Ferniehirst Mill Lodge
Reached by a narrow farm track and a rustic wooden bridge, this chalet-style house has a…
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Whitelee Moor NNR is one of Britain’s most important upland nature reserves, of European conservation importance due to its active blanket bog and heather heaths. The blanket bog is home to a variety of plants including sphagnum moss, cloudberry, bog asphodel and cotton grass. On the lower slopes the heather moorland is home to birds such as red grouse, and birds of prey including merlin, buzzard, peregrine falcon and hen harrier. One of the moor’s most striking insects is the day-flying northern eggar moth and butterflies such as ringlet, small heath and green-veined white are seen in summer. Skylark, stonechat and meadow pipit are common across the reserve, while on the high ground, dunlin and golden plover arrive in spring to breed. The River Rede and its tributaries add to the habitat diversity, and otters can often be seen hunting along its banks. Adder and common lizard are common here as well as palmate newts in the small pools along the burn. A herd of feral goats can sometimes be seen on the border with Kielderhead. There are interesting flush areas with plants such as early marsh orchid.
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Discover Northumberland
If it’s history you’re after, there’s heaps of it in Northumberland. On Hadrian’s Wall you can imagine scarlet-cloaked Roman legionaries keeping watch for painted Pictish warriors while cursing the English weather and dreaming of home. Desolate battlefield sites and hulking fortresses such as Alnwick, Dunstanburgh, Bamburgh and Warkworth are reminders that this, until not so very long ago, was a contested border region. The ruins of Lindisfarne bear witness to the region’s early Christian history.
Northumberland also has some of Britain’s best beaches. On summer days, and even in winter, you’ll see surfers and other brave souls making the most of the coast. Inland, there are some great walks and bike rides in the dales of the Cheviot Hills and the Simonsides – just hilly enough to be interesting, without being brutally steep. There's dramatic scenery in the High Pennines, where waterfalls plunge into deep valleys, and there are swathes of heather-scented moorland. Northumberland National Park covers over 400 square miles of moorland and valleys with clear streams and pretty, stone-built villages. It’s just the place for wildlife watching too. You’ll find flocks of puffins, guillemots and other seabirds around the Farne Islands, and seals and dolphins offshore.
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