, Rothbury and the fabulous National Trust property Cragside. Also Wallington near Morpeth and Ingram Valley. Can highly recommend the CC site River Breamish. You will undoubtedly love MY Northumberland.
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Hadrian's Wall is OK - but it's down south & practically in Durham....
Since when! The last time I looked it was firmly in Northumberland and Cumbria.Fabulous Roman Fort at South Shields as well, in middle of a housing estate! (Lock your valuables up well!)
I think this is a bit much, and I suppose South Yorkshire is the perfect place to live!Sorry for the rant, but I object to statements that imply that the North East is rough and ready. We have some of the most beautiful scenery in the country and some of the most friendly residents.
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Hey, Ian, where's your sense of humour?
Didn't you see the
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IBH, apologies if you have taken offence. You do indeed live in possibly one of the three loveliest counties in England, and certainly one of my favourites! Gorgeous place, full of history and wonderful scenery. My post was tongue in cheek, as I had taken
Bug's post to be, hence the smilies! Although South Shields is just a little bit too much like some of the places in South Yorkshire not to lock up the MH! Everywhere
has the odd problem, and that Roman Fort suffered a good bit of vandalism, according to local staff! Hope we are friends again, as we are up there later in year!0 -
I do have a sense of humour, but when someone is asking about an area they want to visit it is not helpful to put derogatory statements. I don't see the relevance of making tongue in cheek comments when a member is seeking advice.
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Ok Ian. I have done a bit of digging, and can see how I touched a raw nerve, accidentally I hasten to add. I had no previous knowledge of some of the comments regarding South Shields that are available online, and certainly do not support them. We were pleasantly
surprised when we drove through and down the coast, some lovely scenery and lots of heritage. I was actually only giving the advice for any potential visitors that we had when we visited the fort, Arberia, namely to lock valuables out of sight, and this is
common sense when visiting lots of places. It isn't derogatory, merely a good idea, and was passed onto us by staff in the Fort. We had a great visit, no problems, would go again if in the area. Hence my recommend to others. Hope this has clarified things.0 -
That's fine TTDA.
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I do have a sense of humour, but when someone is asking about an area they want to visit it is not helpful to put derogatory statements. I don't see the relevance of making tongue in cheek comments when a member is seeking advice.
I'm sure the OP will have realised the comments weren't serious, Ian. The use of smileys makes it clear to everyone.
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Oh, and Kielder!
Just be aware of the midges, they're as bad here as they are on the Scottish West Coast.
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I would second Cragside. Saw a red squirrel there last year as a bonus.
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Hi, it seems the members prefer the area of 'proper' Northumberland rather than Hadrins wall area. Whilst I agree totally, indeed we recently bought a holiday cottage in Seahouses after looking all over the country for an area that suits us. But please visti
Hadrians wall its spectacular! We worked as warden for a season on Herding Hill Farm (which I would highly recommend and only 15 mins walk from a milecastle) and the whole ares is lovely. There is tons to do and plenty of prety villages to see. Also the area
is a designated dark sky region so the night sky is something to behold. Another major benefit is that the traffic is so getting around is easy. Wherever you go enjoy!0 -
If you bank with Barclays EH sites entrance is free.
Any particular account needed?
Yes KjellNN, you have to be a Premier account holder who has a gross income of £75000 per year or have £100K in savings with Barclays. Excludes me then, lol.
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Thanks Guys we have loads of things to consider now, looking forward to visiting the coast area which was always a must do. I only asked about the wall because of the parking issues, as looking online and google earth etc the car parks look very small. Thanks
again, hope to post a few things about our trip on our return.0 -
You won't have any problems with MH at Housesteads, Chesters, Vindolanda and up at Steel Rigg, which are the best places to see Wall and its finds. Some of the other places are a tad smaller. Corbridge Roman Town is an excellent visit, Corbridge itself is
nice as well! Enjoy!0 -
Be jnteres to see how you get on as we ar about to pick up an American class b at 9.45 meters and my wife is from that area and we are hoping to go that way in early part of next year
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We stayed at River Breamish last week to do the same thing as OP, admittedly caravan not MH. Great place for ease of access to everything we needed, from Birdoswald through to Chesters on the wall, Holy Island and Dunstanburgh as well as a trip to see rellies
at Galashiels. the A697 which the site sits near is brilliant for a north/south travel route and lets you hop off to the more scenic "diagonals"
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