Wednesday 23 July 2014

ROMAN Corbridge,


It's a great road, the A69 - I always enjoy the dead, straight, westerly direction and you get some fab views of rolling countryside and high, towering sky-scapes.  Summer really is the time to travel, to put the air-con on and watch the tall grasses and the pink rosebay willowherb swaying in the verges.  Holiday Time at last!

We parked on Helen Street ( first 30 minutes are free then 50 p an hour) because, as usual, the centre of this ancient town with its narrow streets was crammed tight with tourists and shoppers. How could it not be?  It is exquisite.



The warm honey-coloured sandstone, whether squarely dressed or roughly hewn, has created an interesting yet entirely coherent mixture of buildings.  It feels as if the  history of the area- roman, medieval, Victorian and modern - has been condensed and homogenised.  Indeed, at The Tower, we passed a stone cross that had first been erected in roman times and was renovated in the 1970s.



Coffee and pudding at Il Piccolo was as delicious and relaxing as ever (this Italian restaurant has my custom once a year at least, when an old college friend and I meet up to chew the cud) and then we trod the streets, visiting the shops.

Corbridge is good for: jewellery; galleries; pretty lady-gardening shops; material; art ( my new favourite is Delight and Wisdom, where I bought Mod Podge of Pinterest fame); sweeties; bread (see Grants- yum! look out for the Italian meringues, which are amazing); clothes (Katie Kerr's is a long term favourite and she has a sale just now); books (The Forum) and last but certainly not least, JFWalton's hardware store.  I did notice lots of little tea or coffee shops around the place too but I don't know them- yet!



This was a very harmonious experience;  Corbridge is more than nice; it is a time capsule living in its own dimension; it pulls like gravity; if you come once, you'll be forever in its orbit.  Which reminds me of the saying: all roads lead to Corbridge- cos lots of local roads do show the sign TO CORBRIDGE.

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