I grew up in Northumberland. Here's why it's the UK's best-kept secret
Tracing the Scottish border and with a 64-mile coastline, the epic landscapes of Northumberland are infused with 2,000 years of chequered history. More than 70 castles and countless ruins mark millennia of stories, in this strategic land of England’s far northeast. Those wind-worn sentinels are as much a feature of the setting as the county’s cinematic nature.
It’s been five years since I moved from Britain’s most densely populated county – Greater London – back here to the least populated, where I grew up. While people from all over the world come to Northumberland, to trace the footsteps of saints on pilgrimages, walk among Roman ruins, or explore the staggering nature, I’m never fighting the hordes. The region’s sprawling scale means you’re only ever a stone’s throw from solitude. In fact, it’s highly likely you’ll get a beauty spot all to yourself.
A quarter of the county falls into Northumberland National Park, 410 square miles between Scotland and just south of Hadrian’s Wall UNESCO Site. It is home to some of England’s cleanest rivers, clearest air and the most pristine dark skies. Meanwhile, the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty brings plenty of isolation across its windswept, castle-studded stretch between Amble and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
I play a game with myself, ‘if I had one last day on Earth…’ and dream up my ideal day – in Northumberland, of course. The frontrunner is a cruise around the Farne Islands – a rocky archipelago, home to one of England’s biggest colonies of Atlantic grey seals. Those enigmatic creatures are the height of entertainment, napping with their snouts bobbing vertically above the waterline.
EXPLORE NORTHUMBERLAND WITH CL
I’d listen to the oft-told tale of lighthouse heroine Grace Darling, over a soundscape of roaring waves and nesting puffins, guillemots, Arctic terns and pterodactyl-like shags. When our catamaran docked back at Seahouses harbour, I’d have a pint at the timeless Olde Ship Inn, which heaves with seafaring paraphernalia that seems to hold a thousand tales.
Or, maybe I’d start the day with kippers at Craster, where the listed smokehouse has blessed the harbour village with a deliciously distinctive aroma for 170 years. Then, drive up to Holy Island; at this sacred, time-warped site, legends of miracles and saints echo among the abbey ruins and over St Cuthbert’s Beach.
Despite my ongoing love affair with the salty sea, it’s the inland landscapes that mark the distinctive seasons of the North East. Forever a hiker, I adore the constantly changing scenery: spring’s vivid rapeseed fields, then late-summer heather, and the low mist that sifts between the trees on the first cold days of autumn.
Many of my favourite walks showcase the way our tumultuous history has shaped the scenery. On a dangerous and lawless land, the Romans built their coast-to-coast frontier, Hadrian’s Wall, in their most famous feat of engineering. The earth across this region continues to reveal the past; the world’s only preserved Roman boxing gloves were found in 2017, at the Vindolanda site, and in 2023 a stash of Roman coins was dug up in Otterburn.
Northumberland feels like the ultimate escape from modern life. The sound of silence isn’t usually easy to find, but this county offers it in spades. Kielder Mires, which glamorously holds acclaim as England's ‘biggest area of blanket bog’, lies on the western edge of Kielder Water and Forest Park. A specific patch here was named the country’s most ‘tranquil’ spot by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
I find myself whispering when I walk with friends in Dukeshouse Wood, near Hexham. It is so hushed, to speak loudly would feel akin to shouting in a library or cathedral. The crunch of snow in winter echoes through the stillness of the redwoods and pines; it’s rare to see another soul walking there.
In Blanchland, on the edge of the Pennines, a chocolate-box village is the gateway to vast heather moorland that delivers you from the modern world. Only the occasional startled grouse or shriek from a bird of prey interrupts the silence of this wide-open setting.
This wilderness is all the more appealing because the pockets of civilisation are so inviting. When I drive cross-country, it’s heartwarming to pass through sand-coloured villages and cobbled market towns, smoke from wood fires bellowing into the biting air. I’d be lying if I said I don’t start dreaming of a hot bowl of chips in a warm pub, once I’m a few hours into those moorland walks.
North East England has a culture of strong communities and openness among strangers, a positive legacy that possibly stems from harsher times. Similarly to our Celtic neighbours, our heritage lives on through distinctive folk traditions. The Northumbrian smallpipes is more melodious than any pipe instrument I’ve heard before, and I delight in the eccentricity of clog and rapper dancing, as well as the twisted tales of border ballads.
While we may not be the English Riviera, living here develops a taste for elemental experiences. I’ve come to enjoy a battering by the North Sea (surfing in my blubbery 5mm-thick hooded wetsuit) and receiving a sand-exfoliation facial from the winds. Warmth would bring crowds and commercialism, after all.
Many a-tourist will zoom past this county on their way to Scotland, or flee to the warmer climes of the south, but those of us who live here delight in the knowledge we’re sitting on a lesser-known treasure. And I’m not just talking about Roman coins… although on my walks from now on, I might keep a closer eye on the ground.
Join Country Living on the ultimate tour of Northumberland's dark skies in March, where you'll be joined by astronomer Richard Darn.
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