Day 8

 Day 8

Departed this morning for Cragside, and Julian Humphrys introduced it.

Cragside is a Victorian Tudor Revival country house near the town of Rothbury in Northumberland, England. It was the home of William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, founder of the Armstrong Whitworth armaments firm. An industrial magnate, scientist, philanthropist and inventor of the hydraulic crane and the Armstrong gun, Armstrong also displayed his inventiveness in the domestic sphere, making Cragside the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric power. The estate was technologically advanced; the architect of the house, Richard Norman Shaw, wrote that it was equipped with "wonderful hydraulic machines that do all sorts of things".^[2] In the grounds, Armstrong built dams and lakes to power a sawmill, a water-powered laundry, early versions of a dishwasher and a dumb waiter, a hydraulic lift and a hydroelectric rotisserie. In 1887, Armstrong was raised to the peerage, the first engineer or scientist to be ennobled, and became Baron Armstrong of Cragside.

The original building consisted of a small shooting lodge which Armstrong built between 1862 and 1864. In 1869, he employed the architect Richard Norman Shaw to enlarge the site, and in two phases of work between 1869 and 1882, they transformed the house into a northern Neuschwanstein. The result was described by the architect and writer Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel as "one of the most dramatic compositions in all architecture".^[3] Armstrong filled the house with a significant art collection; he and his wife were patrons of many 19th-century British artists. Cragside became an integral part of Armstrong's commercial operations: honoured guests under Armstrong's roof, including the Shah of Persia, the King of Siam and two future Prime Ministers of Japan, were also customers for his commercial undertakings.

Following Armstrong's death in 1900, his heirs struggled to maintain the house and estate. In 1910, the best of Armstrong's art collection was sold off, and by the 1970s, in an attempt to meet inheritance tax, plans were submitted for large-scale residential development of the estate. In 1971 the National Trust asked the architectural historian Mark Girouard to compile a gazetteer of the most important Victorian houses in Britain which the Trust should seek to save should they ever be sold. Girouard placed Cragside at the top of the list; in 1977, the house was acquired by the Trust with the aid of a grant from the National Land Fund. A Grade I listed building since 1953, Cragside has been open to the public since 1979.

We had free time to hike around the gardens and home and it was one of my favorite spots due to the gardens that stretched forever. It was absolutely huge, and Lynn and I thought for sure we were lost half of the time.

Yes, this is a real fireplace.

Julian also mentioned EMILY Davison as she came from the area we visited.

Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and a militant fighter for her cause, she was arrested on nine occasions, went on hunger strike seven times and was force-fed on forty-nine occasions. She died after being hit by King George V's horse Anmer at the 1913 Derby when she walked onto the track during the race.

Davison grew up in a middle-class family, and studied at Royal Holloway College, London, and St Hugh's College, Oxford, before taking jobs as a teacher and governess. She joined the WSPU in November 1906 and became an officer of the organisation and a chief steward during marches. She soon became known in the organisation for her militant action; her tactics included breaking windows, throwing stones, setting fire to postboxes, planting bombs and, on three occasions, hiding overnight in the Palace of Westminster—including on the night of the 1911 census. Her funeral on 14 June 1913 was organised by the WSPU. A procession of 5,000 suffragettes and their supporters accompanied her coffin and 50,000 people lined the route through London; her coffin was then taken by train to the family plot in Morpeth, Northumberland.

Davison was a staunch feminist and passionate Christian, and considered that socialism was a moral and political force for good. Much of her life has been interpreted through the manner of her death. She gave no prior explanation for what she planned to do at the Derby and the uncertainty of her motives and intentions has affected how she has been judged by history. Several theories have been put forward, including accident, suicide or an attempt to pin a suffragette flag to the king's horse.

Alnwick Castle

Harry Potter stuff everywhere

The town of Alnwick

The grouse was everywhere in the North

Trying to play quidditch from Harry Potter

We then arrived in Alnwick and ate at a small place in town. We then went right to Alnwick Castle. The second largest inhabited castle in the UK after Windsor, Alnwick has been home to the Percy family for over 700 years. It is now the seat of the 12^th Duke of Northumberland The Percies played a significant role in English history and were closely involved in many events, including the Wars of the Roses. One of the castle’s most notable owners was Harry Hotspur, a medieval knight who famously fought alongside Henry IV against the Scots. The present Duchess has created the Alnwick Garden, including the Poison Garden. Home to some of the deadliest plants in the world. Alnwick starred as Brancaster Castle in multiple episodes of Downton Abbey and as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy in the first two Harry Potter films. We saw people trying to play quidditch!

The Poison Garden

It really looks like this in the spring

Very foreboding!

We then left for our trip to Chillingham Castle.

Ghost tour tat ie. junk!

Hall where we had dinner

Entrance 

This very private castle has been owned by just one family since the 1200s. It has had many royal visits. There is even a real torture chamber. It became a fortified castle in 1344. It occupied a strategic position during Northumberland’s bloody border feuds. The castle is home to a number of ghosts, evidenced by our Ghost Tour that evening, after a dinner in the Castle, where I had raspberry bakewell tart for dessert.

I was then glad to crawl in bed as I froze during the Ghost Tour.