Craigburn Farmhouse

Craigburn makes an ideal stopover...

... to and from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

for guests staying longer there is lots to see and do in the area...

The Lake District - Keswick is an hour by car.

Southwest Scotland with its beautiful scenery, castles and lots of mill shops.

Hadrian's Wall, walk the wall and take in the history of the place.

Kielder Water offers walking, boat trips and great picnic spots.

Gretna Green - world famous wedding destination and outlet shopping centre.

Carlisle the great border city with its castle, museum and a large selection of top name shops and independent retailers.

Lots of activities can be found within easy travelling distance, including horse riding, golf, fishing, go-karting, cycling and swimming. The countryside has many footpaths and bridle ways so don't forget your walking boots!

Attractions Overview

This region is blessed with some of Britain's most breathtaking countryside and today it is hard to imagine that between the 14th and 17th centuries much of it was a lawless place beset by feuds and bloody battles between warring families known as the Border Reivers.

Many Roman remains, castles and battlefields bear witness to troubled times, contrasting sharply with the rich pastures, natural woodlands, wild fells and meandering rivers of the Northern Borderlands.

The pretty town of Brampton hides pre-Raphaelite treasures in St Martin's Church whilst nearby is the beauty and serenity of Lanercost Priory, founded by Augustinian monks in 1169. Longtown, situated on the River Esk, and site of the Battle of Solway Moss 1542 is linked to the legendary King Arthur.

To the South is the sheltered Eden Valley, once the location of the ancient Celtic Kingdom of Rheged, and the North Pennines a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Both are a paradise for walkers and cyclists with many forest tracks, footpaths, and bridleways. Traversing this region and down to the Yorkshire Dales is the famous Carlisle to Settle railway which operates "steam days" so you can experience the sights, sounds (and smells) of the Great Steam Age.The equally beautiful Tyne Valley Line links you with Newcastle and the east.

Hermitage Castle

Hermitage Castle stands on a lonely and wild moor close to the village of Newcastleton, high on the hills above Hawick. It was the Border fortress closest to the 'debateable land' between Scotland and England, and the stronghold of successive Wardens of the Marches.

No precise date is given for the building of Hermitage castle, though records show that a castle was in existence in the late 13th century. Edward I ordered its repair in 1300 at a cost of £20. The earliest were the de Soulis family, hereditary King's Butlers of Scotland, one of whom, according to legend, was wrapped in lead and boiled in a cauldron on the Nine Stane rig. Indeed, this brooding castle was the scene of many violent feuds and border skirmishes.

Today, Hermitage looks solid and bland from the outside, but is built on such a massive scale and with so few windows that visitors find it a daunting experience to explore.

Kielder Water and Forest Park

Tucked away at the top of Northumberland, close to the Scottish Border and Hadrian's Wall, beautiful Kielder Water, with a 27 mile shoreline, is the largest man-made lake in Europe, set deep in the massive Kielder Forest one of Britain's biggest nature resorts, home to red squirrels, deer and rare birds.

Both lake and forest offer many things to see and do including boat trips across the lake. There are a growing number of sculptures and architectual installations in the forest, including James Turrell's remarkable 'Kielder Skyspace'.

The lake fringes and forest glades can best be explored by walking, cycling or on horseback, and there are many self-guided trails.
This rich and varied landscape is a wild and romantic place to savour, a place to recharge the spirit.

Hadrian's Wall Country

Nearly 2000 years ago the Roman Emperor Hadrian built this incredible wall; today Hadrian's Wall is internationally renowned as a World Heritage Site.

Many parts of the Wall are still visible; the line of it stretching from Wallsend in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west, and the fortifications continuing down the west coast to Ravenglass.

However, Hadrian's Wall marks more than just the extent of the Roman occupation, there are a host of fascinating forts and museums waiting to be discovered.

The Wall is also the centre of Hadrian's Wall Country, a rich and varied corridor featuring some of Britain's most unforgettable scenery and a diverse range of ancient and modern attractions stretching from the east coast to the west coast and ten miles north and south of the Wall.

Lanercost Priory

Situated near Brampton in Cumbria are the remains of this 12th-century Augustinian priory. From the relative tranquillity of Lanercost's life as a monastic house to its involvement in the Anglo-Scottish wars of the 14th century and eventual dissolution in 1536 under Henry VIII, the history of the priory is a rich and diverse one for visitors to savour.

Lanercost Priory was founded about 1166 by Henry II. When completed in 1220, canons came from the priory in Norfolk, and remained for some 370 years. The building went to Thomas Dacre of Naworth Castle nearby, who converted some of the buildings into private dwellings (now called the Dacre Hall). The rest of the building fell into disrepair. About 1740 it was decided to restore the nave, and use it as a Parish Church. Anthony Salvin, who had done some restoration and building work at Naworth Castle in 1844, was responsible for the Parish Church as it is now.

Carlisle Castle

Carlisle Castle is a great medieval fortress that has watched over the City of Carlisle for over nine centuries.

Visitors can explore fascinating and ancient chambers, stairways and dungeons and find the legendary 'licking stones'. Here, parched Jacobite prisoners found enough moisture to stay alive, only to be brutally executed on Gallows Hill.
Uncover a fascinating history through lively exhibitions, offering an insight into William Rufus, Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie.

The Castle is also home to the Border Regiment Museum which relates the history of Cumbria's County Infantry Regiment, the Border Regiment and the King's Own Royal Border Regiment and local Militia.

There is a gift shop with a range of souvenirs with a medieval theme.

Historic Carlisle

Carlisle, the Border City, is the main shopping, commercial and industrial centre in the northern half of Cumbria, and a fair amount of southern Scotland.
The Romans established a settlement here, primarily to serve the forts on Hadrian's Wall.

In the 12th century, King Henry I allowed the founding of a religious establishment, later making the town a diocese, and thus making the Priory into a Cathedral. The Prior's Tower is next to the Cathedral and houses a small exhibition in the pele tower.

Tullie House, originally a 17th century private house, has been enlarged and adapted to become one of the finest provincial museums in the country. The Guildhall Museum is housed in the upstairs of Carlisle's only medieval house. Built in 1407, this was the headquarters in the middle ages of Carlisles eight Trade Guilds.

Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens

The vast, magnificent Grade I listed Quarry Garden at Belsay Hall, consists of a series of ravines, corridors and pinnacles, and is enriched with rare and exotic plants. Species of rhododendrons flower for most of the year. There are also formal terraces and a winter garden with magnificent magnolias, Pieris floribunda and Exochorda giraldii.

The castle is a dramatic, well-preserved medieval tower house, to which a Jacobean manor house was added in 1614. Belsay Hall itself (1807), designed after the Temple of Theseus, is of great architectural interest. It was created as a modern country house that resembled an ancient, classical temple. In recent years, some of the missing floors have been reinstalled and a number of additional rooms have been opened.

Today, Belsay has something for everyone: a magical mansion with a fascinating history, wonderful additional buildings and a unique garden for all seasons.

City of Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a great city, the regional capital of the North East of England, once in the forefront of 19th century industrial innovation, and now in the forefront of technical innovation, leisure and culture.

Wander down to the transformed waterfront, the Quayside, now lined with stylish hotels, designer bars, restaurants and public art.

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a work of art in itself, arches across the Tyne to link the City to Gateshead Quays and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.

Windermere

Windermere, at 12 miles long, one mile wide and 220 feet deep, is the largest natural lake in England, and is fed by numerous rivers. The Romans built their fort of GALAVA at its northern end (Waterhead), and it has always been an important waterway for movement of heavy materials.

Bowness-on-Windermere - Lakeland's most popular holiday resort - is an excellent centre for boating activities, with over 10,000 boats registered. Sailing, canoeing, windsurfing and water-skiing are all evident. Steamers and launches operate from Bowness Bay to Waterhead at Ambleside, and Lakeside at the southern end.

At the southern end is Lakeside Pier, and Lakeside Station of the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway, and also the Aquarium of the Lakes.

Stott Park Bobbin Mill

This working mill was built in 1835 by John Harrison, who had inherited the site.

Stott Park created the wooden bobbins vital to the spinning and weaving industries of Lancashire.

It was small compared to some mills - employing up to 250 workers - but still produced a quarter of a million bobbins a week and, in addition, made handles for various tools.

Gretna Green

Gretna Green world famous for Weddings!! As Scotland's most romantic visitor destination, it offers unusual shopping, whisky demonstrations, wedding re-enactments, catering options and comfort provisions.

Visit the historic and World Famous Old Blacksmith's Shop visitor attraction. With free parking and easy access from the M74, enjoy a unique day out at Gretna Green; unusual shops, museum, play area, sculpture garden, exhibitions, foodhall, and much more.

The World Famous Old Blacksmith's Shop is one of Scotland's earliest visitor attractions... curiosity has attracted travellers to Gretna Green since the middle of the 19th Century. The first visitors would peer through the windows trying to catch a glimpse of a run-away couple marrying over the anvil. In 1886, the cottage and workshop were opened to visitors thus creating one of the first visitor attractions in Scotland.