Cragside is a Victorian 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". 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.
Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, 16 miles (26 km) west of Newcastle and 4 miles (6 km) east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe.
Rothbury is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the River Coquet, 13.5 miles (21.7 km) northwest of Morpeth and 26 miles (42 km) of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 2,107.
The River Coquet runs through the county of Northumberland, England, discharging into the North Sea on the east coast at Amble. It rises in the Cheviot Hills on the border between England and Scotland, and follows a winding course across the landscape. The upper reaches are bordered by the Otterburn Ranges military training ground, and are crossed by a number of bridges built in the 20th century. It passes a number of small villages and hamlets, and feeds one of the lakes created by extraction of gravel that form the Caistron Nature Reserve, before reaching the town of Rothbury, where it is crossed by a grade II listed bridge. Below the town is Thrum Mill, the restoration of which was featured on Channel 4 television.
Langtree is a village and parish in north Devon, England, situated about 4 miles south-west of Great Torrington and 8 miles south of Bideford. Its name means "tall tree". Torridge District Council and Devon County Council are responsible for local government, while for religious administrative purposes it is part of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple and the Diocese of Exeter.
Warkworth is a village in Northumberland, England. It is probably best known for its well-preserved medieval castle, church and hermitage. The population of Warkworth was 1,493 in 2001, increasing to 1,574 at the 2011 Census. The village is situated in a loop of the River Coquet, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Northumberland coast and lies on the main A1068 road. It is 30 miles (48 km) north of Newcastle, and about 40 miles (64 km) south of the Scottish border. An ancient bridge of two arches crosses the river at Warkworth, with a fortified gateway on the road mounting to the castle, the site of which is surrounded on three sides by the river.
Haltwhistle is a small town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, 10 miles (16 km) east of Brampton. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census.
Brinkburn Priory was a medieval monastery built on a bend of the River Coquet, some 4 miles (6 km) east of Rothbury, Northumberland, England. Little survives of the structures erected by the monks apart from the Priory Church, which is a grade I listed building in the care of English Heritage.
Guyzance, historically Guizance, is a small village or hamlet in Northumberland, England. It is located on the River Coquet, roughly 6 miles south of Alnwick and around 3 miles west of Amble. Guyzance is one of only two places in Great Britain with a -zance ending; the other is Penzance in Cornwall. The similar names are co-incidence however.
Alwinton is a village and former parish in Northumberland, England. Alwinton is named after the nearby River Alwin, and means farm on the River Alwin.
The Coquet Stop Line, which ran from Amble in Northumberland up the valley of the River Coquet, formed part of the defences constructed to meet the threat of a Nazi invasion during World War II. It was intended to slow the advance of the German army from the north to give time for a field army to assemble on the Tyne Stop Line around 30 miles to the south.
Cartington Castle is a ruinous, partly restored medieval English castle in the village of Cartington, 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Rothbury in the county of Northumberland, England looking down on the River Coquet. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I listed building.
Longframlington is a small village in Northumberland, England, located on the A697, 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Morpeth and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Rothbury. Longframlington is a former pit village and on the site of the pit now stands Fram Park, a log cabin holiday park. The village was previously the site of the Longframlington Music Festival.
Newbrough is a village in Northumberland, England, on the north bank of the River South Tyne about 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Hexham.
Longhorsley is a village in Northumberland, England about 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Morpeth, and about 14 miles (23 km) south of Alnwick. The A697 road passes through the village linking it with Morpeth, Wooler and Coldstream in Scotland. There are 8 "Streets" in Longhorsley: Whitegates, Church View, Drummonds Close, South Road, West Road, East Road and Reivers Gate, Wilding Place and .The village is bordered on the north by the River Coquet. The village formerly lay in three separate townships: Bigges Quarter, Freeholders Quarter and Riddells Quarter.
Hepple is a small village and parish in rural Northumberland, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Rothbury, which provides most of its local services. It is on the edge of the Northumberland National Park, and lies on the bank of the river Coquet, at a location which was on the Coquet Stop Line, of which a pillbox remains. It is on the road between Rothbury and Otterburn. The village contains a Church, village hall and post office.
David Dippie Dixon was an English local historian and writer on his native Northumberland.
Rothbury Racecourse was a horse racing venue in Northumberland, England which closed in 1965. It was situated just outside the village of Rothbury, on a plain by the River Coquet.
Cragend Silo is a Grade II* listed building located at Cragend Farm near the town of Rothbury in Northumberland, England. It was designed and built by Lord Armstrong of Cragside.
The geology of Northumberland National Park in northeast England includes a mix of sedimentary, intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks from the Palaeozoic and Cenozoic eras. Devonian age volcanic rocks and a granite pluton form the Cheviot massif. The geology of the rest of the national park is characterised largely by a thick sequence of sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age. These are intruded by Permian dykes and sills, of which the Whin Sill makes a significant impact in the south of the park. Further dykes were intruded during the Palaeogene period. The whole is overlain by unconsolidated sediments from the last ice age and the post-glacial period.
