DUKE OF EARN

The Duke of Northumberland himself is an astute (and likeable) man, who owns a variety of properties throughout Britain, such as a 9000 acre grouse moor near Lauder (the Duke is one the the UK's first XI game shots, who confesses "Half the fun of owning a grouse moor is letting other people enjoy it ..." -- however, such largesse does not extend to the people of Alnwick straying onto his Alnwick "Pastures" land ...).  He also has 3000 acres at the Albury Estate in the south of England, where he intends to build a 120' high rig to explore drilling for methane, to the fury of locals.  Indeed, an odd piece of trustee tax avoidance is alleged to have occured down there too, with the Duke and Duchess having convinced the High Court to "defer payment" of £1m inheritance + £250k pa to their eldest son, until he becomes 25.  So long as that money remains "in trust", it is non-taxable, but still eaily accessible to the family ...

Recent grants given to the Duke include £450k EU farming subsidy, plus a £9450 grant to "improve cottage" in the borders Burncastle Estate.  All this to the man who will rent Alnwick Castle out at £50k/night.

Still on the subject of Alnwick Castle, it may not be common knowledge, but the real reason that the Castle is opened to the public is that it is a condition of the Duke's tax relief !!  In exchange for not paying inheritance tax, the castle and grounds are  to be open to the public for at least 100 days per year.
For further details of this (and others !) check out:
and click on "North East" then "Alnwick Castle".

And again from the map on that site we can see how Castle and Garden businesses are intertwined: is that a strip of tax-exempted "Castle" grounds that I see that is being used for entry to the Gardens to the rear of the Playhouse ?!!!  Is that right ?


MAD-ONNA OF THE PINKS
According to what you read, this was recently sold at auction for £22m, "saved for the Nation" by Government money and Lottery grants.  In fact, the £11.5m Lottery grant could have paid for 600 newly qualified nurses.
The OTHER part of the money trail is of course that the Duke is ALSO now receiving about a further twelve million pounds worth of tax exemption.  It really makes you wonder if these people ever do actually pay ANY tax !
So ... he gets £22m cash, and an extra £12 million or so "credit" from the Inland Revenue.
And ... a leading American arts profesor has now announced that he believes that the painting IS a fake after all (something I suggested on this site  a while back).

This is not the first time that this Duke of Northumberland has done this with a work of art.
In 1995, faced with an inheritance tax bill, he proposed selling the "Sherborne Missal", an illustrated medieval religious tome which had been out on loan to the British Museum for many years, and was worth about £15m.
Sotheby's valued the book, then brokered a deal wth the Government whereby the Inland Revenue agreed to waive £9.4m, and in addition the Duke received £6m cash (£4.2m Lottery money, plus £1.4m raised by the British Museum).
So ... (again) ... the book stayed where it was (in a distant museum), the Duke had his tax bill written off, and got £6m for it !
Amazing !!
The new Alnwick Chat Forum (for all chat) is at:  http://pub161.ezboard.com/balnwickchat
Thanks for reading this far !
This site WILL be updated regularly -- if you have any queries about the site, or indeed about marvellous Alnwick in general, contact me at   
settlov@hotmail.com
THE ALNWICK GARDEN


For some time now, the persistent rumour doing the rounds has been that the sale of various pieces of the Duke's art had been to bail out the Duchess's Garden Scheme, which although supposedly pulling in record crowds, is increasingly looking like a money pit. (The much-improved Alnwick Gardens website is at http://www.alnwickgarden.com)

A year or so back, the running of the Alnwick Garden was handed over to a more "at-arm's-length" charity head, which is doublespeak for describing the Gardens as a financial liability.  (Yet, although the Garden is now no longer under control of the Percy family, the Garden Trust expires after 30 years, at which point the land reverts to Ducal ownership; after over 42 million pounds worth of charitable grants and donations have invested it with massive value...).

The head of the Gardens Trust now is Dr John Bridge, a man of extensive experience in working in Government-sponsored quangos for "redeveloping the North-East".  Perhaps Dr Bridge would like to tell us about his dismal track- record with Corus, or Black & Decker.  Or indeed, ANY of his "successes" ... Interesting that Dr Bridge left his post as Chairman of One North East and took up the new post as head of the Garden Trust, not long after the Duchess revealed to sources that One North East had just handed the Trust £16m ...

His familiarity with Endeavour SCH plc (a notorious PFI plunderer) is an odd choice to help with the profitable running of the Gardens ... already we have seen staff asked to leave early during the Spring (to save on wages), the Head Gardener leave, the bright young girl Lisa B, (who effectively held the Visitor Staff together at minimal cost) leave, and at least one of the upper echelons of the Garden's PR staff leave.  All replaced, with various degrees of success, but one has to ask why ?  Well, strong suggestions had already been expressed that Chris G. (the initial Head Gardener) and his wife had left because they were disillusioned at how the floral vision of transformation of the Garden had become one of grass cutting and similar menial maintenance. Visit the Garden any time before May and after September and there is a
distinct lack of flowers !!!

The oddest aspect to the whole Alnwick Castle/Alnwick Garden situation had been that although we were constantly assured that the Garden was a completely different charity, the visitor in the past was able to buy a joint ticket that also allowed access to the Garden AND Castle. It seems that the Inland Revenue has at last woken up to this anomaly and insisted that the two establishments are finacially isolated -- joint tickets are no longer issued (although such an arrangement COULD have continued !!! -- It would hardly be beyond a schoolkid's ability to figure out a method of dividing monies between the two businesses ...).
Anyway, grumblings have been heard that the Castle was allegedly raking off a large slice of the Garden money (for example, is there another similar castle establishment in the North of England that has built a "Knights' School", the "Under Siege" section, a brand new shop, a brand new cafe, and a brand new hi-tech entrance foyer for visitors ? Plus new work on a new entrance to the Castle "Sanctuary" restaurant and wine bar off Bow Alley (which MUST be of concern to local victuallers surely !).
Perhaps somebody might want to have a look at the structural failure to the stone arch leading into the section where the old carriages are usually displayed ...  Now THAT is something at some money should be spent on.  Soon.

The Garden itself tried to bluff various financial contributors into dishing out grants on the grounds that the Garden needed more money to finish the Pavilion and Visitor Centre.  However, after several months of Polish construction workers lying idle, work continued afresh, and the new Alnwick Garden is the result -- an incredibly clever commercial site.  Let me explain: say for example a visitor arrives down Denwick Lane (out of town), finds their way into the Garden site, then they NEED NOT enter the "Garden" proper to spend money.  The new Garden is accessed through a single doorway in the surrounding wall, into an environment more cramped than before.  Certainly within the Garden is a cafe, but the two new main shops are outside the Garden wall and one does not need a ticket to spend money there.  Or in the other cafe beside them.  This is hardly what Alnwick Council and local traders thought would happen when they envisaged visitors to the town ; effectively, Alnwick Garden is operating several businesses: the Garden, plus the two shops and one cafe outside it !!  Smart !
A big minus though is in the fact that the Garden ticket no longer allows access to the extra grassed areas where young and noisy families could decamp to -- these will be crammed into the distinctly condensed walled area.
One wonders if the Garden has the grace to apologise to Friends of the Garden season ticket holders for charging them the full amount for one type of ticket, and then drastically reducing the access allowed by that ticket, with no compensation at all. One of those grassed areas IS in "Garden" territory, but has still been barred to the ticket-holding public.

There is as yet no footbridge over Denwick Lane from the ever-spawning car parks, but the very odd suggestion recently that this road be made into the main entry route for Alnwick would almost certainly lead to a brand new County Council-supplied footbridge (free) for the Garden ... Certainly many locals were wryly amused that the one new road crossing in the town happened to be ... for people crossing to the Garden.  Residents of the tow can hardly cross the busy road to the doctors' surgeries or hospital, but thank goodness there's a County Council crossing for tourists to get into the Garden !!

I would suggest that if visitors are really interested in gardens then they examine another successfully-run public garden in this part of Britain : check out Kailzie near Peebles, the 17-acre garden complex run by the Duchess's mother (or is it step-mother ?).

Finally, a simple example of Garden "hospitality" : The New Year "do" at the Treehouse was an absolute embarassment: although the food was very good there was NO hosting at all, nor any "Old Year Night/New Year's Eve" atmosphere, and in fact at the midnight bells it was a guest who had to get up and go around shaking peoples' hands. Awful.
BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN BRITAIN ... ?

The magazine "Country Life" decided in 2002, after much deliberation, that Alnwick is easily the best place in Britain to live.  Check out the "Country Life" article at  http://www.countrylife.co.uk/prprop/qualityoflife.htm

Some of the criteria for this award appear to have been fudged by locals, if not just plain lied about : the "frequent Farmers' Market" takes place once a month.  The town is allegedly surrounded by "hill farms" -- unfortunately, you would have to go almost to the Cheviots to see a genuine hill farm (at least an hour's drive from Alnwick).

The Award required that the town would not see a major increase in new housing in the near future -- the semi-urban sprawl of new houses towards the Golf Course, and down towards the nearby A1 bypass shows otherwise.  House prices are described as fairly cheap --  the typical price for a new house in Alnwick is at least £130.000, and seems to increase daily !  40% of homes in Alnwick District are classed as "second homes".

The local Chamber of Trade simply lied through their teeth when they described local business as "booming" : the town is currently shedding small businesses at a rate of one per month, which is rather high considering that there weren't that many in the first instance !
Obviously the magazine journalists didn't visit Alnwick during a week when RAF Tornado bombers and unspecified American fighters buzz the town during exercises to practise their skills in bombing foreign civilians (which is why they fly over this town).  They also avoided one of those ever-more numerous days when local farmers have sprayed slurry and other sludge over their fields, and noisome fumes infest the town.

Crime IS low in Alnwick, although tourists are clearly unnerved during pub closing time, especially outside J.W.'s pub, where a van full of Newcastle policemen sits at weekends.  CCTV coverage of the town centre has been introduced to combat persistent vandalism.

Finally, the lack of amenities in Alnwick is frightening -- apart from the field at the Lion Column, and a small grass square by the Library, there are NO public parks in Alnwick town. If quality of life is measured by the standards of this "Country Life" rural idyll, then Alnwick is fairly high up.  Just a shame that the place could also be described, in the words of a local pensioner, as "an elitist dump".

Ah, the inanity of Alnwick continues -- the giant County Council rubbish storage facility sited at the edge of Alnwick may not be too obvious yet -- just wait until it is continually extended.  Of course, it was well supported by the majority of the District Councillors.  One can only wonder at the perks (but surely not bribes) that these people are looking forwards to (perhaps trips to far-off waste disposal conferences ?).  There can be no other reason for Alnwick to put this blight on its own doorstep. Interesting to note that another Northumberland newspaper in the recent past stated that the Alnwick site would increase to take in refuse from BOTH Berwick and Hexham burghs.  Oh ... and did you know that there will eventually be a fridge-reprocessing plant there too (which will certainly make Alnwick stand out), plus further facilities for recycling electrical goods ?

Good to know that Alnwick can look forwards to more incoming traffic very soon -- all  carrying their fridges to dump at this "Best Place in Britain".  Still, even this rubbish disposal site has a funny side -- the amount of Council workers walking back and forth from the massive skips with items of interest that they have salvaged for themselves is a source of endless amusement for most members of the public.
ALNWICK FAIR BITS'N'PIECES ...

So, Alnwick Fair was upon us again (started June 28th, lasted for less than a week !).   In 1973 this Fair was actually given a National Tourist Award !  I had actually been very critical of the Fair for several years, but I admitted that a few years ago they had almost everything just right -- more singing and dancing and suchlike from genuine local people, less "ducking".
The finale from Neighbourhood Watch Stilts International in 2004 was quite breathtaking -- the Fair committee should have been very proud of what they achieved.  However, almost immediately, the Fair was simply castrated by halving the length (starting on a Wednesday and ending on a Sunday).

There are still good signs that the old enmity between the Alnwick Fair and Alnwick Music Festival Committees has been overcome, and that they are now co-operating to some degree. Perhaps the Fair can make use of the Music Festival contacts (and indeed, vice-versa).
Will it be more than mere co-operation ?  Will it be amalgamation ?  The Music Festival has often been accused of snobbery, but it was noticeable last year that the more popular music was at Alnwick Fair !  Incidentally, if Neighbourhood Watch are ever on again in Alnwick (or indeed anywhere) SEE THEM -- you will be blown away!!!

The old ducking stool (replaced in 2001, but then re-instated in a daring local raid !) is still in use, but the enduring image of a skip filled of mucky water for "duckings" is not a pretty one, and must be one to be addressed soon.
The impressive TJ King will hopefully be contacted for future Fairs for his own music contacts.  It was noticeable again this year that some of the best received acts were local musical ones such as the melodic Ellie and Linsay.

Incidentally, you may not know it, but the street entertainers (like Gary, the singing boat (!)) charge about a thousand pounds or more for their week's work. Seems a bit steep, when there are so many talented locals.


The Website for Alnwick Fair is http://www.alnwick-fair.co.uk

Anyway, Alnwick Fair is fronted by the local Bellman, and talked up by local shopkeepers.  Every year the local traders shake their heads mournfully and grumble, "It's getting worse."  As indeed it is. Every year, less and less people dress up in the strangest gear (trying to look "olde"). It is noticeable that the level and standards of shop window-dressing in recent years is quite abysmal.  Alarmingly, one shopkeeper was asked on the very first day of the Fair, "Why are all these people dressed up ?"  "Well," was the reply, "It's Alnwick Fair."  "Alnwick what ????" came the tourist's response ...

The latest Town Crier, who acted as compere for stage acts, etc., has his own website at http://www.alnwicktowncrier.co.uk

By the way, Alnwick Music Festival shouldn't be resting on any laurels -- although they provide free entertainment in the Market Place in early August, the line ups recently have been rather uninspiring.  Without wanting to be unkind, the best acts have usually come from Sicily, the "East European" states, and Spain.  The Festival people do try their best, but even they admit that they find it difficult to constantly attract the calibre of performers that they really desire.  It's possible that they should be casting their net even wider ... perhaps into the realm of "popular music" !

And ... while Alnwick Fair genuinely looks to be just about finished, real fears are being expressed that the Music Festival is becoming nothing more than a booking and accomodation service for Alnwick Garden.  The awful truth is that the future of the Music Festival probably lies within the Garden, and perhaps the same could be said for the Fair.
http://www.geocities.com/malleus_123/stories/alnwick.html -- read about the vampire of Alnwick Castle!

http://www.genuki.bpears.org.uk/nbl/alnwick/ -- an excelllent genealogy page with lots of good local links -- (with some other fabulous history pages !).



And of course the unsung heroes of Alnwick, the Alnwick Lions can be found at:

http//settlov.freeservers.com -- for five pages of local photographs

http://earlnorthumberland.tripod.com -- for interesting and obscure stuff on Alnwick history
http://thealnwickhorror.freeservers.com -- for the "evil influence" controlling Alnwick !!!
THE ALN VALLEY RAILWAY SCHEME.

The Aln Valley Railway Trust is a charity, ostensibly set up to re-open the branch line that closed many years ago from Alnmouth to Alnwick.
The Aln Valley Railway Society has the Duke of Northumberland as President, and Alan Beith (the MP) as Vice Pres.  Really, that says it all for them.  Up until recently their web pages were spouting forth that they would be running trains before the end of 2001.  They have a variety of "working parties", with regular meetings to clear vegetation from the old track bed along a small stretch of the old line, and 2 steam locos and some carriages have been found.

The problems really started when they believed their own publicity.  A Gazette front-page story once heralded a "Railtrack Breakthrough" (according to the Society webpage).  Unfortunately, reading between the lines, this wasn't exactly true.  The line would be rebuilt in 3 stages: Stage 1 would open a line only to the other side of the A1 (behind the Willowburn Estate).  Some of the bridges upon the route would need attention, otherwise they'll shake apart.
Stage 2 would involve the building of two bridges (over the A1, and over South Road).  The minimum cost of £2m for these seemed to be halved for the Gazette story.  More likely to be in the order of £5m for the two.  New bridges must be built to British Standard BS 5400 (and the soon-to-come Eurocode 3 Part 2), and there are height problems (vehicle clearance below) for the South Road bridge.
Stage 3 would involve the complete opening of Alnwick Station. Unfortunately, this would involve heavy recompense to the commercial/light industrial units that would have to move.  Also, the good people of the Royal Oak Gardens have not taken too well to the idea of steam trains battering past their back gardens. While steam trains are nice and romantic, they are also very dirty.  In fact, you have to wonder if Barter Books could stay open with a steam train working nearby (all that paper and all those sparks flying ...)
Still, there IS a market for train enthusiasts.  Indeed, by the 1960's it was attracting trainspotters even then.  Actually, the very last loco to haul carriages on the last day of opening was an over-powered engine, one of the great variety of trains to have operated upon the line.
So -- the AVRS set out their stall quite clearly to reinstate a train link to Alnmouth, and indeed have bought the Station Cottages at Alnmouth to convert to workrooms, storage and ... working holiday accomodation.  They have also purchased the Longhoughton Station yard to store stock abd materials.  Altogether, this railway charity is increasingly resembling nothing less than a property speculator ...

It seemed clear then that the way ahead would be to undertake Stage 1 ONLY.  In other words, have the train stop at a new (even makeshift) platform on the other side of the A1.  There would be no houses affected, and there is an access road in to that point from the main Alnwick-Alnmouth road already, with plenty of scope for car parking, ancillary buildings, etc.  This would also avoid all of the crippling expense involved in building new bridges.
Actually, this would be the best of all worlds for everybody, and it is strange that such a judgement has not been publicly touted.
(In fact, if the AVRS REALLY wanted this line to get off the ground (so to speak) then they would have started the first phase ; even such a small steam journey would draw in many tourists, especially if they had the brains to involve the local old Dreadnought coach company to pick passengers up in their antique vehicles. This small spur line would generate a barrowload of money -- why hasn't it even been seriously suggested ?)

The Railway Trust itself is an unusual body, and seems to be quite tightly bound up with Barter Books.  For example, the owners of Barter Books are also the main energies behind the Alnmouth link.  They live in the old Stationmaster's house nearby to Barter Books. Recently, the Trust boasted they had "raised £150,000 through donations from individuals and businesses..." Is that ALL ??? Not exactly great fund-raising.  Less of an ambition and more of a hobby perhaps ?

Now, the latest story is that the railway line from Alnmouth will be used to run a lightweight tram-style vehicle ( a "Parry People Mover", see
http://www.parrypeoplemovers.com/ ).  This idea of installing a "lightweight suburban railway" (or as we would say, "small tram")at least has the merits of having rails, but ... there is STILL a large hole in the plan.  Does the tram line cross the A1 (because the problem with bridges still apply). Surely the proponents of this idea don't think that they can run the tram up South Road, or even up the Alnmouth Road ?  We have already seen how the local Community Trust's "roadtrain" has become a traffic blockage (for more on the Portugese roadtrain in Alnwick, check out: http://www.deltrain.com/contactos.asp ) Interesting that this "roadtrain for Alnwick town" has one terminus at the Castle entrance, and the other terminus ... at the Garden entrance.

For all that the AVRS plan, and for all that other private companies hope, they may ALL find their hopes scuppered by the good people of Lesbury, who have realised that since they (and others) have been walking along the old track for over 20 years without official sanction but also without ANY attempt at barring them, the route is now up for grabs to become a right-of-way, under the rule of proscription.
So, a right of way could scupper the whole scheme !
If you  want to get in touch,
drop me a line at
settlov@hotmail.com
Other Internet sites worth seeing:

http://www.freefoto.com  -- check under Alnwick, or Northumberland, for some good pics

For superbly taken photos of North Northumberland, browse through:http://www.graeme-peacock.com/

http://www.peteva.plus.com/content/alnwick/alnwick.htm -- for a "virtual" tour of Alnwick's Market Place from 1996(an absolute MUST !)

Plus the brilliant spoof local newspaper:  http://www.porkmice.co.uk
and the rowdy local humour site: http://www.alnwicknorth.co.uk

Finally, for some very interesting streaming video of an Alnwick Fair ducking, try
ALNWICK SUCKS ?

Alnwick is a small town, set in the heart of Northumberland, England.
The name is supposedly meant to mean something along the lines of "place on the banks of the Aln" (that's the River Aln, pronounced "Alan").
Alnwick is pronounced "Annick". Yet 4 miles away, Alnmouth is pronounced "Alinmouth".
Confused ?  Hey, try living here.  Even better, try getting your kids a job or a house here.
If you  want to get in touch,
drop me a line at
settlov@hotmail.com
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LOCAL GRIPES
TREASURES FROM THE TIPS
Some of Alnwick's inhabitants have developed the art of "spoaching" (foraging for things either "chucked" or carelessly left lying untended ) to a fine art.  A perfect example of this could be found in the fine craft of tip-combing.
Aside from the mountainous pleasures of the municipal tip some way to the south of Alnwick, there were, until recently, four other fine sources of discarded treasure.  The first was the Golf Course tip -- a source of the most varied and bizarre items (from old packets of food that I have personally seen others take for their own use, to valid passports and old map-handkerchiefs from World War Two).  Whilst "hotching" with rats, it was popular with most spoachers.
The second was the little tip to the rear of Upper Howick Street, which although small, was a constant source of plant pots and indeed of plants and shrubs (thrown out by fussy gardeners).
The third was the Freemen's tip on the Moor, which although mainly full of agricultural debris, often featured remarkable finds (such as complete outdoor garden furniture sets, or sorted boxes of nails, screws and nuts).  Its most important fruit, though, was that of the thick plastic sacks that farmers love to strew across their fields ("harr, get orf my land").  I never saw any rats here, although the place must have been riddled with them, especially with the amount of sheep carcasses you would encounter.  Often, descending into this tip was literally taking your life in your hands -- one false move and the entire portions of the tip would start sliding away at speed.
The fourth was the Duke's tip, just inside the walls of Hulne Park.  Spoaching here was an adventure in itself, and having a second person was advisable to keep an eye and ear out for the crafty gamekeepers who would occasionally sneak up on you and try to scare the living daylights out of you.  This tip was probably the most profitable of them all -- there are true accounts of very valuable paintings being found there, plus antique furniture, and old ornaments. The things that people throw away !
If you think that such goings-on are rather grotty, then take a moment to consider the other side of tip-hunting.  There are professionals that scour this country, looking for old tips, and especially for tips where old jars and bottles are to be found.  The recreation fields at the back of Barresdale still shows signs of amateur digging there.  One old tip dig that I recall vividly was near the golf course and scrap yard -- a team of real professionals had transformed the scene into one resembling the foxholes in the Somme.  We all ducked down every time a police car passed by.  Those professional diggers were throwing away the "lesser" jars, looking for the elusive "black and white toothpowder jar".  I was able to re-visit the site in the evening, pick up a trolley full of old jars, and flog them for twenty quid.
There were other tips (St Margaret's, Howick, etc), and there are sites even now developing into fly-tipping havens (such as at the top of the rough track by the Barresdale allotments). I have referred to them all in the past-tense since, although some exist even now, the true halcyon days of treasure from the tips has sadly passed.

The small tip at the rear of Upper Howick Street has been filled in with the remains of the large old trees cut down from the quaint wood that once stood there.  Strange that there was no outcry over the destruction of so many wild flowers (snowdrops, bluebells, wild crocuses) and other shrubbery.  The reason I raise this is that if you were to try and dig up a clump of these flowers in the wild you would be arrested for theft.  Even more surprising is the fact that nobody seems to have noticed that the development has actually infringed upon a VERY rare and possibly protected plant called "Butcher's Broom".
Of course, in Alnwick, nothing stands in the way of development... All of this destruction was down to the extensive house-building nearby. Such a pity that even when "filling in" this small quarry, that old trees were used, and now local house-owners are worried at the mass of vermin underneath.

Now of course, the REALLY effective way to "spoach" is to hang around the Council "recycling" dump nd avail yourself of other people's unwanted furniture and goods.  Mind, it's even better when you're getting paid to do that !
THE SECRET "GARDEN"

There is a small area of ground gone wild within Alnwick -- behind the new flats in Pottergate.  To all intents and purposes it appears like allotments that have become overgrown.  However it is also situated behind Dorothy Forster Court in Narrowgate, and actually was the timber yard for Forster the joiners about fifty years ago.  The only access to it appeared to be through a large gate (closed) in Pottergate between the garage and the Church Hall, and from a solicitors in Narrowgate ...
St. James's Church had been approached to move to allow massive development in that entire side of  Pottergate ... by the wily Duke.  The Duke had offered (for a price) to re-house the Church at the bottom of Pottergate (would that be the first church at the bottom of a street, facing a pub ?), and probably to turn the Church Hall into some form of secure accomodation.  However, this plan was foiled.
This had really been all down to the determination of local solicitor Reggie Thorp, of Narrowgate House, who has basically stated that the ground behind him (which he owns) will not be sold.  He must have ranked as one of the few local businessmen to refuse to be bribed or impressed by a Duke of Northumberland.  Unfortunately Reggie Thorp has "passed on".
The recent work to demolish the old garage at the foot of Pottergate and replace it with some flats  has now been completed, resulting in a multiplicity of odd-looking flats with pseudo-Rennie Mackintosh wrought-iron workings.  It is possible to look through an archway to some of the older stone buildings to the rear of Thorp's Narrowgate business.
Incidentally, a little bit of history here: there is no real proof that the infamous Dorothy Forster ever actually lived in this property.  However, the Forsters actually used to own a much larger property at the top of The Peth (facing onto the Castle gate).

I am sure that the developers of these flats must be kicking themselves that the redoubtable Mr Thorp did not "pass on" rather sooner, and thus allow them free reign to bulldoze over the garden area itself. Just think of all those expensive properties they could have built.
THE ALN VALLEY RAILWAY SCHEME.

The Aln Valley Railway Trust is a charity, ostensibly set up to re-open the branch line that closed many years ago from Alnmouth to Alnwick.
The Aln Valley Railway Society has the Duke of Northumberland as President, and Alan Beith (the MP) as Vice Pres.  Really, that says it all for them.  Up until recently their web pages were spouting forth that they would be running trains before the end of 2001.  They have a variety of "working parties", with regular meetings to clear vegetation from the old track bed along a small stretch of the old line, and 2 steam locos and some carriages have been found.

The problems really started when they believed their own publicity.  A Gazette front-page story once heralded a "Railtrack Breakthrough" (according to the Society webpage).  Unfortunately, reading between the lines, this wasn't exactly true.  The line would be rebuilt in 3 stages: Stage 1 would open a line only to the other side of the A1 (behind the Willowburn Estate).  Some of the bridges upon the route would need attention, otherwise they'll shake apart.
Stage 2 would involve the building of two bridges (over the A1, and over South Road).  The minimum cost of £2m for these seemed to be halved for the Gazette story.  More likely to be in the order of £5m for the two.  New bridges must be built to British Standard BS 5400 (and the soon-to-come Eurocode 3 Part 2), and there are height problems (vehicle clearance below) for the South Road bridge.
Stage 3 would involve the complete opening of Alnwick Station. Unfortunately, this would involve heavy recompense to the commercial/light industrial units that would have to move.  Also, the good people of the Royal Oak Gardens have not taken too well to the idea of steam trains battering past their back gardens. While steam trains are nice and romantic, they are also very dirty.  In fact, you have to wonder if Barter Books could stay open with a steam train working nearby (all that paper and all those sparks flying ...)
Still, there IS a market for train enthusiasts.  Indeed, by the 1960's it was attracting trainspotters even then.  Actually, the very last loco to haul carriages on the last day of opening was an over-powered engine, one of the great variety of trains to have operated upon the line.
So -- the AVRS set out their stall quite clearly to reinstate a train link to Alnmouth, and indeed have bought the Station Cottages at Alnmouth to convert to workrooms, storage and ... working holiday accomodation.  They have also purchased the Longhoughton Station yard to store stock abd materials.  Altogether, this railway charity is increasingly resembling nothing less than a property speculator ...

It seemed clear then that the way ahead would be to undertake Stage 1 ONLY.  In other words, have the train stop at a new (even makeshift) platform on the other side of the A1.  There would be no houses affected, and there is an access road in to that point from the main Alnwick-Alnmouth road already, with plenty of scope for car parking, ancillary buildings, etc.  This would also avoid all of the crippling expense involved in building new bridges.
Actually, this would be the best of all worlds for everybody, and it is strange that such a judgement has not been publicly touted.
(In fact, if the AVRS REALLY wanted this line to get off the ground (so to speak) then they would have started the first phase ; even such a small steam journey would draw in many tourists, especially if they had the brains to involve the local old Dreadnought coach company to pick passengers up in their antique vehicles. This small spur line would generate a barrowload of money -- why hasn't it even been seriously suggested ?)

The Railway Trust itself is an unusual body, and seems to be quite tightly bound up with Barter Books.  For example, the owners of Barter Books are also the main energies behind the Alnmouth link.  They live in the old Stationmaster's house nearby to Barter Books. Recently, the Trust boasted they had "raised £150,000 through donations from individuals and businesses..." Is that ALL ??? Not exactly great fund-raising.  Less of an ambition and more of a hobby perhaps ?

Now, the latest story is that the railway line from Alnmouth will be used to run a lightweight tram-style vehicle ( a "Parry People Mover", see
http://www.parrypeoplemovers.com/ ).  This idea of installing a "lightweight suburban railway" (or as we would say, "small tram")at least has the merits of having rails, but ... there is STILL a large hole in the plan.  Does the tram line cross the A1 (because the problem with bridges still apply). Surely the proponents of this idea don't think that they can run the tram up South Road, or even up the Alnmouth Road ?  We have already seen how the local Community Trust's "roadtrain" has become a traffic blockage (for more on the Portugese roadtrain in Alnwick, check out: http://www.deltrain.com/contactos.asp ) Interesting that this "roadtrain for Alnwick town" has one terminus at the Castle entrance, and the other terminus ... at the Garden entrance.

For all that the AVRS plan, and for all that other private companies hope, they may ALL find their hopes scuppered by the good people of Lesbury, who have realised that since they (and others) have been walking along the old track for over 20 years without official sanction but also without ANY attempt at barring them, the route is now up for grabs to become a right-of-way, under the rule of proscription.
So, a right of way could scupper the whole scheme !
http://www.geocities.com/malleus_123/stories/alnwick.html -- read about the vampire of Alnwick Castle!

http://www.genuki.bpears.org.uk/nbl/alnwick/ -- an excelllent genealogy page with lots of good local links -- (with some other fabulous history pages !).



And of course the unsung heroes of Alnwick, the Alnwick Lions can be found at:

http//settlov.freeservers.com -- for five pages of local photographs

http://earlnorthumberland.tripod.com -- for interesting and obscure stuff on Alnwick history
http://thealnwickhorror.freeservers.com -- for the "evil influence" controlling Alnwick !!!
Of course, as with all small towns nowadays, adaptation of older premises is ongoing, but there have been some quite quick and shabby "developments" recently, where small details give away the pennypinching nature of the approach.
For example, the development of the Hotspur into apartments seems to be beset by a series of problems, the most obvious one being the atrocious job of block paving right outside the place on the pavement !  Just along from here, the "Castlegate House" B&B is a decent enough job but seems to think that it can call a few square yards outside its front foor a car park.
The Column Mews (the old Creamery in Wagonway Road) features the most shoebox-sized "townhouses" in history, and has a gable (end) wall that is a mere foot away from a 25-foot+ high stone wall, and yet ... has windows looking onto the old dark stonework.  Very atmospheric !!
Other locations include the destruction of the historic blacksmith's in Howick Street (into yet more "mews"), and the cluttering of mini-housing in Church Lane, etc, etc.

Still, it is not just in Alnwick town centre -- the Peter's Mill Bridge was eventually rebuilt, and is a pretty enough structure, but is unbelievably badly planned : high steps lead up from the Alnwick side onto the bridge, showing a staggering degree of architecural inelegancy.

Back in Alnwick, the old Convent School (or St Oswald's School) is a piece of land just waiting to be put forwards for a supermarket or for prime housing.  However, in Alnwick it would seem that any property that the Catholic Church has influence over is untouchable either through development or in media criticism (as witness the Bailiffgate Museum (the old St Mary's Church), or indeed the fact that NEITHER Catholic school in Alnwick is mentioned in the plan to close schools and house all kids in a giant Academy ...).  A shame, since the St Oswald's site really
would be the answer to where to build a supermarket for ALL of the people in Alnwick, and not just the richer residents in the south of the town.

Then we come to the Market Place, where the architect involved was honoured.  What we're not hearing too much of is how he actually resigned from his job, because he wanted to put a step in the Market surface (down near the Market Cross, because of the gradient).  It was the contractors who made the best of a bad job by forming a slope.  The whinstone setts in the middle are laid well, but this is a testimony to workmanship, rather than design.  This poor design is seen in the pointless "path" across the setts of different stones towards the Town Hall steps.  The multicoloured "crazy paving" of the pavements is frankly an affront, and the drainage channels are chipped and broken by skateboarders.  One question has never been asked: "If the Market Place was meant to be for pedestrians only, why is there a raised pavement at all?"
However, local skateboarders have some use for them -- witness the amount of candle wax smeared over the steps pavement edges, for their boards to slide across.

One development plan which seems to have gone quiet is the proposition from the Duke to have a new hotel on the outskirts of Alnwick.  This was firstly planned for the Lionheart Business park, but obviously the idea of having a luxury hotel beside both a garbage recycling centre and the new District Council yard was an unpalatable one.
The Duchess has for some years been bemoaning the lack of hotels in the area (and has actually been supported by many local businessmen in this respect -- will they never learn !!!)  The Duchess is quoted as saying that Alnwick needs THREE major hotels in the town, and that they have approached Center Parcs, the Hilton, and the exclusive Malmaison among others.  Now, the people that would stay in the Malmaison are NOT the kind of people who would take kindly to patronising the Alnwick Garden in the company of the average Garden family unit. There seems to be a bit of extensive groundlaying going on here.
The fact is that Anwick does not draw in sufficient tourist trade in high season, along with passing trade in off-season, to support any major hotel development.  However, the more that complaints are made about the lack of hotel facilities, the more chance that the Duke has of getting his hands on the Middle School for development, or ..... since the Garden already has shops and a restaurant, why not a hotel there too ....

Finally, a question: WHY has the historic Denwick Bridge not been repaired yet ?  Damaged in a car "accident" (oddly overlooked by local press since it happened over part of the usual boy racer circuit) over a year ago, this structure (which is actually more impressive than the Lion Bridge for both view and architecture) is in a right old state, with concrete blocks forming what seems to be a now accepted repair for a portion of the damaged parapet.  What is going on with this ?
SOME LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS
ALNWICK FAIR BITS'N'PIECES ...

So, Alnwick Fair was upon us again (started June 28th, lasted for less than a week !).   In 1973 this Fair was actually given a National Tourist Award !  I had actually been very critical of the Fair for several years, but I admitted that a few years ago they had almost everything just right -- more singing and dancing and suchlike from genuine local people, less "ducking".
The finale from Neighbourhood Watch Stilts International in 2004 was quite breathtaking -- the Fair committee should have been very proud of what they achieved.  However, almost immediately, the Fair was simply castrated by halving the length (starting on a Wednesday and ending on a Sunday).

There are still good signs that the old enmity between the Alnwick Fair and Alnwick Music Festival Committees has been overcome, and that they are now co-operating to some degree. Perhaps the Fair can make use of the Music Festival contacts (and indeed, vice-versa).
Will it be more than mere co-operation ?  Will it be amalgamation ?  The Music Festival has often been accused of snobbery, but it was noticeable last year that the more popular music was at Alnwick Fair !  Incidentally, if Neighbourhood Watch are ever on again in Alnwick (or indeed anywhere) SEE THEM -- you will be blown away!!!

The old ducking stool (replaced in 2001, but then re-instated in a daring local raid !) is still in use, but the enduring image of a skip filled of mucky water for "duckings" is not a pretty one, and must be one to be addressed soon.
The impressive TJ King will hopefully be contacted for future Fairs for his own music contacts.  It was noticeable again this year that some of the best received acts were local musical ones such as the melodic Ellie and Linsay.

Incidentally, you may not know it, but the street entertainers (like Gary, the singing boat (!)) charge about a thousand pounds or more for their week's work. Seems a bit steep, when there are so many talented locals.


The Website for Alnwick Fair is http://www.alnwick-fair.co.uk

Anyway, Alnwick Fair is fronted by the local Bellman, and talked up by local shopkeepers.  Every year the local traders shake their heads mournfully and grumble, "It's getting worse."  As indeed it is. Every year, less and less people dress up in the strangest gear (trying to look "olde"). It is noticeable that the level and standards of shop window-dressing in recent years is quite abysmal.  Alarmingly, one shopkeeper was asked on the very first day of the Fair, "Why are all these people dressed up ?"  "Well," was the reply, "It's Alnwick Fair."  "Alnwick what ????" came the tourist's response ...

The latest Town Crier, who acted as compere for stage acts, etc., has his own website at http://www.alnwicktowncrier.co.uk

By the way, Alnwick Music Festival shouldn't be resting on any laurels -- although they provide free entertainment in the Market Place in early August, the line ups recently have been rather uninspiring.  Without wanting to be unkind, the best acts have usually come from Sicily, the "East European" states, and Spain.  The Festival people do try their best, but even they admit that they find it difficult to constantly attract the calibre of performers that they really desire.  It's possible that they should be casting their net even wider ... perhaps into the realm of "popular music" !

And ... while Alnwick Fair genuinely looks to be just about finished, real fears are being expressed that the Music Festival is becoming nothing more than a booking and accomodation service for Alnwick Garden.  The awful truth is that the future of the Music Festival probably lies within the Garden, and perhaps the same could be said for the Fair.
"Get orf my land ..."
ALNWICK COUNCIL
The infamously incompetent local Council
A
Alnwick IS actually the County town of Northumberland, but the fact is that its neighbour Morpeth has effectively taken that title for itself.  Alnwick doesn't have a main Post Ofice, a Gas showroom, an Electricity showroom (or similar major shop) and the only reason it still has a maternity unit is because the local people put their hands in their pockets and paid for a new one themselves.  It was feared that the Bus Station would be next to close, mainly because a Council-financed survey found that it would be the best place to site a new supermarket (quite why the Council carried out this survey would not be clear without some idea of the avarice and stupidity endemic in that organisation). It is likely that the proximity of RAF Boulmer (and the presence of most of the staff living in this town) has kept at least some of the town's firms running far longer than any efforts from the Council.
Alnwick Council have done nothing for this town ... until recently when they appear to have had the brainwave of extending the town to the south, thereby creating a "new" town area.  Still, although enthusiastic over new housing and £3m leisure centre and light industry developments on the Southside, they lack the commercial nous to have known that the Homebase business they have given permission to is the same as the Argos business that they are now (crazily) trying to block.

The Council has thus gained many more millions to spend upon ... whatever they spend money on.
(An example: the Allerburn Lea housing development must have netted the Council a fortune, even in "key to development" income, but where has it all gone ?).

The Alnwick District Council Housing Department is the epitome of all things wrong with the Council.  Although there have been recent signs of improvements, receptionists are still downright devious in their "economy with the truth", and there are "housing inspectors" who wouldn't know the difference between a brick and a breeze-block, they are the absolute pits.

Barry G at the Council has a bit of a history.  In the past, it is claimed that he has given houses out on the basis of a girl's good looks (Gillian D. being the one girl I can immediately remember), but in general I've found him to be at least adequate.  Certainly moreso than the Housing Department in general, which either ignores or loses repair requests, or else botches them up.  I doubt if there is one tenant in Alnwick with a good word to say about any of them.

Take any council house renovation scheme -- it is accepted that NOT ONE house in a street full of "renovated" houses will be visited by a Council inspector to check that the work has been carried out satisfactorily.  They just don't care.

Finally, the Northumberland County Council are not any better -- living in Alnwick one cannot help but have the suspicion that they will do anything to ensure that Alnwick will be no better than Morpeth.  Their level of incompetence is also dire : a new road traffic management scheme in Alnwick uses ramps which are so narrow that the vehicles drive right over them without slowing (because the wheels miss the ramp totally !).  "Pinch" points in some of the nicest streets have resulted in cars overtaking and parking on grass verges, making a mess of even the pretty Windsor Gardens.

The truth is that the County Council have rushed the waste disposal unit through onto Alnwick, even although the logistics of driving lorry loads of rubbish up the A1 are nonsense.  The Morpeth-based County Council looks into the future and sees siting a large "recycling centre" at Alnwick as way to nullify a threat, whereas the buffoons at Alnwick District Council see a fridge dump as an opportunity.  It would be illuminating to know where the nearest such "recycling centre" to the Council Offices in Morpeth is located ...
THE FUTURE OF ALNWICK'S SCHOOLS ...

The latest news is of course that the main school will actually be demolished in several years, and rebuilt as a massive all-in-one Academy under a PFI scheme ... at the other end of Alnwick (news first broke on this site!). Well, that end is getting everything else: they may as well get the school too I suppose.
As for the extremely large area of prime building land that this will leave off Howling Lane ... well, the County Council must already be counting the cash they will make from selling that.
Indeed, further speculation has arisen recently regarding the state of the Council-run allotments to the rear of the school grounds -- they appear to have run down almost to the point of neglect.  Perhaps the Council will suddenly announce that due to lack of interest the allotments would be best served by being sold off.  This then would also open up development to the old cricket field to the rear of Lower Barresdale.  A massive area of prime housing development awaits !
Can we hear the greasing of palms yet ?

And of course the High School is not the only school to have been secretly assessed for market value recently -- Lindisfarne Middle School, the Duke's Middle School and Alnwick South First and North First schools have been quietly circulated to interested parties (property developers).  Certainly, the North First School holds little development appeal ... unless the adjoining Barndale Special School goes too ... watch out for the first signs of this.
Lindisfarne Middle School has significant, top-quality grounds, ripe for housing. With services and access roads already laid in, it is prime building ground, worth a small fortune.

The South First School is part of a more sophisticated development: the old Alnwick Council yard off Park View is already earnarked for housing development, across to the old Swimming Pool site (by the fence of the South School).  However, a quick look at the drawings for the Council yard land show little profitable build in the planned properties -- the money is to be made from joining up the land "freed" by levelling Alnwick South School, acquiring the Duke's Middle School fields off The Dunterns, and combining them all (Council yard, South First School, old Swimming Pool site and Duke's Midle School fields) into a particularly attractive land package for high-end housing. 
However ... there is a MAJOR difficulty in getting housing onto the old Council Yard land -- the existing yard there clearly contains containers of hazardous chemicals, including heavy metals and other various toxins.  Along with oils and general vehicle waste, these will have leached into the soil and will require the land to be assessed for environmental hazards.
Park View itself is very restricted anyway (with two listed buildings narrowing the road in), and indeed the old Council houses there are built on land prone to subsidence !!  A few problems there I suspect ...  Still, the Inland Revenue are clearly wanting rid of their old listed Workhouse buildings there, so perhaps a new tenant of the extension up for rent might take a leaf from Bolam's Mill ...
(Incidentally, the old blue brick Water Board building in Park View, a lovely little structure, has been bulldozed without any attempt at finding further temporary use for it; the rubble-strewn site stands as mute testament to the folly of allowing developers carte blanche in Alnwick.

The Duke's Middle School building itself is listed, and although as we've seen with Bolam's Mill, this isn't an insurmountable problem, it's rumoured that the Duke is extremely interested in gaining control over the building as a hotel of sorts.

Needless to say, there will be NO affordable houses built for rent or for sale on any of these developments. Still, it will tick all the boxes for Northumberland Council (who will make a lot of money), the local Council (who will claim that this new housing is good for the town, but maybe not so good for the existing people ...), and for the Government (who will claim anything they want to).

Of course, as with all PFI schemes, the devil is in the detail: private firms effectively get paid to take on such contracts to build and remain landlords of the new amalgamated Academy, and then ... after thirty years of over-inflated rent, poor service and continued Government bail-outs, the entire PFI property reverts to the private company.  At which point the schools are back at square one, and completely at the mercy of private finance.  What a way to run an education system !!!

BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN BRITAIN ... ?

The magazine "Country Life" decided in 2002, after much deliberation, that Alnwick is easily the best place in Britain to live.  Check out the "Country Life" article at  http://www.countrylife.co.uk/prprop/qualityoflife.htm

Some of the criteria for this award appear to have been fudged by locals, if not just plain lied about : the "frequent Farmers' Market" takes place once a month.  The town is allegedly surrounded by "hill farms" -- unfortunately, you would have to go almost to the Cheviots to see a genuine hill farm (at least an hour's drive from Alnwick).

The Award required that the town would not see a major increase in new housing in the near future -- the semi-urban sprawl of new houses towards the Golf Course, and down towards the nearby A1 bypass shows otherwise.  House prices are described as fairly cheap --  the typical price for a new house in Alnwick is at least £130.000, and seems to increase daily !  40% of homes in Alnwick District are classed as "second homes".

The local Chamber of Trade simply lied through their teeth when they described local business as "booming" : the town is currently shedding small businesses at a rate of one per month, which is rather high considering that there weren't that many in the first instance !
Obviously the magazine journalists didn't visit Alnwick during a week when RAF Tornado bombers and unspecified American fighters buzz the town during exercises to practise their skills in bombing foreign civilians (which is why they fly over this town).  They also avoided one of those ever-more numerous days when local farmers have sprayed slurry and other sludge over their fields, and noisome fumes infest the town.

Crime IS low in Alnwick, although tourists are clearly unnerved during pub closing time, especially outside J.W.'s pub, where a van full of Newcastle policemen sits at weekends.  CCTV coverage of the town centre has been introduced to combat persistent vandalism.

Finally, the lack of amenities in Alnwick is frightening -- apart from the field at the Lion Column, and a small grass square by the Library, there are NO public parks in Alnwick town. If quality of life is measured by the standards of this "Country Life" rural idyll, then Alnwick is fairly high up.  Just a shame that the place could also be described, in the words of a local pensioner, as "an elitist dump".

Ah, the inanity of Alnwick continues -- the giant County Council rubbish storage facility sited at the edge of Alnwick may not be too obvious yet -- just wait until it is continually extended.  Of course, it was well supported by the majority of the District Councillors.  One can only wonder at the perks (but surely not bribes) that these people are looking forwards to (perhaps trips to far-off waste disposal conferences ?).  There can be no other reason for Alnwick to put this blight on its own doorstep. Interesting to note that another Northumberland newspaper in the recent past stated that the Alnwick site would increase to take in refuse from BOTH Berwick and Hexham burghs.  Oh ... and did you know that there will eventually be a fridge-reprocessing plant there too (which will certainly make Alnwick stand out), plus further facilities for recycling electrical goods ?

Good to know that Alnwick can look forwards to more incoming traffic very soon -- all  carrying their fridges to dump at this "Best Place in Britain".  Still, even this rubbish disposal site has a funny side -- the amount of Council workers walking back and forth from the massive skips with items of interest that they have salvaged for themselves is a source of endless amusement for most members of the public.
THE ALNWICK GARDEN


For some time now, the persistent rumour doing the rounds has been that the sale of various pieces of the Duke's art had been to bail out the Duchess's Garden Scheme, which although supposedly pulling in record crowds, is increasingly looking like a money pit. (The much-improved Alnwick Gardens website is at http://www.alnwickgarden.com)

A year or so back, the running of the Alnwick Garden was handed over to a more "at-arm's-length" charity head, which is doublespeak for describing the Gardens as a financial liability.  (Yet, although the Garden is now no longer under control of the Percy family, the Garden Trust expires after 30 years, at which point the land reverts to Ducal ownership; after over 42 million pounds worth of charitable grants and donations have invested it with massive value...).

The head of the Gardens Trust now is Dr John Bridge, a man of extensive experience in working in Government-sponsored quangos for "redeveloping the North-East".  Perhaps Dr Bridge would like to tell us about his dismal track- record with Corus, or Black & Decker.  Or indeed, ANY of his "successes" ... Interesting that Dr Bridge left his post as Chairman of One North East and took up the new post as head of the Garden Trust, not long after the Duchess revealed to sources that One North East had just handed the Trust £16m ...

His familiarity with Endeavour SCH plc (a notorious PFI plunderer) is an odd choice to help with the profitable running of the Gardens ... already we have seen staff asked to leave early during the Spring (to save on wages), the Head Gardener leave, the bright young girl Lisa B, (who effectively held the Visitor Staff together at minimal cost) leave, and at least one of the upper echelons of the Garden's PR staff leave.  All replaced, with various degrees of success, but one has to ask why ?  Well, strong suggestions had already been expressed that Chris G. (the initial Head Gardener) and his wife had left because they were disillusioned at how the floral vision of transformation of the Garden had become one of grass cutting and similar menial maintenance. Visit the Garden any time before May and after September and there is a
distinct lack of flowers !!!

The oddest aspect to the whole Alnwick Castle/Alnwick Garden situation had been that although we were constantly assured that the Garden was a completely different charity, the visitor in the past was able to buy a joint ticket that also allowed access to the Garden AND Castle. It seems that the Inland Revenue has at last woken up to this anomaly and insisted that the two establishments are finacially isolated -- joint tickets are no longer issued (although such an arrangement COULD have continued !!! -- It would hardly be beyond a schoolkid's ability to figure out a method of dividing monies between the two businesses ...).
Anyway, grumblings have been heard that the Castle was allegedly raking off a large slice of the Garden money (for example, is there another similar castle establishment in the North of England that has built a "Knights' School", the "Under Siege" section, a brand new shop, a brand new cafe, and a brand new hi-tech entrance foyer for visitors ? Plus new work on a new entrance to the Castle "Sanctuary" restaurant and wine bar off Bow Alley (which MUST be of concern to local victuallers surely !).
Perhaps somebody might want to have a look at the structural failure to the stone arch leading into the section where the old carriages are usually displayed ...  Now THAT is something at some money should be spent on.  Soon.

The Garden itself tried to bluff various financial contributors into dishing out grants on the grounds that the Garden needed more money to finish the Pavilion and Visitor Centre.  However, after several months of Polish construction workers lying idle, work continued afresh, and the new Alnwick Garden is the result -- an incredibly clever commercial site.  Let me explain: say for example a visitor arrives down Denwick Lane (out of town), finds their way into the Garden site, then they NEED NOT enter the "Garden" proper to spend money.  The new Garden is accessed through a single doorway in the surrounding wall, into an environment more cramped than before.  Certainly within the Garden is a cafe, but the two new main shops are outside the Garden wall and one does not need a ticket to spend money there.  Or in the other cafe beside them.  This is hardly what Alnwick Council and local traders thought would happen when they envisaged visitors to the town ; effectively, Alnwick Garden is operating several businesses: the Garden, plus the two shops and one cafe outside it !!  Smart !
A big minus though is in the fact that the Garden ticket no longer allows access to the extra grassed areas where young and noisy families could decamp to -- these will be crammed into the distinctly condensed walled area.
One wonders if the Garden has the grace to apologise to Friends of the Garden season ticket holders for charging them the full amount for one type of ticket, and then drastically reducing the access allowed by that ticket, with no compensation at all. One of those grassed areas IS in "Garden" territory, but has still been barred to the ticket-holding public.

There is as yet no footbridge over Denwick Lane from the ever-spawning car parks, but the very odd suggestion recently that this road be made into the main entry route for Alnwick would almost certainly lead to a brand new County Council-supplied footbridge (free) for the Garden ... Certainly many locals were wryly amused that the one new road crossing in the town happened to be ... for people crossing to the Garden.  Residents of the tow can hardly cross the busy road to the doctors' surgeries or hospital, but thank goodness there's a County Council crossing for tourists to get into the Garden !!

I would suggest that if visitors are really interested in gardens then they examine another successfully-run public garden in this part of Britain : check out Kailzie near Peebles, the 17-acre garden complex run by the Duchess's mother (or is it step-mother ?).

Finally, a simple example of Garden "hospitality" : The New Year "do" at the Treehouse was an absolute embarassment: although the food was very good there was NO hosting at all, nor any "Old Year Night/New Year's Eve" atmosphere, and in fact at the midnight bells it was a guest who had to get up and go around shaking peoples' hands. Awful.
Thanks for reading this far !
This site WILL be updated regularly -- if you have any queries about the site, or indeed about marvellous Alnwick in general, contact me at   
settlov@hotmail.com
TATTIE PICKING

In the good old days, before modern agricultural machinery became so efficient, farmers would pass the word around that workers were wanted to pick crops on their land.
So, early in the morning, groups of scruffy-looking, warmly-clad strangers would gather together outside chip shops or schoolyards, waiting for the wagon.
The picking agent (maybe Tony O) would draw up, and run a keen eye over us all, then turn away anyone he thought wasn't up for the job, or who he knew to be absolutely useless at the job !

In the back of these giant farmer's lorries, we would sit in the hay, clutching carrier bags packed with gloves, food, drink, and toilet paper ! Great discussions would ensue between some people concerning the best gloves and talcum powder to use.  Most of us would sit in the dim hay-strewn interior, either sleeping or silently praying for rain. Eventually we would all get out and stagger over the muddy or frosty fields, towards the waiting tractors.  The time by now would be about 7.30 in the morning.
I have picked potatoes from just outside Alnwick, up to the Borders at Kelso.  I have picked carrots at Seahouses, and Brussel Sprouts near Berwick.  The money was rubbish, but better than nothing. When you got to a site the first thing people would ask was, "Where are we ?"  (often accompanied with the cry of "Is that Chatton Mast ?").
The second thing that people asked was, "What time is it?"
If you were daft enough to have a watch then you would be asked this question every five minutes (I kid you not !).

You would be given several plastic baskets, and get on with picking the potatoes.  The picking agent would sneak up on you and criticise the amount of dirt in your baskets (so of course we all just put even MORE dirt in next time). These plastic baskets were precious things -- fights would break out amidst the mud over whether or not your neighbour on the field had stolen one of your baskets (from all over the lan would come the wail, "I need more baskets !").

If you were lucky then you would be beside a friend, or at least somebody honest on the field, but I have worked on fields where we were paid by the basket, and if you turned your back too long then somebody else would empty your basket into a crate and put it on their tally.
Pickers would tell you horror stories of fields too steep to pick easily -- most of these came to be named "Stoop Hill", because of the back-breaking nature of the work involved.
I suffered many times from "potato-picker's hand", and from "sprout-picker's thumb", and even went tattie picking with a cast on my hand !

When it was break-time, you would wolf down your sarnies, taking care to throw away the corner you held the bread by.  These fields were often a mass of mud and other unmentionables -- after all, there were no toilets anywhere ...
The pay was poor, but this wasn't helped by the amount of women who were just there to pick up "pin money".  In fact I have seen a strike broken by women who went back to work for exactly the same money as they started at.  At least they got full wages -- youngsters would often work all day, just as hard as adults, and be shocked to get only half the adult pay packet.
And of course nobody sensible ever used their real name ...!

To make up for the poor wages, we all used to take a couple fo spare carrier bags with us.  The farmers did not mind each of us taking home a single bag of potatoes for our own use (I never took any sprouts home!).  However I've seen people try to take home almost a hundedweight bag of potatoes, and when the picking agent saw this he would explode into a fury.  Many a time we've all run for cover as the potatoes were grabbed out of the chancer's hands, and then sued by both parties in a potato-throwing fight.

The other bag ?  That was for putting over your head (with two holes poked out of it to see from) in case any benefits officers were nearby. Mind, heaven help any benefits snooper who tried to "catch" any of us from the lorry at night.

One the field, there were some characters -- my favourite was Brian R, who often used to talk to me (making sure that others were in earshot) about, "Ah, the cows are going home."  To which I'd reply, "Yes, listen, I can hear the bells on the goats as they wend their lonely ways home."
This would astound and confuse many a poor soul, so they'd stand straining to hear or see any animals at all, as Brian and I chortled away.

Well, so much for those days.  The camraderie of the fields made up for some of the bad days -- like prising each single potato out of the ground, one at a time, from frozen mud, with your fingernails spliting, and your feet cold and numb. On most days, by afternoon time you'd be praying for rain. In fact, most mornings you would wake up and your heart would fall when you didn't hear rainfall.

The best day ?  Picking carrots near the original Sea Houses, from soil as sandy as Alnmouth beach, with the sun beating down and hundreds of birds whirling around overhead.  Even in hard work there was real beauty there.

The worst days were when you were sore and on your own, and stuck at the end "stent", so when the plough either started up or stopped off you would find that you had about twice as many potatoes as everybody else.  You would still be picking them while others were finished, and you'd find the picking agent cursing you for holding the tractor up.

If you've got any memories of such work, drop me a line and let me know,  Until then, always carry a plastic bag !
The new Alnwick Chat Forum (for all chat) is at:  http://pub161.ezboard.com/balnwickchat
BOLAM'S MILL & HOLYSTONE
Early in 2006, the old Mill building opposite Morrisons supermarket "caught" fire. The new owners of the Mill property (property developers wishing to create luxury flats) must have thought themselves very lucky -- especially since they apparently had electrical surveyors in just before this, and indeed the day before the fire had seen property surveyors outside. Over FOUR months passed before any work was started, and even now not one piece of protective sheeting is in place to shield the structure from the elements ! (Of course, converting a listed building means no VAT relief, meaning that demolition of this Listed Building and a new build of flats would be cheaper for the developer ...)   The contractor on site ? Holystone Demolition, a company that seems to exist neither on its own nor as part of Holystone Ltd.  In fact, Holystone Ltd are really only known for road-building and drainage works, and are NOT associated with listed building works. Strange ... one would almost think that there was no such thing as "Holystone Demolition" and that the developers of Bolam's Mill had put the least suitable contractor in charge of "taking care" of caring for the historic structure ...
Nearly a year after the fire, some work has been carried out to the small building and the main (fire-damaged) building -- again without any real sign of an end-product.  Incredibly, the old "Bolam's Mill" building that the Inkster firm used to use for storage has been almost totally demolished ..... even although as a structure it displayed NO real problems at all !!
We await the next instalment of this saga ... perhaps another fire in the good weather ...????!!
THE CUTBACKS AT RAF BOULMER

With the recent (and quite amazing announcement) that the home of RAF Fighter Command is to be downgraded and moved to Scrampton in Lincolnshire, many people in Alnwick are unsure as to how this will affect us.  The Government seems to be dithering about whether this closure WILL go through, but it's clear that when this Government get an idea into their heads it is difficult to change it.
Although Air-Sea Rescue helicopters were intitially promised to remain on site, the current Government mania with PFI and all things private has lead to strong comercial rumours that such Lifesaving duties may end up under the wing of a private company !!!  In Alnwick and the surroundings, many civilian jobs will be lost, although I suspect the quotes of 200 civilian jobs may be rather high -- after all hardly anybody in Alnwick knows more than one or two people who actually WORK there anyway.
These cutbacks come in the wake of massive investment in the camp: apartments at about £70,000 each; £4m spent on "portakabin city" for about 180 employees; etc.  The only blessing for locals will be the certainty that house prices (outrageously high in this town) will stabilise and may even fall due to the glut of properties soon to become available.  It is a sad fact that the high wages and moving expenses of the RAF have artificially inflated Alnwick's house prices for many years.  Estate agents must be quaking in their shoes at the possible repercussions to come !
Anyway, there is obvious lunacy in this decision to effectively close England's most northerly RAF base : "consolidating" RAF bases into "super" camps just makes it easier for ONE bomb to cause so much more damage.
RAF personnel themselves have been speculating about the future uses of RAF Boulmer, and many believe that it could be a prison or a holiday camp !  So, that would probably be Butlins then ...
However ...there is a rather more sinister possibility: a detention centre for immigrants.  This is almost certainly the first choice for this Government (after all, it isn't a Labour seat ...).
Other aspects of the base's closure have not yet percolated through to local businesses and the councils.
For example, Alnmouth Station is now almost guaranteed to eventually close, or at least be downgraded to the same status as Chathill (also neatly ending the dream of the Aln Valley Rail Service to open a short steam train line from there).  It has been accepted for a long time that the main reason for keeping this railway station open was the presence of the RAF base, and the constant flow of base personnel.  Without Boulmer, Alnmouth Station becomes untenable.
How long will it be before our local councillors regain their bravery and start to actually COMPLAIN about RAF low-flying? They have kept their mouths tightly shut in the past because they assumed that the area was getting some kind of secondary benefit from being buzzed by jets.  However perhaps they will now stand up for the people that they purportedly represent and see if they can get this "Top Gun " nonsense halted.  It was recently reported that "Low Flying Area 12" in Northumberland is the busiest in the whole of Britain for low-flying military aircraft !
One other good thing -- although many locals don't like wind power (they would rather that unsightly electricity generators are on the coast and within sight of the majority of the County's people, rather than tucked away on our moorland and in plain sight of sheep), the RAF's right to complain about these wind turbine masts must now be deemed negligible.

So ... the base is being cutback, it may even end up being a detention centre for immigrants, Alnmouth Station will surely be downgraded or close, and house prices may fall.  Interesting times for Alnwick !!!
A storming display (Neighbourhood Watch) , and quite possibly the most remarkable thing ever seen in Alnwick !!!
PUB ENTERTAINMENT

It's always a bit of a laugh to Alnwick people how the local pubs pull out all the stops during the Fair with various types of entertainments in the obvious hope of drawing in tourist trade.
From singers to quizzes, etc, etc, it seems that there is little limit to the fun to be had during the afternoons and at night.  Just a shame that the same effort isn't made during the rest of the year for the patrons of these establishments that are the bread-and-butter of their trade.  And that also goes for the local shops too -- locals are harangued for not caring about the Fair, but ask any of the Fair committee and they will concede that the Fair was set up to boost local shop trade, and that is still what it is all about these days.
Various competitions are run (from quoits to karaoke), although the famous "Dwyle Flonking" speed drinking competition in the Market Place looks to have had its day !!!
One of the Alnwick Fair traditions has been the "Strong Man" competition, which sees grown men engaging in arm-wrestling contests, and struggling up and down the hilly Hotspur Street with barrels.

A story comes to me by e-mail of a tourist who visited Alnwick some years ago with his wife and daughter during the Fair, and observed some of these dubious bouts.  During the herculean labours, he noticed a local man (who he later learned was called "Henry"), standing with handlebar moustache, but being showered with small copper coins by some local youths.
At this, "Henry" would wheel around and scramble over the ground to collect the coins.
During these few days in Alnwick, the tourist and his family were staying in flats nearly opposite the "Dirty Bottles" pub, and upon spying Henry across the road one day the tourist decided to partake in this odd local custom.  But using a fifty-pence piece.
Unfortunately the fifty pence piece flew across the road and managed to smash one of the small glass panes.
To the tourist's astonishment, Henry reached into the window and ignored the 50p lying there in order to pick up ... pennies lying by the bottles.  Either Henry was seriously enamored with copper coins, or he realised the worth of old pennies !

Anyway, Alnwick Fair is full of such stories.  But it's worth remembering that it is not just Alnwick Fair or Alnwick Music Festival that makes the town worth visiting -- the Alnwick Castle tournament (whilst an obvious rip-off) is genuinely worth seeing at least once.
And other attractions in the area include the Warkworth Castle battle re-enactments, and just about anything that is going on in Berwick !

The Fair has so much potential, and has a business-minded group of people steering it, but you do get the feeling that they lack the common touch.  A bit of understanding of what the local people want would be welcome.
And if they really want to increase the numbers of locals "dressing up" then why not do the obvious and have minor prizes every day for "Best Costume" ?  It doesn't need to be a fortune -- even a picture in the local newspaper would be enough impetus for many people to  make the effort.
And ... perhaps some form of subsidised Costume Shoppe for the locals would encourage those with little money to be able to afford costumes.
The Music Festival, July 29th - August 5th, 2006, in danger of subsidising prospective acts for Alnwick Garden ...
Alnwick Fair -- if it was a dog it would be put down !
DUKE OF EARN

The Duke of Northumberland himself is an astute (and likeable) man, who owns a variety of properties throughout Britain, such as a 9000 acre grouse moor near Lauder (the Duke is one the the UK's first XI game shots, who confesses "Half the fun of owning a grouse moor is letting other people enjoy it ..." -- however, such largesse does not extend to the people of Alnwick straying onto his Alnwick "Pastures" land ...).  He also has 3000 acres at the Albury Estate in the south of England, where he intends to build a 120' high rig to explore drilling for methane, to the fury of locals.  Indeed, an odd piece of trustee tax avoidance is alleged to have occured down there too, with the Duke and Duchess having convinced the High Court to "defer payment" of £1m inheritance + £250k pa to their eldest son, until he becomes 25.  So long as that money remains "in trust", it is non-taxable, but still eaily accessible to the family ...

Recent grants given to the Duke include £450k EU farming subsidy, plus a £9450 grant to "improve cottage" in the borders Burncastle Estate.  All this to the man who will rent Alnwick Castle out at £50k/night.

Still on the subject of Alnwick Castle, it may not be common knowledge, but the real reason that the Castle is opened to the public is that it is a condition of the Duke's tax relief !!  In exchange for not paying inheritance tax, the castle and grounds are  to be open to the public for at least 100 days per year.
For further details of this (and others !) check out:
and click on "North East" then "Alnwick Castle".

And again from the map on that site we can see how Castle and Garden businesses are intertwined: is that a strip of tax-exempted "Castle" grounds that I see that is being used for entry to the Gardens to the rear of the Playhouse ?!!!  Is that right ?


MAD-ONNA OF THE PINKS
According to what you read, this was recently sold at auction for £22m, "saved for the Nation" by Government money and Lottery grants.  In fact, the £11.5m Lottery grant could have paid for 600 newly qualified nurses.
The OTHER part of the money trail is of course that the Duke is ALSO now receiving about a further twelve million pounds worth of tax exemption.  It really makes you wonder if these people ever do actually pay ANY tax !
So ... he gets £22m cash, and an extra £12 million or so "credit" from the Inland Revenue.
And ... a leading American arts profesor has now announced that he believes that the painting IS a fake after all (something I suggested on this site  a while back).

This is not the first time that this Duke of Northumberland has done this with a work of art.
In 1995, faced with an inheritance tax bill, he proposed selling the "Sherborne Missal", an illustrated medieval religious tome which had been out on loan to the British Museum for many years, and was worth about £15m.
Sotheby's valued the book, then brokered a deal wth the Government whereby the Inland Revenue agreed to waive £9.4m, and in addition the Duke received £6m cash (£4.2m Lottery money, plus £1.4m raised by the British Museum).
So ... (again) ... the book stayed where it was (in a distant museum), the Duke had his tax bill written off, and got £6m for it !
Amazing !!
The Garden water cascade in full fount
A most intriguing statue in Alnwick Garden
A quite stunning night-time light show at the Garden Cascade
Alnwick Castle -- a place of considerable charm
The Duchess's High School -- needing to be demolished ?!
The Treehouse : odd, fun but also just a little bit creepy somehow !
The Market Place -- in an age when trade was encouraged there ...
Maybe it's just nostalgia, but some previous Fairs have been better than this year's ...
Alnwick schoolkids -- even nowadays (as in the past) they supply free Fair entertainment ...
... soon to be flying south ...
Fly low, fly fast, practice killing civilians
Surely not ...!!!!
The Castle battlements, seen from high across the street !
The usual view: Lion Bridge and Castle
And for those of you who yearn for the Art in Alnwick:
An anonymous postcard (?) of the old Castle
Supposedly Alnwick Castle, but more likely a romanticised version of the past......
Turner's version of Alnwick Castle
Canaletto's Alnwick Castle -- note the tall spire
An embroidered work by Buck
Actually the most interesting picture: Neale shows us Alnwick first with the Castle as background !

This page was last updated on: January 11,
2007

Artist Stella Vine being ducked at the Fair
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