The Romans are coming!

THE ROMAN EMPIRE will return to Hadrian's Wall this September at an epic event to be staged by English Heritage.

Over one weekend at Housesteads and Birdoswald Rome’s army will clash with barbarians, gladiators will meet in hand-to-hand combat, and Roman legionaires will stage torch-lit marches.

The Hadrian's Wall Live weekend (September 3-4) will also feature falconry displays, theatre performances, and kids' sword drills.

www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/whats-on/hadrians-wall-live2016

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Northumberland up for tourism award

NORTHUMBERLAND has been shortlisted in the Best UK Holiday County/Destination category in the 2015 British Travel Awards. 

It is the only northern county to be shortlisted in this section.

The awards are voted for by the public, who have until the end of September to cast their votes at www.vote4northumberland.com

These are some of the county’s main attractions:

• More than 70 castles … more than any other English county. 
• Holy Island, also known as Lindisfarne. 
• Hadrian’s Wall, which stretches for 73 miles from coast-to-coast. 
• The 400-square mile Northumberland National Park, England’s least-populated national park. It has half of England’s population of endangered red squirrels. 
• Kielder Water & Forest Park … it’s the biggest man-made lake in Northern Europe and at more than 250 square miles, the largest working forest in England. 

The winner of the UK’s Best Holiday Destination will be announced on November 25.

www.visitnorthumberland.com

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34298489@N00/3827848748">St Mary's Lighthouse</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license), http://www.flickr.com/photos/75856324@N00/3051589997">Hadrian's Wall</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license)

Northern pleasures

VISITNORTHUMBERLAND.COM is flagging up the delights to be found in England’s most northerly county: history, wild countryside, jaw-dropping coastline and sea birds on off-shore islands.

National walking trails (including the 84-mile Hadrian’s Wall footpath) and cycle ways snake their way across the Northumberland National Park and along the coast.

Lucky visitors on their way to the Farne Islands might see dolphins.

There’s 250 square miles of open air adventure at Kielder Water and Forest Park. Try flying down a mountain bike track, a family cycle ride (cycles are available for hire), horse riding or water sports on northern Europe’s largest man-made lake.

Bamburgh Castle – on a plateau 125ft above sea level offers unmatched views across the coast and the unspoilt beach below – attracts 125,000 visitors a year. For many hundreds of years its dominating presence has stood resolute in the face of everything that has been thrown at it – from the harsh East winds to marauding Scots and Vikings. The castle is open daily from February until November 1.

More must-see castles include the dramatic ruins of Dunstanburgh, accessible by a coastal walk from nearby Craster, and Alnwick.

Lindisfarne Priory – cut off from the world on Holy Island – was the original home of the Lindisfarne Gospels and one of the most important centres of early Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England.

Going even further back in time, holidaymakers absolutely must see Hadrian’s Wall and its best known Roman fort, Housesteads, where the empire’s soldiers were based for 300 years. It is the most complete Roman fort in Britain. Chesters Roman Fort on the wall has the best preserved cavalry fort, and the best preserved Roman bathhouse in Britain.

www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk
www.visitkielder.com
www.bamburghcastle.com
www.english-heritage.org.uk/lindisfarne
www.english-heritage.org.uk/dunstanburgh
www.alnwickcastle.com
www.english-heritage.org.uk/hadrianswall
www.visitnorthumberland.com

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Picture Credit: "Bamburgh Castle" by xlibber via Wikimedia Commons; 

£7.8 million grant for Northumberland heritage project

A UNIQUE opportunity to create a multi-million pound Northumberland tourist destination has been awarded a grant of £7.8 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Located at the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site in Northumberland National Park, the Sill will become the country’s first national landscape discovery centre, directing visitors to the places that might seem out of reach or difficult to find and engaging people from all walks of life in the natural and cultural heritage of the sweeping Northumberland landscape.

The all-weather, year-round centre – with a programme of interpretation, education, research, and events – will aim to attract more than 100,000 visitors a year.

Spearheaded by the Northumberland National Park Authority and YHA (England and Wales), the lead partners are celebrating the latest stage of this flagship project. They need to raise a further £2.2 million.

The Northumberland National Park has some of England’s darkest skies – having recently been awarded International Dark Sky Park status – plus clean rivers, ancient landscapes, rich culture and heritage, and stand-out scenery.

Ivor Crowther, head of HLF North East, said: ‘With the famous Hadrian’s Wall and much more besides on the doorstep, this new state-of-the-art discovery centre will become the perfect base from which to explore the national park’s unquestionable beauty. The Heritage Lottery Fund’s investment is also supporting a year-round programme of exhibitions and activities that will ensure that visitors are tempted back to Northumberland again and again, providing a much-needed boost to the local economy.’

Caroline White, chief executive of YHA added: ‘The announcement of funding from HLF is a huge step forward for the Sill. The HLF funding, together with that from other providers, has closed the funding gap significantly. It is immensely exciting that we are now within touching distance of transforming the current YHA site at Once Brewed, and creating a nationally significant landscape discovery centre which will ensure that young people can continue to enjoy exciting outdoor experiences in Northumberland National Park.’

The HLF grant will help to secure the future of the project, with construction expected to begin on the site later this year. The activity programme will start this autumn, and the landscape discovery building will open its doors to the public in June 2017.

For more information about the project, visit www.thesill.org.uk

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Picture Credit: Courtesy Jane Darbyshire and David Kendall