The National Trust property of Cragside was definitely high on our list of 'To Do's' when we visited Northumberland. It was a wonderfully interactive house that appealed in many ways. Firesides to sit by and imagine a different age. Hats for the gentlemen to sample and swank around in. Not forgetting an enormous billiard table for the youngster to have a try at .
For me it was the stained glass windows and the paint details in William Morris style. A very Victorian house, lived in by inventor and engineer William Armstrong, who had an armament factory in Newcastle. The house was the very first to have electricity powered by hydro power and if you walk down the steep garden, through the woodland, you can see the engine house for yourself.
Suites of rooms were created to entertain the Prince of Wales, and the enormous stone fireplace in the upper drawing room is a marvel in its own way.
Every little detail had been thought through to make servants lives easier, mechanical gadgets and a lift so that coal could be taken up to lay the fires.
The setting was perfect too and it was quite clear how the house name came about, clinging as it does to a rock face. My favourite detail was the wonky finial on the top of a cupola. Not forgetting a very Scottish looking lake.
The drive to the house took us along a very long straight Roman road and the views on our return, with the lowering sun, were truly atmospheric.
Hope your week is going well. Have you got a favourite place you like to visit as a family?
Barbara xxx
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