Northumberland Walking-Nat. Park

Bronze Age Burial Mounds, Rock Carvings, Iron Age Hillfort

Oct 5, 2007

Northumberland National Park- wild heather, Cathy Smith

Northumberland National Park is England's northernmost national park. It contains pre-historic buildings and carvings and is a good area for walking - good fishing too.

Northumberland is one of the most historic parts of the UK. It has more ancient castles than any other English county, dating from the 14th-16th century, and also has a beautiful national park which covers 398 square miles of some of the emptiest parts of Britain.

England - Northumberland - Lordenshows - a walk through pre-history

Prehistoric monuments and Roman remains are just a part of the park’s ten thousand year history and for anyone interested in ancient times a big attraction is Lordenshaws - a hillfort settlement built at least two and a half thousand years ago. It is surrounded.by the Cheviot Hills, bordering on Scotland, to Hadrians Wall to the south - built by the Romans in the 2nd century AD.

At Lordenshaws you will find huge slabs of stone covered in strange carvings: circles and half-circles, and cup-marks - circular depressions ground into the stone. So far, there is no explanation for them. Records of ownership or boundaries, maps of the stars, places where fat was lit for religious purposes, are all suggestions re their origins. But nobody really knows. Fascinating.

The hillfort is close to an area set aside for parking and the climb to the fort is easy.

The park is also a great place for hiking. There are trails to follow that have been used for hundreds of years and in the summer when the hills are covered with purple heather it would be hard to find a more beautiful spot.

England - Northumberland - Explore Rothbury

Rothbury is a picturesque market town and is an ideal place from which to explore the central part of the Northumberland National Park. Another big attraction here is fishing. There’s a delightful traditional game tackle shop in the village (more info) which probably stocks everything you will need. The rivers are home to salmon, trout and sea trout. And the owner, Dennis, is a font of knowledge where fishing is concerned.

Next door to ‘Fishers’ is the ‘Red Grouse Gallery’, an unusual little shop which is worth a browse. Officially a taxidermist, the owner, Ralph, also has an unusual selection of animal skeletons, all that remains of wild creatures from the region, ranging from delicate little mice through to foxes and hares. Local people bring animals to him which are victims of cars hitting them. He gives them a sort of posterity by turning them into delicate skeletons. Surprisingly, they are quite beautiful and make unusual gifts. Kids love them.

This northern part of Northumberland is a particularly unspoilt, unexplored part of the UK. In 2006 the county was noted the most tranquil region in England. Check it out. It’s true.

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