Hang on to your hats..........2

Monday - right oft we jolly well go .....Wallington house and gardens a NT property were first on our list basically because I was assured that the ladies there would sort out a glitch with our NT membership that so far endless phonecalls and letters had failed to do. Sorted within 7 minutes ...VERY impressed indeed!

Wallington is quite an austere property from the front but that is just a facade for the beautiful interior, walls of china and pictures and the NT collection of dolls houses...so beautiful ...there's just something about a dolls house isn't there? I still have mine and all the furniture and all the little covers and curtains my mother painstakingly made. The rooms were just beautiful and we spent an age taking it all in. Then it was out into the bright sunshine (BRIGHT SUNSHINE note!) The signs took us through the grounds and across the main road to the pool and tucked away was a beautiful walled garden, conservatory and owl house. I understand from Withy that the garden was severely damaged when the pool overflowed but someone has certainly worked hard because there was no evidence of any mishap.

It was well after 7pm when we dragged ourselves away and headed back for the A1, however forever the intrepid explorers, we headed straight out to the coastal route and found Ashington, Woodhorn and Amble. Pit heads, open cast mining, aluminium smelters and the longest lines of terraced houses I have ever seen. We were told later that this was where the Charlton brothers were brought up. In a chip shop in Amble I read a storyboard about the Northumbrian fishermen's traditional boat the 'coble' - it was fascinating. We sat on the harbour wall and ate fish and chips with some new found friends - about 30 black headed sea gulls. By the time we had finished the shepherd had got one to take chips from his fingers much to the amusement of some local lads. (couldn't understand a word they said )....smiling and nodding inanely we left them with the sea gulls. The sun (yes THE SUN at 9pm ish) was turning everything rosy and as we admired a great patchwork of allotments the men leaning on their forks acknowledged us . Their faces etched with the lines of sheer grit, determination and hard work were softened in the pink light and a faint blue plume of cigarette smoke hung above them.

Tuesday dawned sunny (AGAIN) and we decided to stay relatively local in the Alnwick gardens...We thought 'yeah right - gardens - couple of hours perhaps then the castle?' WRONG .we were there all day! These are the spectacular 21st Century gardens, the brainchild of the Duchess of Northumberland, designed by Jaques and Peter Wirtz, Belgian garden designers of some standing. OK, I know that eyebrows have been raised at the overall cost, and if I lived in the area I might just raise one myself, but we were there as visitors and enjoyed and appreciated every minute of it. The laws of physics and chemistry came alive in the Serpentine garden of water sculptures .....kids get wet, very wet, then the water feature that takes centre stage changes its programmes with fountains suddenly appearing where there were none and ....adults get wet.....very wet!

The massive formation of hornbeams over giant frames provided shadey rooms from the midday sun and my son suddenly took an interest in photography. Most photos from here on are his! (spit!) A fleet of little John Deere tractors are there for the children to play on and ...get this...you can sit on the grass, walk on it, do a couple of handstands ...whatever. We queued for a tour of the closed poison garden - fascinating folk lore mixed with fact...I was transfixed - but then he always said there was a touch of the witch about me - something to do with being able to smell snow......and a slug invasion - but we wont go into that!

we found the tree house - not that you could actually miss it being one of the largest such constructions in the world, built from Canadian cedar ...take a bow Pondside! There are rope bridges connecting the various levels and I am not good with moving, unstable structures. Just about to take a deep breath and launch myself forward a class 1 brat of a child started shaking and bouncing the whole thing right behind me. I turned and froze him with one of my best 'death looks' much to the amusement of my family on the other side waiting for me .....I expect the brat is still there rooted to the spot ...it was after all one of my best!