The Probus Club of Surbiton – TRIP TO NORTHUMBRIA 2008
Thursday 4th September to Monday 8th September 2008.
Continuing the club’s program of activities of two long weekends away and various days out in the year, a contingent of 42 travellers ventured north to Newcastle. The party included members, wives, partners and friends, the itinerary being arranged by Alan Neale, Treasurer/Social Events Secretary, in conjunction with Bowens Group Travel.
The OrganiserOur coach left Tolworth at 7.30 Thursday morning for the 320 mile drive to our hotel on the outskirts of Newcastle and the start of our 5 day, 4 night late summer/early autumn break. A convivial crowd, a new and extremely comfortable coach, a friendly and experienced driver meant that everything was set for an enjoyable long weekend. The one ingredient necessary to make it an outstanding trip was sadly missing. The sunny weather! Indeed the weather during the holiday proved to be so bad that the experience, ability and knowledge of our driver, Paul were to prove an integral part in the enjoyment of what was to come and the reason that we all returned home safely.
Chairman and friends braving the weather
One would consider that a coach trip of 320 miles in sporadic rain would be a boring affair. Far from it as thanks to a lunch break in Newark, a most interesting town with ruined castle and lively market, and two further comfort breaks we arrived at the Village Hotel, Newcastle reasonably fresh. The hotel was newly built and situated at the edge of a park and near to housing estate much of which was still being built. The rooms were very comfortable and the food was very reasonable. There was an extensive fitness suite with a large swimming pool and a couple in the party took full advantage of its availability. Others felt that a stroll around the hotel and sitting in a chair by the bar was exercise enough.
On Friday we were driven to Alnwick Castle and Gardens where we were to spend the day (Water feature shown left). The gardens are described in the brochure as ‘the most exciting contemporary garden on earth’ and indeed are well worth a visit and are excellent. They even had a ‘Poison Garden’ which were only accessible by guided tour. Our tour guide was most entertaining and much was learnt about the plants and their uses. Amongst the plants we came upon bare patches were he explained that the plants had been so poisonous they had killed themselves. However this may have been poetic or rather botanic licence on his part. For those in the party who had not succumbed to the call of the cafeteria on arrival were able to spend two hours with only a slight amount of rain visiting the fountains, rose garden, the ornamental garden (with 16,500 European plants) and many other attractions. The rain then became much heavier and most of us, sheltering under our umbrellas, made the short walk to the castle knowing that much of what we wished to see would be under cover. The castle was built as a medieval fortress in the 1300’s and has been the home of the Percy family for 700 years and is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. Recent claim to fame was that the exterior was used in the Harry Potter movie which may explain why it was the ‘best large visitor attraction of the year’ in the ‘Enjoy England Awards 2007’. Again it was extremely impressive, in amazing condition and well worth the visit Returning to the cafeteria at the gardens to await the departure of our coach we were lucky enough to be entertained by ‘Pluck’, a comedy string trio of violin, viola and cello who played a number of popular classical pieces interspersed with humour and audience participation. One of our members gave a very tolerable rendition of a popular operatic piece, however it is very doubtful that he would be asked to repeat this at our monthly luncheons or be allowed back in the cafeteria.
Pat Tumber at Alnwick Castle and Gardens
The forecast for Saturday was heavy rain with a severe weather warning for the Newcastle area. This did not bode well as the trip today was to the North Pennines for a trip on the South Tynedale Railway (left) after which we were to visit Hadrian's Wall. The drive to Alston Station was reasonable as the rain was not too heavy but as there had been rain all night there was a lot of surface water which our coach was able to easily sail through. Sail being the right word for what was to come. We stopped for a short visit to a craft centre and Paul phoned Alston Station to check on the situation with the railway. He was informed that parts of the line were flooded and that no trains would be running, this is where he certainly proved his worth as he was aware that there was a museum in a garage opposite the station and he arranged to have this opened for our arrival. The remainder of the ride to Alston was in torrential rain and the sight of the water pouring from the hills into the rivers was impressive to say the least. It was also quite worrying as there were a number of small villages near the heavily swollen rivers. The museum, although small, was interesting with a number of classic cars, motorbikes, bicycles, early electrical appliances and many other items.
After coffee and a cake in the buffet at the station and signing the petition to save the station toilet which the local authority wanted to close, our coach drove to Chester’s Roman Fort at Hadrian's Wall. The rain by this time was even heavier and the surface water was very worrying, indeed when we arrived at the Information Centre at the Fort the car park was partly flooded. Staff informed us that the site was closed for safety reasons due to the weather but those who wished could visit the museum of artefacts found at the site. Our return to the hotel was via Hexham unfortunately after which the main road to Newcastle was closed due to flooding and our route became rather complicated but expertly negotiated by Paul. Headlines on the local news that evening highlighted the plight of residents in Morpeth where the high street had been flooded to a depth of 7 feet. We had driven through Morpeth on the way back to our hotel the previous day.
On Sunday morning our coach took us to the centre of Newcastle where we walked across the famous Millennium ‘Winking Eye’ Bridge to visit the Sunday Quayside Market.
We then travelled to Beamish, the famous living museum, which was to be the jewel in the crown of our trip and was reached after a photo opportunity at the ‘Angel of the North’. The latter was fairly fleeting, as up to that point the rain had stopped but started again just as we stepped down from the coach. Luckily the rain had stopped as we arrived at Beamish and for the rest of the day it was only intermittent. This was extremely lucky as the museum is spread over a large area and the exhibits are reached by tram or bus (open topped!) The visit was excellent and the 3 ½ hours spent there went far too quickly. Our return to the hotel was via Andrews House to visit Tanfield Railway run by enthusiastic volunteers and is the oldest working railway in Britain. The evening meal this evening was preceded by a cocktail party and we dined separately from the other hotel guests.
Beamish Tram
The famous Millennium ‘Winking Eye’ Bridge
Monday, we started our return to Tolworth calling at Durham for a conducted tour of the cathedral, very worth a visit. Leaving Durham after lunch we were faced with a drive of 282 miles. However with two comfort stops and a very smooth ride it did not take too long and we arrived at 8.50pm, only 5 minutes later than we were informed in our itinerary. The organisers and our driver Paul are to be congratulated for another excellent trip and I am sure all those who participated are looking forward to the next.
John Balcomb
Photographs with thanks to John Rowe
