Northumberland has two speeds. It’s just that neither rises much above walking pace, which suits it fine. As a child growing up here, that could be frustrating; as an adult returning after years away, it’s everything I wanted.
Inland, you’ll find heather-clad fells, Roman relics and sweeping valleys. To the east, a craggy AONB coastline crumbles to soft, pillowy dunes and pretty fishing villages, as Holy Island looms out of the mist, straight from a JMW Turner painting and still one of the most elegantly desolate places on Earth.
History this far north is writ in thick chunks of stone. It wasn’t just the Romans who were busy – Hadrian’s Wall spans 117km of Northumberland hills, cols, forts and, now, microbreweries – there are some 70 castles here, too, in…
