We have 16 days in England and Scotland in August, starting with 3 nights in Edinburgh, then 3 nights on Skye, then the last 5 nights in London. We’re wondering how to maximize the 5 nights in between. We’ll be driving and would like to get to Bath, Cotswolds and Stratford before London, and maybe even Canterbury. Should we drive down the west side of Scotland to hit the Lake District but then have to circle around the big cities like Birmingham and Manchester as we go south, or angle back to the Northumberland area on the east coast and head south from there? We’re more interested in history and nature than in nightlife and fancy dining.
Thank you very much for any help you care to give.
Posted by
Lake District, England
6022 posts
It would make most sense to come down the west side of Scotland and England.
The M6 is a long way west of Manchester, so you don't skirt the centre. It then cuts basically straight through Birmingham before the junctions to the M5 for Bristol and the M40 for Oxford and London.
If you do come down through Northumberland I came across a leaflet today about a new Visitor Attraction at Wooler- which has not featured on this forum.
It is called Ad Gefrin and opened in 2023. There is a whisky distillery and local craft shop there. The centrepiece is a museum about the history of the Kingdom of Northumbria- and it's Kings and Queens. There are many historical artifacts there including the Castle Eden claw beaker (from the British Museum) and square headed brooches loaned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust + finds from the site of the Palace of Ad Gefrin.
Ad Gefrin (or Yeavering) was one of several Royal residences, using a site that had been occupied since the Bronze Age. The palace was attacked and destroyed in the 8th century and lost to history until found in 1949.
The site itself (as opposed to the new Visitor Attraction) apparently has a number of information boards and a walking trail round it, although there is little to see above ground.
So there's an interesting bit of history for you.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you! I agree that it makes most sense to come down the west side of Scotland but, having read so many delightful descriptions of the Northumbrian coast, wondered if we should go east instead. I’m grateful for the information about the new Northumbria attraction and the rediscovered Bronze Age settlement. Guess we’ll just have to come up with the best algorithm for available time/great spots to visit/shortest distances.
Again, thanks for taking the time to give me some pointers.
Posted by
Lake District, England
6022 posts
If you came down the East Coast I think I would choose to stay in Berwick upon Tweed and are wanting Northumbria, for maybe 3 nights- a town full of it's Border History.
I would do Wooler on the last day, then take the B roads across towards Hexham or Haltwhistle and cross the Pennines on the A69, rather than trekking south for the M62.
If you are into your nature, why not go to Allen Banks and Staward Gorge, near Bardon Mill.
On the back road on the South side of the Tyne, near Allen Banks, just after a village called Beltingham there is a little nature reserve- which is Calaminarian grassland- a very unusual kind of terrain (just 93 hectares apparently in the UK) where rare plants thrive on ground heavily contaminated by heavy metals from the former mining industry in the area. I was there yesterday and it was just beautiful.
From there the obvious would be to stay in Carlisle or Penrith for the night then "hit the Lake District" the next day. Or Bardon Mill would be a nice place to spend the night at the Bowes Hotel. It is a nice village with an old Pottery (with a factory shop), village green and rather nice tearooms/craft shop.
However I would be inclined to head up the A686 and overnight in Alston- with it's interesting lead mining history. You could spend a full day in that area visiting Killhope and Nenthead (and the narrow gauge steam railway)- then over the Hartside Pass to Penrith for your final night and the Lake District.
Before settling in for the night at Penrith why not visit the interesting Greystoke Church, and even use the heated outdoor village swimming pool.
Also by then Greystoke Castle might be open for tourists for the first time for ever- a developing story currently.
From Penrith it's a straight shot to the Cotswolds, but on the way down you could deviate to Acorn Bank (near Temple Sowerby) and Appleby, then over to Tebay and Kendal to join the M6 south.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Once again, thank you so much. I got out my table-sized map and plotted the routes you suggested, the one to Berwick on Tweed and then south to Hexall (and Hadrian’s wall, which I’d hoped to see) and then on over the mountains to Penrith and the Lake District. If my traveling companions agree, that’s probably the way we’ll go. As always there is so much to see and too little time. I love the bits of history you included, especially regarding the Northumbrian museum.
Cheers to you!