NOT ANOTHER BANK HOLIDAY!

The second BANK HOLIDAY within four weeks, a traditional time for getting out and about (despite the fact that rain is guaranteed, it always is on a Bank Holiday week-end) I thought I'd take you to visit some of the wonderful attractions that are near to us - some of them very close to us, others a couple of hours drive away.

WHITBY ABBEY.

Dating from the 12th century, Whitby* abbey adjoins the site of a Saxon Monastery that was established in A.D. 657.

ALNWICK GARDEN.

Just ten years ago, The Alnwick Garden site was derelict and forgotten - it is now a vibrant place, with beautifully landscaped gardens, magnificent architecture and unique features, all brought to life with water.

DURHAM CATHEDRAL.

Under construction for more than 40 years, the cathedral was completed in 1133, and today is Britain's largest, best-preserved Norman stronghold.

LINDISFARNE CASTLE.

Perched atop a rocky island crag, this romantic 16th-century castle is accessible only by a causeway at low tide.

* Whitby, of course being the setting for part of BRAM STOKER's novel, Dracula. (Click HERE for the story on-line)

"But, strangest of all, the very instant the shore was touched, an immense dog sprang up on deck from below, as if shot up by the concussion, and running forward, jumped from the bow on the sand. Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard hangs over the laneway to the East Pier so steeply that some of the flat tombstones - 'thruff-steans' or 'throughstones,' as they call them in the Whitby vernacular - actually project over where the sustaining cliff has fallen away, it disappeared in the darkness, which seemed intensified just beyond the focus of the searchlight." (READ MORE)