Northumberland

by Tony Hopkins

Published 28 March 2002
In the wilds of the Border country. Hadrian's Wall runs along the crest of the Whin Sill while drifts of prairie and forest lead to the North Tyne valley and Redesdale. Today's military training area at Otterburn reminds us that the Romans were not the first, nor the last, soldiers to find themselves stationed in this wilderness. The heather-covered Simonside Hills are home to emperor moths, grouse and curlews. The Cheviot Hills are a rolling massif of 'white land', a long-extinct volcano with a granite heart, covered by a tracery of prehistoric settlements and field systems. Exploring the sweeping hills of the Northumberland National Park, where the far horizons melt into scudding cloud and sunshine, can be an intense and surprising experience. The Pevensey National Park series of guide books celebrates the beauty and diversity of our National Parks through stunning photographs from some of the finest landscape photographers in Britain, accompanied by evocative and authoritative text from an acknowledged expert on each Park. The series has the official endorsement and backing of the individual National Park, and the Association of National Park Authorities.