Post It from Old Hartley CC site, Northumberland, England. Monday 21st October, 2013.

We drove down the A1 to Alnwick  where parts of the Harry Potter films  were shot in the Castle. The last time I was here was with our son when we had five days away after he had done his A Levels and we toured around in the MX5 from a pub on the top of the Pennines. That seems an eternity away now. I remember the coastline up to Craster and beyond was a great place to visit, but not in Bessie.

We had chosen to visit Cragside House near Rothbury, a NT property that was the first house in the world to have electric lighting from hydroelectricity. We took the B3641 from Alnwick which took us up high over the open moors with views right across to the Cheviot Hills in the distance. The house was built around 150 years ago by Lord and Lady Armstrong on a rocky crag high above Debdon Burn and they then made this beautiful landscaped oasis for their gardens. He was an engineer and built two man-made lakes to feed his hydroelectricity plant. The house was fantastic in every way and well worth the visit and we wished we had more time to view the vast gardens.

We arrived at the Caravan Club member’s only site at Old Hartley late in the afternoon to be greeted by Cath. I think she was the first Warden on this tour to actually ask us how our journey had been that day, which I thought was a nice touch. The site is sloping and grassed right on the top of the cliffs with rows of paving stones as a hard standing pitches but you do have to cross a small area of grass to get onto the pavers. There were lots of pitches to choose from and we selected one with a view directly out over the sea to the lighthouse on St Mary’s Island, the shipping at anchor off the River Tyne and Whitley Bay. What could be more beautiful for an ex sailor? 34 years ago Sharon had sailed with me on a ship carrying coal of all things to Jarrow, on the Tyne and Blyth just north of the camp site.

We had a short rain shower a bit later which resulted in not one but two rainbows appearing and I quickly shot out to get photographs of the one which crossed by the lighthouse. The next morning I was up early and saw fantastic views of the golden sky glowing from the sun hiding below the horizon silhouetting the shipping at anchor and the lighthouse.

As we were only here for the one full day we had already planned our visit to Seaton DeLaval Hall, a NT property built in 1723, which was 2 miles away from the camp site. The weather forecast was for heavy rain from 1100 onwards so instead of cycling there we opted for walking, with our umbrellas, along the muddy cliff top path to Seaton Sluice and then the roadside footpaths all the way to the hall.

The hall was built by a single man, Admiral John DeLaval, who died before it was completed after falling from a horse. The family married into the Astley family from Norfolk. John Astley was King Henry VI champion and held the honour of being a Knight of the Garter in the 1100’s and the family later had the title Lord Hastings. They made their money in the mid 1700’s mining coal and making glass bottles. The house suffered a fire to the main hall and became neglected and unoccupied. The last Lord and Lady Hastings actually returned to the hall and lived there from 1985 until their deaths in 2007. The house was finally sold to the NT to pay death duties and the main hall was now being renovated to a safe standard whilst the old servant’s wing where the last occupants had lived was furnished as it had been at the time of their occupation. Some interesting aspects were tapestry covered furniture telling the story of the John Astley’s rise to becoming a Knight of the Garter.

We escaped the really heavy rains walking back to Old Hartley and spent the latter part of the afternoon sea gazing watching the waves pounding over the rocks on St Mary’s Island. Had we been here longer we could have cycled on the tarmacked paths leading both north and south from the camp site entrance or visited Newcastle on the bus which stopped only a short walk away. Otherwise there was not a lot in Old Hartley/Seaton Sluice itself, it had a small supermarket, post office, at least 5 pubs all serving food and a fish & chip shop cum restaurant. 

Unfortunately, once again, I could not get access to the internet from the camp site so this story will have to wait until we get to York where hopefully we shall be luckier. Thanks to Steve, the Warden for his repeated attempts to contact AirAngel for me to try and sort out the problem.

Regards, Roy