Excellent few days in Northumberland and North Yorkshire. Good to revisit Corbridge, Hexham etc. after many, many years away. Also got to the very picturesque village of Blanchland, which I never managed to visit when living in Sunderland all those years ago. Lovely Abbey, and the famous Lord Crewe Arms, visited by W. H. Auden Philip Larkin, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears amongst others. It is dated to 1165 and was used as a hiding hole by monks of the Abbey for centuries.
You forget how beautiful it is up there (although clearly the unusually mild and sunny weather was a factor). Incidentally, a film crew was all over Blanchland when we visited – apparently fiming WolfBlood, a series to be shown on CBBC, hopefully later this year, so watch this space.
Lincoln on the way back – just time for a quick sprint round the old town, up Steep Hill and the Castle and the Cathedral.