Warkworth Castle - The cuts hit the cuts!

Some people may have noticed that the grass banks around Warkworth Castle have been left uncut this year and frankly, to my mind, it looks a mess. I've had a few people contact me, both visitors and people who live in the area commenting about how untidy it looks. Warkworth Castle is such an imposing and beautiful Castle and we've gotten used to how it has looked with it's tidy, well kept grassy banks. After driving by recently I decided I'd contact the English Heritage to find out what's going on, their initial reply was that the grass in the moat had been left 'to encourage wildlife' to the area.

Now I'm all for encouraging wildlife, but I replied and suggested that the tops of the bank could surely be kept neat and tidy as it's seen so prominently from the road and the Village. I also expressed concern that the Spring display of daffodils, such an iconic image of Warkworth Castle, could be under threat if this area wasn't maintained. The reply I received to this, to give English Heritage their due was a detailed one from Mick Wilson, their Landscape Manager, and a summary of the response is copied below:

"Dear Andrew

As you may be aware English Heritage is currently having to respond to significant cut-backs in government funding.Considerable cost savings have had to be made across all service areas including grounds maintenance and we have had to introduce similar reductions in service levels across the majority of sites in the Northern Territory.

Thankyou for your recent communications to English Heritage regarding grounds maintenance at Warkworth Castle.

The long grass areas at Warkworth were previously cut on at least two occasions per annum but this regime was very expensive and along with other sites in the north it was decided to leave grass on banks uncut on a trial basis in order to meet cost savings targets. As the summer progressed this year we found that the banks at Warkworth became quickly covered in tall weeds and so all banks were cut and cleared as a one off exercise to control the potential spread of weed seeds.

As things stand the next cut at Warkworth is currently planned to take place in 2013. We are however now aware of the rapid growth of weeds on the banks and so the possibility of re-introducing at least one cut and clear of herbage each year will be reconsidered at a forthcoming 'end of year one trial period review' meeting to be held in early November. Your communication and concerns will be reviewed at this meeting and maintenance of the annual display of daffodils will also be taken into account.

Please be assured that all concerns and comments both positive and negative are being taken seriously and all letters and e.mails will go forward for further consideration and review at the end of this initial trial period. Your particular concerns for the future survival of daffodil display at Warkworth and the importance of the site in terms of tourism will certainly be taken into account during this review process. In the meantime if I can be of any further assistance then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards

Mick Wilson

Landscape Manager

English Heritage"

While I do have complete sympathy with every organisation that has been hit by the government cuts, I don't think that their current plan for the next grass cut at Warkworth to be in 2013 is an acceptable one. If you are resident in Warkworth, or have visited the area and feel that your views should be taken into account in their November review meeting, I would encourage you to email Mick at mick.wilson@english-heritage.org.uk and also warkworth.castle@english-heritage.org.uk with your views.

Review: The Railway Inn, Acklington

Friday evening, 8pm, "where will still be serving food?" we asked ourselves. A quick google search for the places we could think of in the vicinity and we decided on the Railway Inn at Acklington, who served food until 9pm that day. When we arrived at about half past eight we could hear how the busy the bar was as we walked through the door, a quick peek inside and I thought there was no chance we were going to get seated. There were large groups of people dining and all the visible tables were full... until we realised that the restaurant went right around and behind the bar, revealing a much larger eating area than I had expected. There was a musician and a singer setting up near the entrance so we decided to head to the far end of the restaurant area where there were two tables still available.

We were greeted by a really friendly lady at the bar who took the drinks orders and said they'd being them over to our table, so we sat, took in the atmosphere and browsed the menu. It looks like the Railway Inn has been recently refurbished and on the whole it has been a success, although I was slightly bemused by the RAF theme to the décor. If anything I would have expected the railways to feature, but I'm sure there must have been sound reasoning behind this, even if it wasn't immediately evident. The place was buzzing with large groups, families and quite a lot of children milling around the restaurant, and with that comes a lot of noise.

Our drinks arrived and we placed our food order, although we were told there would probably be a long wait as a group of 22 had just ordered their food. I had the potato skins to start and to my surprise they arrived within a few minutes! Perhaps they had decided to sneak our order for two in ahead of the group, for which we were very grateful. The starter was acceptable, some of the thicker potato skins hadn't quite been cooked through, but there was plenty to eat and the dips were tasty. As we finished the starters the 'live music' started up which made conversation, even at the far end of the restaurant almost impossible. The quality of the act was somewhat questionable, with the female lead managing to make each song sound identical to the last and I don't think the guitar player knew more than three chords. However, having said that the large groups of people seemed to be having a whale of a time and as time passed and the drink flowed the atmosphere became even more boisterous.

Our mains arrived promptly, I had chosen the Gammon Steak (£12) and my dining partner had Belly Pork (£10). The Gammon was of generous proportions and extremely succulent, it was obviously a very good quality piece of meat and the eggs were fried to perfection. There was however an impostor on the plate! I despise mushrooms in any form and there were four very large ones presented to me with my main course. Quite why anyone would choose to put a fungus in their dinner is well beyond me and I certainly would have welcomed opportunity to ask that they weren't included. Unfortunately they weren't mentioned on the menu, so I wasn't able to, but thankfully it didn't quite manage to put me off my meal. My dining partner's belly pork was also very good, the layered fat was ever so slightly under-rendered, but the crackling on top crackled perfectly.

We decided after our mains that we couldn't face another course (or another song) and asked for the bill, which was incorrect. The till had charged the Belly Pork at £13 instead of the £9.95 that is was marked at on the specials board. This was no problem, it was quickly rectified and apologies were made profusely. The correct total for two starters, two main courses and three drinks came to a little under £40.

Highlight: The friendly, attentive and personable staff.
Lowlight: The noisy, boisterous 'holiday camp' like atmosphere.

The Railway Inn’s Scores
Venue: **1/2
Ambience: *1/2
Service: ****
Presentation: **
Taste: ***
Value for Money: **

Overall Score: All credit to the Railway Inn for managing to fill such a large venue with happy, paying customers, which is no mean feat in the current economic climate. It is perhaps better suited to the families and groups staying on site than it is to the casual diner. We left having had our fill, in more ways than one. **1/2

My scoring system explained:
***** Outstanding **** Excellent *** Good ** Average * Poor

Sunday Lunch Campaign Update!

A huge thank you to everyone that has nominated so far in our Campaign to find the best Sunday Lunch in Northumberland. Up until now over 100 places have received at least one nomination by a member of the public and some places are well over the thirty mark! There are a few leading contenders for the shortlist at the moment where people speak so passionately about why they have nominated them.

The nomination process will run until Sunday 30th October. After that we will spend a lot of time reading each and every nomination and decide on a shortlist of places for us to visit. We will not only take into account the sheer number of nominations, but also what people say about each place. Do they source their food locally? Is the service excellent? What about the location? We're looking for the places that really go the extra mile to make a meal wonderful and it's going to be an incredibly tough job deciding. During November we will visit and enjoy a Sunday Lunch at each of the shortlisted places, I'll be blogging about each one and then announcing the winner towards the end of November!

There's still plenty of time to nominate, so make you sure you do (and pass it on to your friends! The more nominations we receive the better).

Once too often? Causeway Rescue Episode 361

Yet another couple have become stranded on the crossing to Holy Island as the tide rose and overcame their car. A man and a woman were rescued from one of the refuge boxes by Seahouses Lifeboat and were brought to shore. It's yet another case of people thinking that the warning signs and published safe crossing times simply don't apply to them.

It costs the Lifeboat (which is a registered charity and publicly funded) thousands of pounds each time someone ignores the warnings and gets stranded. A meeting was held in August to discuss ways in which this kind of incidents can be stopped, but as of yet there doesn't appear to be a plan that everyone can agree upon. One thing is for sure, there needs to be some kind of solution found, be it barriers (which the local residents of the island vehemently oppose) or some kind of light warning system. I have to admit that I don't necessarily understand fully the argument against installing some kind of barrier system. From what I understand the local opposition is based around the need for emergency service access at 'risk times' before the causeway is completely flooded and for those residents who understand the tides more fully than visitors. While I agree this could be an issue, with today's technology the emergency services could surely have an over-ride system like the retractable bollards that Fire Engines can activate - a similar system clearly already exists. As for the residents who think that they understand the tide and can take risks, I would argue that they should be discouraged from doing this at all! I fail to see why the Seahouses Lifeboat station should bare the financial brunt for at best people's ignorance or arrogance against the power of the tide, and at worst their plain stupidity.

The Seahouses Lifeboat are constantly fund raising and are currently looking for volunteer all weather and inshore Lifeboat crew. I wonder how many of the rescued show their gratitude by helping to raise funds to cover the cost of their rescue?

Visit the Seahouses Lifeboat Website for more information about the incredible work they do on a daily basis. You can read the BBC news article about the incident here.

New Area Guide: Corbridge

Corbridge is a beautiful little Roman town on the banks of the River Tyne. It has an interesting history and has been famous for it's wonderful shopping since Victorian times! The Area Guide for Corbridge is now complete and includes travel information, attractions and things to do (Aydon Castle, Corbridge Roman Town, Walking, Golf, Cycling), where to eat and drink and the town's amenities. Have a read of the Guide over on the Your Northumberland Guide website.

Review: The Granby Inn, Longframlington

It was a Thursday evening around 6.30pm when I arrived with my dining partner to the Granby in Longframlington. Although it's on the main road through the Village they have managed to shoe-horn some off street parking in at the front and we were given a very warm welcome by the two ladies behind the bar. It seemed to be a quiet night with just one other couple eating in the bar area, we were offered the choice of a table in the restaurant or in the bar. We decided to eat in the bar, not just because it seemed nice and comfortable, but partly I don't think either of us wanted to be sat alone in a restaurant. To begin with the atmosphere was a little like a library, I almost didn't dare speak for fear of being shushed, there was very quiet music on in the background, but the ambience still felt a little flat. I needn't have worried though as by the time we'd got our drinks delivered to the table a few more couples had arrived along with a group of Australian tourists who soon livened the place up!

The bar area is clean and comfortable, with the decor you would expect from a 'Country style' pub, plenty of odd things on the walls, dark wood furniture and heavy chairs that could well have been there for decades. Nothing looked worn, or ageing though, they obviously look after the place very well. We were given the menus and were told about the specials board, but we both opted for the set menu which was 3 courses for £16.95. The choice from the set menu was limited, which is to be expected, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had a genuine choice to make between dishes. I opted for the Potato Skins to start and my dining partner ordered melon with parma ham. Both dishes arrived promptly and were presented well. The Potato Skins were just that, skins. Often you find that you order potato skins these days and you end up with half a small jacket potato with some cheese on! But not in this case, they were piping hot, delicious, served with two dips and plentiful! While we were waiting for our main I saw a sizzling dish delivered to one of the tables nearby and instantly from the smell wished I had ordered that instead of my pie, it looked great! However, after realising the dish was only on the specials board and cost £12 on it's own I soon felt better about my choice!

My main course was Steak and Ale Pie, and apart from my usual disappointment (I stand by the fact that a pie should have pastry sides and a bottom!) it was a very tender, well seasoned, Beef in Ale casserole with a pastry lid floating on top. It came with slow cooked red onions and apple, and a side of fresh vegetables and a little basket of chips. I have to admit I was surprised and impressed with the presentation of the main, I especially liked the little frying baskets the chips were served in. The only other place I have seen this done is in a Michelin starred restaurant!

The gravy with the pie was the best part of this course, extremely tasty with a good strong hint of ale. The only let down (other than it not strictly speaking being a pie) was the braised cabbage. Despite being braised for a long time it somehow managed to still be quite hard and almost caramelised, with a hint of burnt sugar taste. This didn't detract from the overall enjoyment though as there were plenty of other fresh vegetables that were cooked just right. My dining partner had a steak for her main course, which was thoroughly enjoyed.

After devouring what felt like half a sack of potato skins for starter and a very generous portion of Beef Casserole (couldn't resist) for my main, I was scouring the desert menu for something light to finish off the meal. The cheesecake caught my eye, but after asking what flavour it was today (rum and raisin) we both decided to go for the Panna cotta.

This was the only real let down with the meal, it looked lovely, well presented and served with home-made chilli and chocolate icecream, but it was over-set. There had been far too much gelatine used in the setting process and it was almost a hard jelly consistency, not the light, beautiful, creamy desert I was hoping for. I did enjoy the icecream though, with just enough of a hint of chilli.

Service remained polite, efficient and discrete, which is exactly as it should be and the total bill for two including one drink each came to around £45.

Highlight: Real potato skins and fresh delicious vegetables.

Lowlight: An over-set Panna cotta.

The Granby's Scores

Venue: ***1/2

Ambience: ***

Service: ****

Presentation: ****

Taste: ***1/2

Value for Money: ***

Overall Score: Would I recommend the Granby? Overall yes I would. Friendly and efficient staff in a nice Village location with surprisingly smart food presentation and good flavours. I give them an overall rating of ***1/2 out of ***** somewhere between Good and Excellent.

My scoring system explained:

***** Outstanding **** Excellent *** Good ** Average * Poor

Not much going on around here...

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been in the middle of moving house for the last couple of weeks. Anyone who has done it recently will no doubt have great sympathy! It's taken what seems like an age to do something as simple as set up an internet connection (thanks for being so incompetent Sky!) but I think I'm now back up and running! Expect some news and new Guides soon.