Northumberland has some of the best stargazing locations and events in the UK. As an internationally designated Dark Sky Park since 2013 with “pristine skies”, Northumberland National Park and Kielder Water & Observatory are perfect for stargazers, both enthusiasts and beginners. The Dark Sky Park stretches over five-hundred square miles, making it the largest protected dark sky area in Europe. There has been some incredible photos of the night skies, including the stunning aurora borealis (Northern Lights) taken in Northumberland, and whilst I haven’t been lucky enough to see the Northern Lights myself yet, just looking at the photos is awe inspiring.
There are many options for how to experience Northumberland’s Dark Skies, with lots of venues offering dark skies experiences or stargazing events. One of these is the Twice Brewed pub, just up the road from the Hideaway Huts, that now has it’s own observatory (with large aperture telescopes), planetarium, and regularly hosts astronomy evenings with experts. The Planetarium hosts shows regularly throughout the Autumn and Winter, with various shows scheduled specifically for children, with extra around school holidays. You can find out more about the Planetarium and the astronomy events here.
The Twice Brewed Inn is in partnership with Kielder Observatory; located on the edge of the Kielder Water and Forest.
‘Say goodbye to summer constellations and hello to winter favourites like the Pleiades, Taurus, and Orion, which brings the spectacular Orionid meteor shower later in the month. For telescope users, the Ghost Nebula and the Swimming Alligator Cluster are October highlights. Plus, catch Saturn and Jupiter rising as the nights grow longer.’ – Kielder Observatory Website
Image from Kielder Observatory about which constellations are visible in winter.
Staying at the Hideaway Huts is the only time in the UK I’ve been able to see the colours of the Milky Way when lying out in the middle of the night, looking up at the sky. The only other place I’ve ever been able to do that is in rural Australia! Whilst this does say something about the amount of light pollution we have around us at all times, it is nice to know that there are still places in the UK where you can get away from the incessant light that ruins the night sky, and find places that are truly dark. I said in a previous article that it is wonderful to stop and look at the stars, and it’s amazing that there are now more formal events to explore the solar system and beyond, for people of all levels of interest and knowledge in astronomy.
I’ll be doing another article later in the year (hopefully) after a night skies experience. Of course, this will be dependent on the weather (can’t do much if it’s cloudy!), but fingers crossed that the event will be able to go ahead.
So my birthday has come and gone, and I am now 32, heading off into another year-long journey around the sun. I decided to celebrate that I’d do a list of thirty-two places I’d like to visit in the North, or things that I would like to experience or do. This is not a list of things I’m going to do in the next year, as a sort of checklist, some of these are pie-in-the-sky dream places I want to go, whilst others are more attainable and I have concrete ideas and plans to actually do. So, that being said here’s my list of things I’d like to do in the North, just to illustrate how many things there are to do, and how amazing this region is!
Go to a Dark Skies event in Northumberland
Parts of Northumberland are an International Dark Sky Park, and it is one of the best places in the UK to see all that the night sky have to offer. I’ll be doing a longer article in October about the Dark Skies experience in November, and how the Hideaway Huts could be the perfect bolthole to have a Dark Skies experience, so stay tuned for that!
Do a Ghost Tour in York
I did a ghost tour in York many many years ago, probably when I was about nine, and I remember it scaring the beejeezus out of me then… I suspect it might be a little less terrifying these days, but the stories and historical insights that come with a ghost tour are still fascinating. As York is a city steeped in history, from Pre-Roman, Roman, Viking, Medieval, Georgian, and into the 20th century, there are plenty of ghouls and ghosties hiding around the corners to be learned about. Perfect for spooky season!
Make sure you go with a reputable company in order to get the best value for money. I would recommend the Original Ghost Tour who have been doing tours through the streets of York for over fifty years!
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See Red Squirrels in Northumberland or Cumbria
I’ve spoken about this a few times, but seeing red squirrels in the wild is one of the top things I really want to do. I’ve seen red squirrels abroad, and I’ve seen them in protected wildlife sanctuaries, but never seen them in the small enclaves in the north where they are bouncing back. Can’t wait until the moment I first see one in the wild, it’ll be magical!
Stay at Rothay Manor, Ambleside
I have to admit, I have a bit of a vested/personal interest in this one. Both my nana and my mum worked at Rothay Manor, many moons ago, in the 1980s. I remember going to Rothay for my nana’s 70th birthday lunch and it being very lovely, but I was a bit young to really take it all in. My nana has since passed away, so I would love to take a trip down memory lane and go back to the hotel where both she and my mum worked.
Go and see the Lancaster Footlights Pantomime!
It’s coming towards that time of year again, when Christmas Pantomimes are putting on their spectacular shows! I was lucky enough to be cast in the Lancaster Footlights Panto last year, but sadly missed out this year. Nevertheless, I will be enthusiastically cheering them on from the side-lines (or the wings!) because it is a fantastic show and I know it’s going to be blummin’ amazing. This year Footlights Presents Snow White, doing an array of shows across late November and throughout December. A good friend of mine, Annie Hughes, is taking on the title role, and with a voice like an angel I know she’ll smash it. Tickets will sell out, so if you want to go and see this great production, I strongly suggest you get in early!
Ride the Railway from Lancaster to Carlisle via Millom
The quickest way (when it’s working properly) to go from Lancaster to Carlisle is straight up the West Coast Main Line, but if you’ve got a little bit more time, the ride around the coast via Arnside and Millom is a beautifully scenic ride. I mean, the ride up the main line is quite pretty as well, but riding along the coast and up past the Solway Firth is seriously beautiful, but it’s definitely not the quickest way to get from A to B – definitely one for the day you’ve got more time to ride.
Try Archery at Muncaster Castle Weapons Hall
Do you have what it takes to be a Medieval Knight? With a regular ticket to Muncaster you can go along to the Weapons Hall and “have a go” with a limited number of arrows/axes, but if you’d like to give it more of an in-depth go, you can upgrade to an unlimited ticket so you can get more tries. I’m pretty sure that I’d be terrible at this, but I think it’d be a lot of fun to have a go!
Go to the top of Blackpool Tower
On a nice day, the view from the top of Blackpool Tower stretches for miles and miles, as far as the Borders one way, and the Welsh Mountains in the other direction. I went up to the top of the tower once at night, so you could see all the illuminations stretching away down the front, but it would be nice to go up on a clear day and see how far the horizon stretches.
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So there you have it – seven out of thirty two of things I’d like to do – we’re up to nineteen out of the thirty two – stay tuned for the final thirteen! This is going to be a bit of a long series I guess, but there are just so many things to do around the North and if I did them all in one go (or even in three articles) it would end up being so long you’d never reach the end! If you had to pick three places to go in the North, where would it be? What should be on my list? I guarantee there will be places you love that I won’t even know about, so drop me a comment below or an email at bryony@thenorthishlass.co.uk and let me know what I should feature!
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