Happening right now is a project, based on Blyth’s quayside, to restore a tall ship. This will be adopted as Blyth’s very own vessel. The venture aims to provide skills and a confidence-boosting initiative to young people who would probably otherwise be unemployed and without any training opportunities. It is using Blyth’s heritage to move into the future by recreating the exploits of one of Blyth’s former pioneers, Capt William Smith, by sailing to Antarctica.
You will have no doubt read much about the project, the recent Royal visit and may even have welcomed the boat to her new home at Blyth Port. If not this video captured the event:
John Wallace in his "History of Blyth", which was written within living memory of Capt William Smith in 1862, gives a good account of this adventure. He also gives an even more exciting account of the fate of Smith's Daughter and son-in-law at the hands of African natives. This is it:
"Mr. William Smith had his name brought prominently before the public in 1820, by some naval officers on the coasts of South America reporting home that an Antarctic continent, or long series of Islands, of whose existence an ancient rumour is reported, had been discovered by Captain William Smith, of the brig, William, of Blyth.
It had always been the custom for our trading vessels to keep as near as possible to Cape Horn, in passing into the Pacific. Mr. Smith, in a voyage from Monte Video to Valparaiso, rounded the Horn in a high southern latitude, and fell in with a line of coast, which he followed for two or three hundred miles, and which he named New South Shetland; he landed and took possession of it in the name of His Britannic Majesty. The extent of this group is from 54 to 65 west longitude, and from 61 to 64 south latitude. It consists of numerous islands without a vestige of vegetation, except a species of moss, and in a few solitary spots something resembling grass. The interior is mountainous, and covered with eternal snow. A species of coal was found which burnt well. He passed large bays, which abounded in spermaceti whales ; seals were extremely plentiful, and shrimps and penguins were numerous beyond description. The large islands are five in number. Some of the harbours are very good ; vessels in them being land-locked. After landing at Valparaiso, he made his discovery known to the British naval authorities there, and a party of naval officers accompanied him in his vessel to verify and certify to his discovery, and New South Shetland has since appeared on the maps of the world.
Mr. Smith was master of the Lady Ridley of Blyth, in 1801; he continued in her for some years, and in 1815 became part owner of the William; in this vessel he proceeded to South America. The Spanish possessions in South America had just thrown off the yoke of the mother country, and the ports of those extensive countries were opened to British ships and commerce. Smith engaged in this trade, and it was in one of his voyages into the Pacific that he made this discovery. No profit arose to him from his discovery, and after spending some years in trading to the ports of South America, he returned to Blyth a poorer man than when he left it. He afterwards became a North Sea pilot, and resided in London.
I cannot conclude this account of Smith without noticing the strange circumstances under which a daughter of his met her death. She was the wife of Mr. Christopher Short. Having no family, Mrs. S. went to sea with her husband for many years, and had thus visited most parts of the world. Short was master of the Mary Florence, and was taking a cargo of coals to Aden; they had nearly reached their port, when the ship grounded two miles south of Graurdifu, on the African side of the entrance to the Red Sea. The chief officer's account of the affair is as follows : —
We remained by the wreck three days, during which time the natives appeared friendly ; Capt. Short, fearing the ship might go to pieces, sent me on shore to receive his wife; after Mrs. S. came on shore, I left her with the second officer, the steward, and three seamen, and went on board and had some conversation with Capt. S. I returned on shore with one of the chronometers ; in about half an hour I tried again to go on board, but the natives cut the line, and let me into the surf. I was making all haste towards the beach, when I met Mrs. S. wading up to the knees in the water, crying, and telling me that the natives had taken the rings off her fingers, and had chased her into the sea. I then swam out to wards the wreck, and hailed for them to send a boat, which they did, but without any one in her and without oars, however, we put Mrs. S. into her, and tried to pull off with the loose thwarts and the keel planks. After getting pretty well through the surf, the boat unfortunately swamped; I then got hold of Mrs. S. and tried to swim to land with her, but a heavy sea parted us; as soon as I could I turned round to see what had become of her, but it now being dark I saw nothing more of her; I then did my utmost to reach the shore, which I was enabled to do, thank God. I now found that the steward and one seaman were all that were saved, Mrs. S. and the others having met a watery grave.
On the day after this Mr. Short left the wreck in the long boat with that portion of the crew that had remained on board, without seeking any intercourse with those on shore, and, of course, ignorant of what had become of Mrs. S. and the people that were with her. He directed his course to Aden, where the chief officer joined him a month afterwards, and told him of the fate of his wife. Christopher Short was a native of Blyth, and belonged to a branch of the family of the Shorts of the Link-end. After the above mishap he gave up the sea, and became an examiner in the Local Marine Board at Newcastle."
[This information below, and much more, is available on the interactive map by clicking on the points of interest marked by icons. This post is probably best viewed on a laptop etc rather than a mobile device which may take a few seonds to load, but it will still work. Or, expand the map and view it as a stand-alone item.]
Apart from the River Blyth and its tributary the River Pont, the source of which lies further West from the estuary than the source of the River Blyth itself, there are twenty-six named burns and sikes which feed into the River Blyth. This is about the interesting sites and settlements along the valleys that share a common connection and heritage.
The River Blyth is about 32km (19.9m) in a direct line from source to mouth. It is 44.9km (27.9m) travelling along the river.
The River Pont is 37km (23m) in a direct line. It is 32.7km (20.32m) from source to confluence approx.
Second Bridge over the River Blyth looking towards the source
It is a smaller cousin of its neighbour the River Tyne which is approximately 107km (66.5m) from the source of the North Tyne near Keilder to the mouth. The River Blyth rises near Kirkheaton at about 200 metres (656ft) above sea level, not much less than the source of the Tyne as it happens.
The Port of Blyth is an artificial harbour which was once fordable near the mouth of the river, similar to the way the River Wansbeck continues to be.
[Video explaining rising of a river... Tees]
It is often said that Northumberland is the county of castles. But it is also a county of stately homes and no area more so than the Valley of the River Blyth and its tributaries. In the turbulent and violent times of medieval Northumberland every person with the means to do so built a defensible dwelling. This was usually a tower house. Most townships or manorial estates had a resident landholder and therefore most townships had a tower house at its centre. In the more peaceful times of the 17th-18th centuries these tower houses were replaced by country houses. Often the house was built onto the tower as at Belsay and Ponteland. After the civil war many towers were pulled down completely and a home built in its place as at Capheaton and these were often by new landholders who had come from the merchant class as at Blagdon where the Ridley family purchased the property of the ancient Fenwick family whose fortunes had wained.
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Capheaton
The How Burn rises at Sir Edward's Lake which is part of the Capheaton Hall estate. Capheaton Hall, built by Trollope, the builder of Netherwitton Hall and Newcastle Guildhall, according to Pevsner, was "...the first unfortified substantial house to be built in Northumberland" after the violent and turbulent middle ages and Civil War period. The Swinburnes, a knightly family of the major Bywell Barony of the de Baliols, had been in possession of the estate since the late 13th century, although their main residence at first was Gunnerton and Swinburne in the Chollerton area. The Swinburnes became well connected and married into several of the other local gentry families thereby extending their landed estates. They backed Charles I during the Civil War and ended up being exiled when the King was beheaded. They returned during the reign of Charles II and built the hall in 1688. The Swinburnes were staunch Catholics, but luckily for them their lands were not sequestered during the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. The leading Swinburne was on his death bed attended by his sons who played no part in the rebellion. The Earl of Derwentwater was a cousin of the Swinburnes who led the rebellion. He paid with his life, and land, part of which were what we now know as Blyth Town. By 1763 Capheaton was inherited by Sir Edward Swinburne who created the lake and carried out substantial improvements to the house. Still owned by descendants today it is now a hotel and wedding venue. The stately hall was built on the site of a fortified tower which was in existence by 1415. It was moated and had a drawbridge and carried a beacon on the roof to warn of danger from reivers in the area. This was obviously a quite substantial dwelling. The Swinburnes were also in possession of the neighbouring township of Stamfordham.
Sir Edward Lake Capheaton
Kirkheaton
Gentry-status superior bastle house of the 16th century but later extended in the 18th century.
Devil's Causeway
A roman road which ran across this exact spot passing by Great Whittington and Hartburn on its course from the military road to Scotland. Earthworks are visible at Hartburn.
Harnham Hall Buddhist Monastery
Between the How Burn and Blyth at Harnham is the Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery, opened in 1981, a "monastic residence for about eight sangha members and adjacent lay retreat". www.ratanagiri.org.uk
At the rear of the present house stands a medieval hall. A tower house was here between 1412-15. Part of it was pulled down in 1500 and a manor house built up against it.
Shortflatt Tower
Now a luxury wedding venue it is on a lovely walking route near Bolam Lake and Shaftoe Craggs. A large pele tower, licence to crenellate was granted to Robert de Reymes in 1305. It was purchased by the Hedley-Dents in the mid 18th century and was inhabited as a family home until recently. It has been improved upon in recent centuries and a habitable wing added to the large tower. www.northoftyne.co.uk/shaftoewalk
Stamfordham
One of the larger villages in the valley it has an association with the Swinburne family of Capheaton as landholders dating back to 1399. A pretty village with an archaic wide village green it is a popular drop in for travellers and tourists especially the Swinburne Arms pub. The Village Lock up, in a prominent place, is an unusual and rare curiosity which dates to the early 19th century. The original chains are still in place on the walls. It was a place for prisoners to be held before a JP could be summoned to deal with the indicted, mostly drunks. It is believed there was an earlier building on the same site. There is mention of a fortified tower house in 1415 although it no longer exists. It is believed the Swinburnes built the tower as a residence for the vicar which was the major parochial centre of the area.
Stamfordham Lock Up
Belsay Castle and Hall
Between the Coal Burn and Ogle Burn it is one of the major historical properties and attractions in the area and is managed by English Heritage. It was owned by the influential knightly family of Middleton who added a habitable wing to a large medieval tower in the early 17th century. And then in the 18th century built a fine hall, which is now a major tourist attraction.There is much in the way of archaeology and structures of note including Bantam Folly within the estate. This is an ornamental farm building.
Matfen
One of the prettiest, unspoilt, villages in Northumberland, populated by only a few hundred people. It has a picturesque pub and church and now also boasts an outdoor adventure centre. The township came into the possession of the Blackett family at the turn of the 17th century. They were rich merchants of Newcastle, a street acknowledges their influence even today in the city. They built Matfen Hall on the site of an earlier Jacobean house, the residence of the previous landholders the Douglas family, between 1832-5. Soon after they constructed high-quality housing in a self-contained community as an estate village for their workers. The Blackett arms adorn one building in the village with the motto "nous travaillerons en esperance (we will labour in hope). The residents purchased the old red telephone box when it was no longer needed, carried out renovation and turned it into a tourist information hub. The ancient and important family of Fenwick had their seat from the 12th century at Fenwick Tower, Matfen. This was described as having covered a considerable space with more than one tower. The licence to crenellate was granted in 1378. The tower was largely demolished in 1775 and a hoard of buried gold coins was found. The Fenwicks had sold the estate to the Blacketts in 1659 due to financial problems. They took up residence at Wallington and later built a stately home in place of the medieval tower. North Fenwick farmhouse, near Matfen was a late 16th to early 17th century bastle house.
Matfen
Ouston Airfield
Opened as RAF Ouston in 1941. It was first home to Polish Fighter Squadron No 317 who were equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. They sent a Junkers JU88 into the North Sea on the 2nd June of that year, their first kill. After the war it was used as a training facility. During the Cold War, to be made more operationally ready, a runway was extended to 6,000ft. In 1967 Ouston acted as the regional airport for a period of five months when the runway at Newcastle was being renovated and extended. It was for a time during the early 1960s used as a motor racing circuit with both Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart attending meetings here. The airfield fell into disuse when the British Army Albermarle Barracks was sited here in the 1970s.
East Matfen Deserted Medieval Village
Remains of a village and field system can be seen as earthworks, especially from aerial photography. It had a large village green with houses facing onto this. In the 17th century the landholder moved the inhabitants to other nearby settlements and turned this area into parkland.
Cheesburn Grange
It is now a contemporary art, design and culture centre in a grand country house and estate built by John Dobson in 1813 for owner Ralph Liddell. The Riddels were a gentry family from Swinburne Castle on the Tyne. The present owners are descendants. A grange was an outlying farm of a monastic institution, in this case it was granted to Hexham Priory. It was one of two granges belonging to Hexham Priory on this stretch of river. It was disposed of in the 16th centuries on the dissolution of the monasteries. (See Milbourne Grange)
Middle Newham Deserted Medieval Village
One of many DMV sites in the area. Earthworks near Middle Newham Farm (There are also East and West Newham farms) indicates a medieval settlement on both sides of the road with remains of at least eight properties. The evidence of medieval farming also still exists in the form of ridge and furrow.
Dissington Old Hall beside Medburn Village
Pevsner wrote: "A walled garden of the early 17th century is all that remains of the original manor house. In the garden two broken 17th century statues". The current Dissington Hall is now an enterprise hub and conference centre, privately owned from 1968. The house was commissioned by mine owner, from Chirton, North Shields, Edward Collingwood and was completed in 1797. The Delaval family owned Dissington from the 12th century. It was part of the barony of Callerton, which also included Seaton Delaval. A junior branch of the family were resident here, but in the late 17th century this branch of the Delavals came into possession of the Seaton Delaval estate. They sold the estate to a kinsman Edward Collingwood. Even when the descendant namesake Edward Collingwood, a 60 year old bachelor, built the new hall in 1797, he still preferred Chirton Hall as his main residence.
Beacon near Cadgers Burn
The cairn on Beacon Hill may have been the site of a beacon or large fire used for sending signals throughout the country. There are several such probable beacons listed in this area. Often they were placed on the top of a tall building, as at Capheaton Castle. A chain of them was lit to warn residents of incoming raiders during the turbulent period of the 14th - 16th centuries.
Ogle Castle
The Ogles were a knightly and influential family in this area since prior to the Conquest in 1066. There are considerable remains and earthworks of their former moated castle and village, now a farm site, which in 1632 comprised 16 houses. They were given a licence to crenellate in 1341. The Ogles had another base at Bothal Castle on the River Wansbeck.
Kirkley Hall
Is a 17th century country mansion which came into the possession of the Ogle family during this century. In 1946 it was acquired by Northumberland County Council and became an agricultural college. It now is also home to a small zoo. In 1788 the Rev Newton Ogle erected an obelisk commemorating the accession of William and Mary in 1689.
The manor of Kirkley was granted to the de Eure family in 1267 and Sir William Eure was recorded as in occupation of a tower house there in 1415. In the early 17th century the manor came into the ownership of the Ogle family and in 1632 Cuthbert Ogle built a new manor house close to the site of the old house.
The house was substantially rebuilt by The Reverend John Saville Ogle in about 1832.
Kirkley Obelisk
Ponteland
Lies on one of the main highways between Newcastle and Scotland. The Blackbird Inn was the manor house of the Errington family and includes a former pele tower. The Erringtons were a major gentry family especially from the 17th century in the Tyne Valley. A truce between England and Scotland is rumoured to have been negotiated here in 1244. It was said to have been destroyed by Douglas in 1388 while being pursued north by Harry Hotspur prior to the Battle of Otterburn. The river bank has now been turned into a picturesque park and walk. Occupied from 1325 the tower was bought and restored in 1580 by the Earls of Athol where a Jacobean mansion house was built incorporating the tower. It was lived in until 1788 when it became a public house.
Ponteland Park
Stannington
Another major village which was a crossing point on a main route between Newcastle and Scotland. A picturesque village it had a church here by 1190. The present church dates from 1871. Two former hospitals were built just to the North of Stannington.
Stannington Children's Sanitorium
The first purpose-built children's tuberculosis sanatorium in the UK. The hospital open in 1907.
Site of St Mary's Mental Health Lunatic Asylum
Whitehouse Farm
This opened as a visitor centre in 1997. Later a zoo licence was obtained.
Tranwell Airfield
Known as RAF Morpeth during WWII. It was a training site. Some buildings and archaeology still remain but it is now used as a site for a Sunday car boot sale and point-to-point racing.
Blagdon Hall
The home of the Ridley family, peers of the realm since 1900. The Ridleys purchased the estate, and Blyth estate in 1723, and were entrepreneurial in the development of these lands. The Fenwick family of Matfen were the owners in medieval times. The manor was said to be "... of a status to expect a manor house but there is no evidence that the previous manor house was fortified in any way."
Blagdon as a private home is not usually open to the public. It is an extensive estate with many businesses and tenants operating from here. It was tenants who organised an open day of the grounds, to raise funds for the Red Cross, that I visited recently. The house is a seven-bay, three-storey ashlar built mansion begun shortly after 1692 when the Fenwicks sold the property to Matthew White, merchant of Newcastle.
The gardens are centred around the Snitter Burn which has been dammed in a couple of places to form a lake. Three bridges and stepping stones ford the Snitter Burn. Lining the lake at various points are a chapel, summer house, temple and an ice house. A garden was made from the quarry which was used to provide the building materials for the house. It features a chapel with various inscriptions to the Ridley family. Other plaques commemorating Ridley family members can also be found at other locations around the estate. Other delights include a walled garden, ornamental sky lake and a pair of bulls on plinths.
Hartford Hall
was built in 1807 for mine owner and political writer William Burdon. The estate was owned by Tynemouth Priory in medieval times who leased it to a single sheep farmer.
Humford Woods
The site of the confluence of the Horton Burn and the River Blyth is the site for a park and picnic area. It once was a working mill site and settlement and even had an outdoor swimming pool at one stage.
Plessey Woods Country Park
The confluence of the Pegwhistle Burn and the River Blyth, a former quarry with a house built into the quarry face and coal mining area has now been turned into a country park managed by the local authority. An art trail has recently been installed here.
