Stayin Northumberland News!

The 2018 Active Northumberland Kielder Marathon received a boost as the first entrant to sign up for the challenge was none other than Father Christmas. He took time out from his busy winter schedule to meet up with the organiser of the Marathon, Steve Cram the former Olympic athlete and medal winner.

Plans are at an advanced stage to reintroduce the Eurasian lynx to Kielder Forest in Northumberland after an absence of thirteen hundred years. The Lynx UK Trust polled the general public in the area in 2015 to find out their views on bringing back the lynx to the forest.

In June of 2017 the Northumberland National Park will open to the public the National Landscape Discovery Centre known as The Sill. This will give a great boost to tourism in the area and is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors every year.

The largest ever event to be organised for Northumberland has been hailed a huge success as the Blyth tall ships regatta went off without a hitch, bringing a boost to the local economy.

If you were asked to name famous Golf Courses in the UK, Gleneagles could be a name that springs to mind, but would you think of the Pennines as having a golf course? Probably not but that is all about to change because my dear golfing companions The Pennines Golf Trail has come into being to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pennine Way.

Summer time is Festival time, we know about Glastonbury, T in the Park, Leeds, the list is endless, these are of course mainly for the rock n roll types amongst us but don't forget about the genre of Folk music. It was here long before the Stones or the Beatles came to be and happily it is still popular today.

Northumberland is not only a beautiful part of England, it is also known for the Northumberland Music Festival which happens during October and November.  And the place where it is all happening is Doxford Hall which is at Chathill, Alnwick, home to the Robert Parker Collection, worth a visit on its own merits.

These days you don't have to actually play guitar to be famous, just looking like you can play one has been enough to land twenty one year old Rebecca Flynn the gig of all gigs for her so far.  Rebecca fought off stiff competition to become Air Guitar Star and on Saturday she will take to the stage with eighties rock band Doctor and Medics to mime Spirit in the Sky.