Friday 18th October

Today we started out at Tynemouth Priory and Castle which was more a ruin but had quite large grounds.  It was overcast and windy today but rain was expected later so we thought there was enough time for us to fit in a couple of things today.  We walked along the north pier before returning to the car with empty bellies, ready for lunch.  We made our way to Seaton Delaval Hall, which we later learner was only acquired by theNational Trust in 2010.

 First off we went to the cafe where I had a disappointing Panini which seemed to have half a block of mild cheese in it with half a onion and a couple of slices of tomato.  Well if the soup hadn't been mushroom I would have gone for that...!  Anyway, it filled my stomach and we continued.  We walked into the main hall and......wow.  Nothing like we expected.  The place was barely a shell, but it was really interesting to see the bare bones of the place, the stone and the birch and how it was constructed.  It was very impressive and despite none of the rooms having anything in them and only two of the three floors accessible to visitors, it was pretty impressive and really quite interesting!  I would love to know how they're going to do it all up.  We hope that they will keep the walls as is and fill it with appropriate furniture as if it were a castle, mainly because I think that way it will keep its character.  Painting and covering the walls will make it the same as any old stately home - to keep it as is would make it so much different and interesting.

We went into the west wing of the building which has only recently been opened to the public in full, with new flooring and carpets.  We had to don some plastic covers onto our shoes, not the first time we've had to do it in this sort of place. The west wing was more like a home, and the decor was dated to the 1990s so fairly modern and not very exciting.  But the history of the place was really interesting and the whole thing made up for the unenjoyable Panini I had earlier...!

We learned that there had been a fire at Seaton Delaval Hall which burnt the place really quite severely in 1822 and has since never been occupied. The National Trust opened it to the public pretty much as soon as they acquired it, in order for visitors to see the transition it will be making through its restoration, so it will be really interesting to find out what it might be looking like in 5 years time.  I really hope they don't do it up like the west wing.....

After this, we went outside and explored the gardens which were still just about in flower and we imagined they would probably be even better in the summer or at least on a sunny day.  We visited a little church which was in the grounds - it had two rather nice Norman arches and two stone effigies which were also rather nice, one of which was a crusader (his legs were crossed).

After all this we headed to the car to get back to the cottage.  Seaton Delaval Hall closed at 3pm which was earlier than most places, but as we were going home tomorrow we thought it a good idea to get back early so we could have showers and pack a little before heading out for dinner.  We had booked a table for two at the Treehouse Restaurant which is next to Alnwick Garden.  It was lovely and delicious - a perfect ending to our Birthday Holiday in Northumberland.