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.

 

November calendar view

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The Seasons of Northumberland calendar this year has a view of Lindisfarne seen from Bamburgh Castle on a very windy day with huge waves in the North Sea pounding the Northumberland Coast. Although Holy Island is some miles away, a telephoto lens foreshortens the view and shows Lindisfarne Castle above the surf crashing on the shore rocks.

Sycamore Gap

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The iconic Sycamore Gap is a favourite location, and one of the most famous places along Hadrian’s Wall in the Northumberland National Park. A walk last November resulted in a new image which has just been used for the front cover of the current edition of the Northumbrian magazine.

Autumn in Northumberland

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I don’t think this has been a very colourful autumn compared to previous years. 2016 was very good for autumn colour, this year is distinctly quieter in terms of colour, but there is still time for colours to deepen before more leaves fall in the next gale. This year’s Seasons of Northumberland calendar has a view of beech woodland in Northumberland National Park for the month of October. It’s actually only two minutes walk from my house and the woods have some magnificent ancient oaks, beeches, Scots pine and larch. In the recent storm, a huge beech limb came crashing down about 20 yards from the house, fortunately far enough away to cause no damage.

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.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

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Autumn can be one of the most beautiful seasons of the year, and in Northumberland, the peak of the autumn colours is usually in the last week of October and the first week of November. Misty autumn morning always bring to mind the famous poem ‘To Autumn’ by John Keats, written in 1819. This view shows Hexham Abbey on a fine autumn morningm with mist across the Tyne valley, which was in the Seasons of Northumberland calendar a couple of years ago. Today, the sun is shining and there is the promise of a fine day, with exceptionally warm temperatures as Hurricane Ophelia approaches from the Atlantic.

 

Prints of Northumberland

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Prints make an ideal present for birthdays or Christmas, and there is a good range of Northumberland prints available. One of the most popular images is the starry skies over Sycamore Gap (in the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park), but the range includes Hadrian’s Wall, the Northumberland Coast and the famous castles at Alnwick,  Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh. The mounted prints are supplied ready to frame.

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.

Seasons of Northumberland 2018

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The Seasons of Northumberland calendar 2018 is now available from this website, and from retail outlets across the regio. The 2018 calendar features views of Northumberland through the seasons of the year, including Bamburgh Castle, Alnwick Castle, Northumberland National Park, Hadrian’s Wall, puffin (Farne Islands), River South Tyne, Padon Monument, and Embleton Bay.

It makes a great Christmas present for family and friends in Northumberland and beyond, and many Northumbrians living around the world.