North-East History Tour

Yes, plural. For there are two of them, within yards of each other, in fact, just off the A1 near Swarland in Northumberland. But they take...

  This small island, one mile east of Amble off the Northumberland coast, has an eventful history for such a tiny wee place. It is now an RS...

   Well, if you’re a Burnley fan, anyway. The chap in question being one John Angus, a ‘one-club man’ who spent his entire professional care...

One of the most famous – and curious – of beauty spots in the whole of the North-East is the hermitage hewn into the sandstone bank of the ...

During the eighteen month period from April 1173 to September 1174, King Henry II of England, Normandy and Anjou, spent most of his time fen...

The wind in question being the storm of Christmas Day 1806 – the defining moment in the history of this Northumbrian village. If most of th...

In Narrowgate, Alnwick, sits a whitewashed public house called Ye Olde Cross (NU185134). You can’t miss it. And when you find it, take a l...

We’ve all wondered, haven’t we? Every time it pops up in another film – Alnwick Castle, that is. I mean, just how many films has this place...

I can’t possibly leave the subject of the life of the 1st Duke of Northumberland without claiming a neat little piece of glory for the regi...

The previous blog entry concerned a Northumbrian beauty spot which held a special place in the hearts of the 1st Duke and Duchess of Northum...

© Copyright Ian Paterson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence This curious construction sits upon Ratcheugh Crag, ab...

In 1940, at the height of the German bombing raids during World War II, land was requisitioned from a local farmer by the War Department and...

Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, is famous for (a) being the architect of the Great Reform Act of 1832, (b) a blend of tea, and (c) having a thumping...

Craster (and Seahouses, for that matter) is famous for its kippers – herring (or salmon) fish cured by splitting open, salting, and drying i...

One stormy winter’s night as the skeleton of Dunstanburgh laboured through another of its strenuous battles against the wicked Northumbrian ...

William Thomas Stead (above) is generally regarded as the father of modern journalism – and, many say, of all its ills. He wrote widely, pro...

Among the rocky protuberances in and around Embleton Bay lies a famous lump of sandstone known as ‘The Vanishing Rock’. As the tides come a...

Many of you will have noticed large man-made, cave-like structures dotted around the British countryside, and perhaps even be aware that the...

When the tourist visits Bamburgh, Grace Darling is never far from their mind. I cannot believe that there is anyone reading this who isn’t a...

As you will no doubt know, St.Cuthbert spent a good deal of his time as a hermit living on Inner Farne. As he was somewhat in demand for one...