We have a lovely friend who has recently moved to Northumbria and purchased a small holiday let. She had diligently decorated it and got it all ready, but needed a pair of guinea pigs to give it a final once over before it goes public, so she gave us a call.
So on a warmish, but overcast late Thursday afternoon in April, once we had finished work, we piled our luggage and a surprised Dog into the car and set off in a north easterly direction. We seemed to have packed for a month’s trekking in the Himalayas rather than just 5 days in northern England, with an assortment of bags piled high on the back seat of Newcastle, but this being England, you have to pack for every weather condition imaginable, knowing that you will get at least two of them in one day!
We drove on back roads for some reason (flipping Satnavs) and then finally found ourselves on the M6 motorway heading towards Carlisle. We picked up the A69 which abruptly sent us eastwards, managed to miss a couple of turnings, so ended up skirting the west of Newcastle, ploughed up the A1 before forking off and heading towards the little village of Powburn. We arrived around 7.30, managing to miss the entrance as we hadn’t looked at the instructions and after doing a nifty U turn, parked outside, feeling rather excited.
I love the feeling of opening the door of your holiday home and seeing it in real time. We walked into a large kitchen diner and did a quick investigation of the rooms before emptying the car of the many bags and hunger started to take hold. The cottage is small, compact and beautiful with exposed stone walls and beams, it oozes charm and cosiness. It’s lovely. While pizzas and garlic bread cooked gently in the oven we nested, opened a bottle of wine and toasted the start of a long overdue break .This was perfect. We snuggled down in the lounge and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we begin our holiday cottage road test and start to think where we can go and explore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powburn
apathtosomewhere 