Northumberland – Page 2 – Jane Hunt Writer

More from Northumberland #Inspiration

Posted on July 2, 2016July 2, 2016 by jolliffe01

Now I’m back from my holiday in Northumberland. I have a few more memories to share with you. The weather was less than perfect but we still managed to get on the beach with our dogs. In the evening the open fire kept us lovely and warm.

I really do love this part of England, the coastline is rugged and wild and the castles are imposing and full of memories of years gone by.

I particularly enjoyed staying at Letterbox Cottage , West Burton which used to be a farm worker’s cottage. Originally it was only one storey with three rooms but another level was added in 1942.

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There was a lovely walled garden, which the dogs loved and lots of wild birds came to visit. Wagtails and Jackdaws, both favourites of mine, were frequent visitors.

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The windows had views of Bamburgh castle and lots of fields with horses, cows and sheep. It was beautifully rural and lovely to see animals in the fields as they should be.

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#Loving # Northumberland

Loving Northumberland – #Inspiration

Posted on June 28, 2016June 27, 2016 by jolliffe01

Northumberland: sun,sea and sand.

Jazz and Oby are loving it.

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I plan to get lots of writing done. On the beach, perhaps?

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Kitchen window view at 5 am.

Wild countryside and rugged coastline. What could be better?

Northumberland,the perfect place for …

Inspiration and relaxation.

Book Review, New Books

4* Review: The Cosy Tea shop in the Castle- Caroline Roberts

Posted on March 3, 2016 by jolliffe01

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When Ellie Hall lands her dream job running the little teashop in the beautiful but crumbling Claverham Castle, it’s the perfect escape from her humdrum job in the city. Life is definitely on the rise as Ellie replaces spreadsheets for scones, and continues her Nanna’s brilliant baking legacy.

When Lord Henry, the stick-in-the-mud owner, threatens to burst her baking bubble with his old-fashioned ways, Ellie wonders if she might have bitten off more than she can chew. But cupcake by cupcake she wins the locals over, including teashop stalwart, Doris, and Ellie’s showstopping bakes look set to go down in castle history!

Now all that’s missing in Ellie’s life is a slice of romance – can Joe, the brooding estate manager, be the one to put the cherry on the top of Ellie’s dream?

The storyline for this book really appealed to me; I love Northumberland and my guilty secret is that I would love to run my own teashop. So it was easy to understand Ellie’s dreams and aspirations for the teashop in the castle. Ellie’s enthusiasm, courage to try something new and to stick at it, even when there are problems makes her easy to like, you want her to succeed.
Joe’s affable exterior hides a multitude of secrets.
The teashop is a lovely setting and I would have liked to have got to know more about the ‘regular’s that visited it.
The romance between Ellie and Joe is lovely, with lots of easy to relate to funny moments. There is plenty of heat, perhaps a little too much for such a gentle storyline?
This is a nice cosy read for a cold winter’s afternoon.
I received a copy of this book from Harper Impulse via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Cosy Teashop in the Castle by Caroline Roberts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Caroline Roberts

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The Perfect Holiday Cottage

Posted on July 12, 2014July 11, 2014 by jolliffe01

Back garden view of our retreat in Northumberlan — Back garden view of our retreat in Northumberland

If you have been following my blog posts this week you will know I visited Northumberland. Now that I am back home again I want to share some thoughts and photographs of the lovely holiday cottage which was the base for our Northumberland holiday. Intended purely for couples and their dogs it was small but well designed with everything we needed for our stay.

Living and kitchen area

Raised bedroom area with a view out to the field at the bottom of the garden - Lovely. — Raised bedroom area with a view out to the field at the bottom of the garden – Lovely.

Even though this cottage is close to the A1 and easy to get to, it is so quiet and secluded.The perfect place to get away from it all with a ring side seat of all the wildlife. There were hares, rabbits, pheasants and at night time, bats easily seen from the garden and lots of wild song birds. We even had a visit from an Arctic Tern looking for breakfast.

DSCN0944 — Cheeky Sparrow

I would love to wake up to this view every morning.

View from back garden across open fields.

My only regret was I couldn’t try our the log burner but alas it was just too warm. 🙂

Lovely log burner

After a wonderful holiday its time to leave ‘the good life’ behind (that comment will be lost on anyone not old enough to remember the 70s sitcom)

DSCN0723 (2) — The neighbour’s chicks run free just over the fence.

Fresh vegetables anyone?

Back home again I’m looking forward to finishing my third book The Dangerous Gift.

Look out for more excerpts, news on The Revenge Masquerade and lots of book reviews.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Other Side of Dunstanburgh Castle – Dunstan Steads

Posted on July 11, 2014July 11, 2014 by jolliffe01

Dunstan Steads Beach from Dunstanburgh Castle

So yesterday afternoon we decided to visit the beach we could see from the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle and it was so worth it. It was a mixture of sand and rocks and bordered by sand dunes and crashing waves – lovely.

Sand Dunes

DSCN1042 — Waves on the rocky beach below Dunstanburgh Castle

A quick picnic on the beach overlooking at Newton just below Newton Point.

View from beach close to Newton.

Then we walked back on the track by the sand dunes. A lovely walk which is dotted with wild flowers and Unusual beach huts. I would love to hide away in this one – the perfect writing cave with a view of the beach and sea.

The perfect writing hideaway?

Beach side with a sea view... — Beach side with a sea view…

With a wild flower garden.

The last part of the walk is along the edge of the golf course. No one would mind putting their ball in the water here.

Has anyone seen my ball?

A scream disturbed the silence of the golf course. Not the start of a thriller but me tripping over a stone and plummeting down the grassy bank. Thankfully Jazz and Vince caught me and I escaped with a bruised back. Undefeated I carried on and saw how great Dunstanburgh Castle looks from the golf course at the side of the beach.

Dunstanburgh Castle from Dunstan Steads

Another great walk with lots to see on quiet, dog friendly beaches I’m really going to miss this.

Spectacular Ruin On Rugged Coast – Dunstanburgh Castle

Posted on July 10, 2014 by jolliffe01

DSCN0970 — Approaching Dunstanburgh Castle

Yesterday we visited a ruined castle at Craster. It was the most spectacular yet. I thought Lindisfarne was amazing built on a volcanic rock on an island but Dunstanburgh castle is a spectacular ruin on a breathtaking stretch of the Northumberland coast.

Alongside the walk to the castle

The photographs speak for themselves although in real life the waves crashing against the rocks is even better.

The view from the walk to the castle.

You do have to pass close by to sheep and cows so you will need to keep your dogs under close control but they are clearly used to visitors and ignored us which suited me.

Jazz and Oby were well behaved. — Jazz and Oby were well-behaved.

The ruined castle has some interesting features including these windows.

There is also a double height tower.

Double Height Tower

Today is our last full day here in Northumberland and I will be sad to leave the beautiful coast and countryside and the friendly locals. Today we are off to explore the beach we saw from the castle yesterday.

From from the castle gorunds towards Craster Harbour — From from the castle grounds towards Craster Harbour

Amid the ruined castle — Dunstanburgh Castle

Jazz and Oby On Holiday

Posted on July 9, 2014 by jolliffe01

DSCN0857 — Jazz

DSCN0849 — Oby

It’s no secret that I love my dogs. Jazz and Oby are my constant companions when writing. Vince and I both love the countryside and walking,so it makes perfect sense to take the dogs on holiday with us. Oby has been part of the family for just over ten months and this is his first holiday with us.

Bamburgh Castle

Yesterday it was raining in the morning so we all chilled. I secretly think Jazz and Oby were glad of the extra rest since they have been having lots of exercise. The sun made a dazzling appearance in the late afternoon so we took the dogs, now bouncy and raring to go to Beadnell beach. We passed Bamburgh castle on the way and I couldn’t resist taking a few more photographs from the roadside.

Bamburgh Castle

Beadnell has a lovely beach surrounding Beadnell bay which is very popular with surfers. Notably it has the only west facing harbour on the east coast of England.

DSCN0835 — Beadnell Beach

It is bordered with sand dunes where lots of pretty flowers manage to grow despite the harsh conditions.

Flowers on Beadnell Bay

I like this beach because at this time of the year it isn’t overcrowded and there is plenty of space for the dogs to run and play.

Sand Dunes on Beadnell Bay

As you can see from the pictures Jazz and Oby seem to be having a great time. 🙂

Jazz on the beach

Jazz and Oby paddling in the sea

Oby playing ball

Jazz in pursuit

Come and play Oby

Dogs having fun

Jazz in action

Race you... — Race you…

Summer Holiday #2- Castles and Islands

Posted on July 8, 2014 by jolliffe01

After a lazy morning reading and blogging we decided to explore Holy Island and Lindisfarne castle which is close to Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Lindisfarne is a castle on an island which is only accessible at low tide along a causeway. We arrived at about three in the afternoon and I must confess I was a little apprehensive about driving across the causeway. There is something awe-inspiring about driving or walking for that matter on land which the sea claims as its own. When we arrived at the huge car park there was an electronic screen displaying the tide tables and I breathed a sigh of relief; low tide lasted until 21.30 plenty of time for Vince, the dogs and I to explore.

Holy Island although quaint and with lots of pretty gardens was a little commercial for my tastes. Food stalls , gift shops and lots of tea shops and restaurants predominate . However once you leave the village behind there is a spectacular view of Lindisfarne castle and the surrounding countryside.

Lindisfarne castle is owned by the National Trust. Sited on a volcanic mound Beblowe Craig it was built in the 16th century to protect the island’s harbour. Stones from the demolished priory following Henry Vlll’s dissolution of monasteries were used in its construction.

Lindisfarne was redesigned in the early 1900s by architect Edwin Lutyens for the founder of Country Life Edward Hudson. He used the Edwardian country house as a retreat.

Today it is open to the public and used for weddings. A wedding party was just leaving when we arrived. As we had the dogs we didn’t want to go inside which was fortunate as it is usually closed on Mondays. 🙂

There were some beautiful flowers growing up the side of the castle which made it look spectacular. I think these are a type of marsh orchid.

Bamburgh castle which we visited on Sunday is visible across the bay and proves the point that Northumberland is a county of castles.

I managed to get this distant shot just before it rained.

Summer Holiday #1 New Friends,Castles and Walks on the Beach

Posted on July 7, 2014 by jolliffe01

Last Friday saw me madly packing for our trip to one of my favourite parts of the UK Northumberland which is England’s most northerly county. In the past holidays have always been family affairs but this time it’s just Vince and me. We are having a fabulous time staying in a lovely cottage close to Bamburgh which even has its own supply of vegetables.

When we arrived we found these lovely cows at the bottom of the garden. There were lots of calves who were fascinated with us. They made the view from our cottage even better.

There were also hens and lots of wild songbirds including this cheeky Pied Wagtail.

Yesterday we walked along the beach from Bamburgh castle past the Black Rock Lighthouse to Budle Bay. Oby really enjoyed himself and even did a spot of rock climbing.

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