Oops … another adventure from the archives. This was a very exciting Saturday back in August 2022, a day I still get excited to think about. Belsay is a beautiful old-fashioned village in Northumberland, on the road to Edinburgh which bypasses Wallington Hall and Cragside. How could I have not known such a lovely place is hidden in plain sight, not to worry though I made it just in time for a very special activity. Belsay Hall is currently owned by English Heritage who have taken on the mammoth task of restoring the hall to make sure it is safe for future generations to visit. The estate is not as opulent as some of the National Trust sites but it makes up for it in numerous other ways. I was lucky to receive a discount to visit the area and honestly I would have happily paid the full entry fee.
One thing I didn’t realise when I arrived was the scale of the area; this includes a house, castle and the grounds. The map showed me that I would find lots of hidden surprises around the grounds and my aim was to find all of them. My first stop was the medieval castle that has sadly fallen into disrepair since the Hall was built to supersede it. I won’t complain though because I do love exploring abandoned, spooky buildings. For a sunny Saturday which had many activities going on, I found the castle to be very quiet. For a while I had the whole area to myself, except for a few friendly local sheep.
The castle was build around 1370 in the stye of a Pele Tower which could be used as a refuge during the period when England and Scotland were at war. There is a manor house built on the side of the tower, though it has no roof and the floors have long since disappeared, the fireplaces and cookers can still be found slowly being reclaimed by nature. The first room you can really go inside is what my photographer and I believe was the medieval banquet hall or the throne room, you know like the iron throne in the Red Keep in Game of Thrones. Then from the bottom corner, there are 56 steps spiralling up to the roof of the Pele tower. It is such a challenging climb but worth it for the views.
There are also two jail cells up there for any naughty humans who visit Belsay. I visited lots of rooms which seem to lead on from each other and then end up in a totally new area. If I lived there I think I would spend 90% of my day lost. Being lost has its perks because I managed to spot some remnants of medieval wall paintings and a couple of rather ornate stone carvings. Somehow I managed to make it back to my starting point next to the old cooker.
It was amazing to feel the warmth on my blue fur even though I didn’t feel cold whilst I was inside. I’m still trying to find out whether Belsay castle is haunted or not (I think it is). Through a secret garden style door is a beautiful walled garden that has the most perfect monkey puzzle tree in the centre. I wish I had brought a picnic because the garden was a beautifully sheltered area. However, I still had lots of exploring to do before lunch.
The quarry garden is huge and filled with trails leading in all sorts of different directions. It was designed to appear Jurassic and I thought it was a very dinosaur friendly garden, complete with exotic plants I have never found anywhere else in the UK. a troop of statues were running amok in part of the quarry so I chose to take the path less trodden. In retrospect I shouldn’t have because I got roped into driving the digger, whilst another dinosaur took their lunch break.
I continued my adventure through the stony trails and found several really unique plants, my favourite was the giant leaf plant (I don’t know it’s real name) and my photographer loved the pocket handkerchief tree (it’s a real thing, google it!). I enjoyed a small rest in the giant leaves of my favourite plant before jumping down to finally head on my hunt for lunch.
The site has numerous picnic tables dotted around but a certain photographer (we’ll not mention any names) had left the picnic basket in the kitchen at home. Anyway I headed back through the car park to the café which is hidden in one of the outhouses. Surprisingly I found a decent vegan “sausage” sandwich and coffee which were really good and didn’t break the bank.
Back to exploring and I was given an opportunity which many humans will never get to experience. I must state this was a limited time adventure that I stumbled upon by accident but those are the best type of adventures. It still feels surreal that I am writing this, but I climbed up to the roof of Belsay Hall whilst it was being renovated. The building was designed in a Greek fashion which meant the roof doesn’t have adequate drainage for the British rain. Unfortunately, this has left the majority of the building affected by both damp and dry rot which is in many of the walls. The inside of the building sadly isn’t furnished due to the damage, but it is still an incredible sight.
The building was built in the style of a Greek temple with pillars in the centre of the building and a lead and slate roof covering them. I couldn’t believe this mammoth task was being carried out in the traditional way, using local slate tiles. The resident bats were relocated prior to the work to keep them happy, I hope they like the new roof now it is all finished. Wearing my hard hat and high vis jacket was not the fashion statement I had wanted to make but it was all in the name of safety. To get down from the roof involved a lot of screaming followed by a trip down a slide to end my mini adventure with an adrenaline rush (I went down 3 times and so did my photographer).
I finished my day with a walk around the terrace gardens where the flowers were full of butterflies enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. I enjoyed watching them fluttering around but decided to leave them in peace and try one of the other quarry garden paths. This final path led me to meet some new furry friends who were enjoying a late lunch. The birds were jumping around happily and were joined by a small heather vole who was boldly running around on the floor.
Leaving the animals to enjoy themselves, I headed back through the grounds to the coach house for one final stop. The second hand bookstore, I love a book shop especially the ones like this because there are so many treasures to be found. Belsay Hall was a great place to visit and I would love to return once all of the renovations are finished.
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