Tantallon House on Hadrian’s Wall

We have seen (not the first time) deer in and around the local area. I saw a mother deer and baby this morning just crossing the road about 100 yards down from our B&B. They were using the Red Beck as a route up to the forest. The baby was somewhat scared of me and Rufus (our dog on a lead) but they were only about 10 yards away from us.

Deer are often seen in the field opposite us and in the forest area around us. Great to see them. (for the record this isnt my photo, it is taken from wikipedia!)

A spectacular event, the Northumberland Lights Festival, was held in the old quarry of Walltown Crags a few days ago.  This is a beautiful area for walking and is on the line of Hadians Wall.  The Victorians extensively excavated the area and there is now a dramatic formation of crags which formed the backdrop for the show.

The show commenced with a walk from the entrance up.  We passed strange eerily lit  sculptures until we arrived in the central part of the quarry.  There we stood with many others listening to the intro music while we waited for the main show to commence. - The lighting, of all sorts of colours and shapes were projected onto the craggy rocks, Majestic fireworks ricoched around the quarry as they exploded in amazing lights over us, the fire works were to the front of us and behind us, seeming to respond to each display, ,at one stage, what appeared to be blazing braziers were swung around the heads of brave volunteers hugging the cliffs, electronic music accompanied the display and all the fireworks, music and lights were synchronised to good effect.

We would recommend going to next years show organised by Northumberland National Park, especially as its very close to our bed and breakfast - about 3 miles away.  You can walk or cycle but there are buses from local destinations serving the site and all timed to ensure the scheduled train and bus services can be caught by the show goers.

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.