Hexham Market, Bouchon Bistrot and Kielder Water

The East end to Hexham Abbey

Tuesday 07.06.11

It was a grey leaden sky but we decided to go to Hexham for market day but mainly for lunch (linda had promised me a lunch at Bouchon as a belated birthday present.

The market is a pale shadow of its former self, but very few real food stalls, but there was one selling game and fish so I bought some rabbit, deer and pigeon for my sister (she does make the best game pies that I have ever tasted), I had a nice chat with the stall owner

The artisans wares, not only did he have fresh and frozen game and fish, but he and his wife produced all manner of lovely grum. A man well worth supporting

He lamented that he couldn’t get real wild, Wild boar, that the farmed stuff didn’t have the wild boar taste of that from mainland Europe (I have heard this from various members of the hunting fraternity, they say that the true wild boar taste is being bred out due to them being fed on corn, maize and beats. They don’t get to forage for roots, nuts and carrion like they do in the wild. May be the escapees from the farms will start to take on the real game flavour.



The Abbey surround showing the Anglo-saxon remains



We went to the Abbey, to the moot hall and the jail, we then made our way down to Bouchon for lunch.

The double gate to the Abbey garden as you walk downGilesgate to Bouchon Bistrot

The Bouchon Bistrot

Te place you get put in if you get sent down, it is the oldest purpose built lock up in the UK

We had wanted to go there for lunch at Christmas but had arrived too late, this time we arrive well before time and had to wait in the rain, some you just can never win!! But it was well worth the wait, the service is prompt and courteous, suggesting the specials of the day, plenty of free water (not drinking as I was driving).

Linda ordered the Salmon Tartar  with a light vinaigrette dressing, some salad leaves and capers. She said it was perfect, full of flavor and a nice light tasty starter.

I had a wonderful tasty roasted tomato soup witha rocket pistou, full of flavour and plenty of crusty homemade rolls to dunk!

Mains,

Linda picked the crispy pork belly, creamy mash and braised Savoy cabbage.

Again she said it was perfect, pork had crispy crackling and mouth melting meat, the mash was luxurious, creamy and soft.

I had crispy fried cod on a bed of Puy lentils, I being a hog noticed chips fried in duck fat as an accompanyment, a portion of these went along very well and they where fantastic as was the rest of the meal, the cod had a nice crispy skin and was succulent, lentils perfect. I couldn't fault any of the meal and Linda echoed that sentiment.



This





plus this





Gives you this - a fantastic meal



Well done Bouchon Bistrot, worth another visit when next in Hexham.

After lunch, though I felt like a sleep we set off in the direction of Kieder Forest and Kielder Water, Kielder Water was made by damming the catchment of the North Tyne, this was done back in the 1970s and the surrounding area has had a chance to mature. We headed up towards Kielder itself stopping off at various spots including the dam. Just before you get to Kielder village there is a nature trail that leads you to a bird hide at a side arm od the main lake.

We spent a good hour in the dry, watching the aquatic bird life and taking pictures. It is a very secluded spot and I would have loved to have taken a bit more time there.

There was a solitary cormorant (phalacrocorax carbo) that was preening itself on the rocks, it then went for a swim, done a couple of dives and then got out of the water and stood drying its wings in the rain????

On the path to the hide is a secluded biotrope, on the way back I took the time to go out on one of the wooden pontoons, the reeds where full of bird song, Warblers ( I don't know if they where reed or grasshopper) and of course the the Chaffinch



A chaffinch (Fringilla Coelebs) on the pontoon rail

I took another detour on the way back to the car park and one of the feeder streams was also full of bird life dippers,tits, swallows and pied wagtails. The only photo of note was another Chaffinch singing its little heart out

We headed back the way we came stopping at the dam, the pure sereninity and the anglers? Well nothing stops an angler does it!!!! 

We headed for home via Bellingham, Otterburn (stopping to visit the mill) then across country to Morpeth via Mitford (the birth place and still the family home of the Mitford family, Nancy and Unity, etc). It was then down A1 and A19 back to Sis in time for tea. (we always managed that ;-))

Woodhorn Queen Elizabeth ll country park and Seaton Sluice

Monday 06.06.11

I had decided to go to Woodhorn to do a bit of family research, what I had not reckoned on was it not being open. So as it was a nice morning I had a walk through the country park that has been built on the site of the old pit heaps and pit yards. They have done a fantastic job and it is wonderful to wander through the woodlands and around the lake. Loads of bird and other wild life both visable and hidden away behind the trees and bushes.
The lake is full of bird life and as well as containing fish it has been seeded with fresh water mussels and these have now become quite productive.

After leaving the park I set off in the direction of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, this had been one of the

places of Sunday school trips back in the 50s, it was connected to the Newcastle-coast railway line by a branch and a steam-train ran along this about 6 times a day, alas Mr Beeching took that piece of N.E. engineering from us. But even the politicians cannot take away my memories. We would be catered for by the kind ladies of the Church. It was always a nice treat, our mothers and the local ladies would put on a smashing spreads, sandwiches (egg and tomato, spam, jam, corned beef) and cakes, chocolate, Victoria sponge, date and walnut loaf.



A young pair looking out to sea





a sea dog thought he would give me a paw



We would play on the beach, pick winkles and just make a general nuisance of ourselves. If it rained (and it often did) we would be herded into the Church hall and be entertained with all manner of board games by our Sunday school teachers. It was great, good clean fun and we didn't go around breaking windows or painting graffiti on walls, we didn't dare.



The place where the first cross North S communification took placeea





that says it all





the cobles getting ready for the season



I then traveled down the coast through the port of Blyth (I used to go fishing from this small port back in the 60s and 70s, plenty of Saith, Codling, Plaice and even the odd Sea trout and Salmon when running.

The Seaton Sluice harbour entrance tothe left and cut to the right

The cut

From there along the coast road to Seaton Sluice, this was an old coaling port built by the Delaval family as they didn't like paying the fees on the Tyne and the near by Blyth. They cut a new entry into the mouth of the small river the Seaton Burn, this was back in the mid 70s, that is the 1770s. There was also glass made  in Seaton Sluice and exported from here the raw products sand for the silica and lime kilns used the shells. Alas the gut is now falling into evermore disrepair, the reminants are  slowly but surely decaying and being washed out to sea, such a pity as it could be a nice tourist attraction (it does have 3 nice pubs surrounding the harbour).



The remains to the seaward side



The reamins of the inner gate to the cut




The turning mechanism for the now demolished swing bridge















I think it a great pity that part of the NEs heratige has been allowed to fall into such a desolate condition, I know many years ago a project was in hand to repair and save the cut and its mechanical parts,but it looks as if this has fallen by the wayside.

Sunday - A trip to the Quayside and along the Waal

Sunday 05.06.11



The German Bratwurst stand

 Sunday wasn't such a nice day, but we had decided to pay the Newcastle Quayside a visit. This is a centuries old market, by the look of some of the goods and wares they had been there since its conception. It is no longer a the market of yesterday with the selling of carpets, quilts and your wallet! it has turned into a bit of Farmers, local produce market, with a bit of T-shirt, framed photographs and electrical goods thrown in.

They even had a stall selling Neon Cupcakes!!!!!

They even had a stall selling good old German Bratties, tut-tut, I ask you :-(. I think they had even imported them just for us, why, oh! why, do they insist on calling them Bratwurst sausages!!! It is like calling them bratsausage, sausages.

We had crossed the Tyne via the Millennium, bridge, what a wonderful sight one gets of the bridges crossing the river Tyne from this position.



<>

the old



The new



and the Keep



The 5 bridges



The Baltic Mill



Well worth a visit (but not this time) is the Baltic Mill gallery and event centre, I visited this a couple of years back with my daughter and it was very good and had some nice pieces of art on display and has a café on the top with great view op and down the Tyne if you’re willing to pay the somewhat expensive prices.



This was once said to be the only pub that it doesn't rain on in Newcastle, it was our local after an evening at the Speedway (Newcastle Diamonds), they have now turned it into a  cocktail bar



It had started to rain (who said so what’s new in Newcastle) and as it was getting onto midday we decided on a spot of lunch, we walked under the old swing bridge and saw that Weatherspoons had opened a gastro pub in one of the renovated warehouses, they had called this appropriately The Quayside.

We took a seat on the mezzanine level, I suppose when it had been used as a warehouse, it would have had many more, as these where built to a common system and I remember them well from 45 years ago while serving my apprenticeship a little lower down Tyne in North Shields.

Now gastro pubs a much derided by some, but I find that whilst not at the upper end of fine dining the Weatherspoon chain certainly serve fine homely food at very reasonable prices, well made, good portions and tasty.

The frontside of the Quayside, the open shutter is the Mezzanine floor



And the backside of the Quayside



I had the steak and kidney pudding, it is offered with chips but I wanted mashed potatoes, this was no problem, it also comes with garden peas or mushy peas (doesn’t almost all meals in the UK) and loads of extra gravy. It was very tasty with “pieces” of beef in it and had and the kidney was visible (lots of mass produced puds and pies come in an encased uniform slurry and have no texture, I like to taste and see what is in them, that is pieces of steak and kidney

Leaving Newcastle along the New (ish) A69 to Hexham for no other reason than it is such a pretty town nestling on the South Bank of the Tyne. We left the A6 to follow the B6318, this is the line of the original Military road and is the route I knew as the only one that crossed the country from East to West and went as straight as a die for many miles. It also follows the route of the Vallum, this was a fortification that predates the wall and was a ditch dug into the peat and the spoil was heaped up behind making a higher protective mound, this was in all probability topped with wooden stake palisade.  We decided that we would visit Housesteads that last bastion of the Roman Empire. I enjoy visiting the wall, when at school it was one of my favorite subjects as it was real history we would visit it many times during the year and so it was an actual visual/hands on experience. Later I was to start my rock climbing in this part of the area (what is now the Northumbrian National Park) at 14 we cut our teeth on the Wanney crags not far from the wall, these are also part of the great Winsill fault that cuts across England from the North sea to the  Solway Firth. The builders of the Wall used these high rocky outcrops to add height (in some places like Steel Crags a great amount) to an already impressive border protection. Though the weather was wet and windy we enjoyed the hour or so that we stayed, it made one think what the legions from in the most warmer sunnier climes ever wanted to protect, it is a desolate and barren part of the country but it has its own haunting beauty and for me it will always be home. We then went to Steel crag car park to take in the most famous (and photographed) view along the wall.

Leaving the car park we retraced our steps (well wheels) before turning North  visited a few of the outlying hamlets and townships that I had last visited while hiking and camping in this area in my youth as a boy scout. Wark, Wall, Bellingham have not changed a lot they are still sleepy townships built with the millstone grit in all probability nicked from the disused Roman fortifications.

It was then back to Sis for a spot of Tea before going out for an evening’s entertainment at the Miners social club (though the miners are now all retired or otherwise employed that frequent it, there is still the warmth and well being when you enters portals). The mainstay of the club these days is the women folk of the village, in the days of the collieries, women where only allowed into the concert room on a weekend, this was when they had Bingo, a turn (comedian, group or band) or a dance on. This has now changed and the women are now full members and are even putting themselves up for the committee, my dad will be turning in his grave!