Tantallon House on Hadrian’s Wall

About 10 minutes walk from our B&B is the Irthing Gorge. This is a great place for a walk in amongst the woods with the River Irthing running through the area.

One of the places to visit on the walk is Popping Stones. Local legend has it that Sir Walter Scott proposed to his future wife on the prominent rocks that lie beside the river and and it has been known ever since as Popping Stones. There are 2 stones which sit side by side which are rounded, well worn and bear signs of work by modem masons. Reshaping did take place around 1870 according to the historical records (thanks to Will Higgs here). It is a wonderful place to sit and watch the river and wildlife. Visiting today, the route was muddy, but it does dry out significantly in the summer. The river water was flowing out from a tributary half way up the gorge cliff. (reminiscent of Scotland here) and I have also seen a heron flying though.

The area is administered by the woodland trust and the whole Gorge is protected.

We just managed to catch the last opening of the Roman Army Museum before the winter closure. This is a great place to visit because it is an excellent introduction to life on the Hadrian’s Wall frontier. It overlooks a fantastic view of the Northumberland National Park with Wall Town Crags just next door. It’s sited on the intersection of the Pennine Way and Hadrian’s Wall, with Staingate Way passing just below it.Inside the Museum, which is right next to the Roman fort, there is superb film shown called Following the Eagle, which is probably the highlight of the whole visit as it guides you virtually around the site. There are also good displays about the life of Roman Auxiliaries and their families as well as about the weapons used which are also particularly interesting. There is a good children’s activity book sold together with numerous other guides and gifts in the shop. The Museum is well worth a visit and will reopen again in the spring.Information on opening times and prices can be found on the tourist board website.

With the population of red squirrels falling massively, we try to suppor them by following the guidelines set out by Save Our Squirrels, an organisation set up by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust. They are mainly found in areas of Scotland, Northern England and Western Wales, and some of our neighbours have been lucky enough to spot them around our village, which perhaps isn’t so surprising as our accommodation is located right on the edge of the Northumberland National Park.

We have feeders set up in our garden with nuts and occasionally apples and other fruits. We hope to see some ourselves one day!