Posts

Autumn colours, Northumberland National Park

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The lovely autumn colours of 2018 are beginning to fade, as the leaves continue to fall. This is one of my favourite times of the year. The last week of October and the first week of November see the climax of the autumn in Northumberland before the days become ever shorter and the landscape changes into the more subdued colours of winter. This view looks across the North Tyne valley near Bellingham, towards Callerhues Crags, with the Hesleyside woods in the foreground, and is in the 2019 Seasons of Northumberland calendar. I’ve heard rumours of a cold winter ahead and am looking forward to some fine frosty days after this very mild autumn. This weekend I’ll be at the Christmas Fair at The Sill on Hadrian’s Wall, the National Landscape Discovery Centre – hope to see you there!

Furry Christmas

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And now for something completely different….

Every year, our daughters Bronwen and Awena have been making an advent calendar for us, and each year as they progressed through school, the calendars grew more sophisticated as their artistic skills developed. Each year, before they cut the windows for the advent calendar, the design was scanned and then made into  Christmas cards to send to friends. This year, we decided to try them out as published cards, and they have just arrived this week from the printers. In the girls’ own words: “The design of this card is derived from advent calendars which we created every year for our family, depicting the many pets we grew up with over the years, and the wildlife around our home in the heart of Northumberland National Park. Any resemblance to real places is entirely intentional!”

The Sill Christmas Fair

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Yesterday’s Christmas Fair at The Sill was a great success, with beautiful weather in the morning (sunny and frosty), lots of visitors, choirs, snowy owl, lots of great products on sale and a very happy and enthusiastic atmosphere. Many thanks to the organisers!

The Sill is the UK’s National Landscape Discovery Centre at Once Brewed in the Northumberland National Park. The building is the result of an innovative partnership between Northumberland National Park and YHA England and Wales. Named after the nearby Great Whin Sill, the centre is the result of a partnership between Northumberland National Park, Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales) and the Heritage Lottery Fund, which supported the development with a £7.8m grant.

This image shows the River Coquet from the bridge at Hepple, and is available to buy as Christmas card from the website.

New Hexham Christmas cards

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There are now two new Christmas cards of Hexham and Hexham Abbey, which have just been produced as single cards –  160x160mm square – and they look absolutely gorgeous. The printers (Continuous Design Ltd) have done a beautiful job, and the cards are now available to order from this website or you can buy at the Card Shop in the Market Place, Hexham, Northumberland.

Northumberland International Dark Sky Park

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Northumberland International Dark Sky Park is the largest area of protected night sky in Europe, covering 572 square miles (1,483 square kilometres). The area was awarded gold status designation in 2013 by the International Dark Sky Association in Tucson, Arizona, the world authority on light pollution. This status means that controls are now  in place to prevent light pollution and to protect the night sky. This is a new Christmas card taken in the park (in fact it’s a view up the track from my house) and we have recently had some beautiful clear and starry nights and also aurora borealis or Northern Lights.

The Sill Christmas Fair

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The Sill is the UK’s National Landscape Discovery Centre at Once Brewed in the Northumberland National Park. The building is the result of an innovative partnership between Northumberland National Park and YHA England and Wales. Named after the nearby Great Whin Sill, the centre is the result of a partnership between Northumberland National Park, Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales) and the Heritage Lottery Fund, which supported the development with a £7.8m grant.

The first Christmas Fair will take place on 19 November, and I will be part of the  showcase of local produce and handmade crafts, with my Northumberland Winter Christmas cards, Seasons of Northumberland calendar, greeting cards and prints. A great way to pick out some handcrafted Christmas presents made in the North East. We’ll have entertainment for all the family and fantastic festive food in the Sill cafe.

 

New Christmas card designs 2017

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The new cards are arriving tomorrow, after some delay at the printers. There are now fifty designs available in the Northumberland Winter Christmas card range, covering Hadrian’s Wall, the North and South Tyne valleys, Cheviot Hills, Simonside Hills, the Northumberland Coast and castle – Dunstanburgh, Bamburgh, Alnwick – the ever popular red squirrel, Northumberland National Park, Kielder, Hexham, and Northumberland International Dark Sky Park. This image shows a lone ash tree on the fells near Bellingham on a snowy winter evening.

New Christmas cards of Northumberland

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There are some new designs available this year, which have just been sent to the printers, and will be on sale sometime next week. Climate change seems to be causing much milder winters, so winter photography with snow and frost is now something of a rarity, even in Northumberland. So the new cards are from images made during the two cold winters of 2009-2011. This view shows the River Coquet from the bridge at Hepple, looking towards the Simonside Hills in the Northumberland National Park on a very cold morning with a temperature of about minus 15 degrees C.

Northumberland Winter

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Early days yet, but for those who are looking out for distinctive Christmas cards, there are more than forty designs available in the Northumberland Winter card range. They are supplied in packs of ten cards, with subjects ranging from Hadrian’s Wall to the Northumberland Coast, Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh and Alnwick Castles, the North Tyne, South Tyne and Coquet valleys, Kielder, red squirrels, and winter scenes across the Northumberland National Park.

New website

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Well it’s not really a ‘new’ site – much of the content is the same, though some superfluous content has been removed, and some new content will be added in the weeks ahead. The aim is to make the site as easy to use as possible so that buying a card or a calendar will not be a complicated and frustrating ordeal trying to work out the next step! And also to try and make an attractive website that is a pleasure to use and interesting for the viewer, whilst keeping it simple and uncluttered. There will soon be some new products beyond Northumberland, such as new greeting cards based on the sea, and on India. Meanwhile, all the regular products are available: Seasons of Northumberland calendars, Northumberland greetings cards, Northbumberland Winter christmas cards, Mindful Moments, Cherish the Earth, Earth Light and Time cards, and the notelet cards of Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland National Park, nature, Northumberland Coast and Hexham Abbey.

As always Terry Walsh (twda.co.uk) has been really helpful in giving advice and doing all the technical bits and making it all look so easy. Thanks Terry!