Castles of Northumberland's Coast

by Debra Brown

I requested my friend Sophie Keates-Gazey to write a post about the area in which she lives for another blog some years ago. She had told me that the northern English coast is littered with castles, and I thought it only fair that she share them! Besides Sophie's having delighted me with her writing (a favorite poem is on her blog), she is married to an amazing photographer. I appreciate his willingness to share some of the incredible work he has done with us all. Though I have been out of touch with Sophie for some time, I see that the photography site is being updated. I know that you will want to visit there to see more. A link follows the post.

And now, Sophie's words:

I was delighted when Debbie invited me to write a guest post for her lovely blog. Apart from being a huge compliment, it also gave me an opportunity to reflect on my immediate environment, and to appreciate it anew.

Northumberland is the northernmost county in England, having a border with Scotland and a beautiful, spacious, sandy stretch of North Sea coastline. It is one of the largest counties in England, but one of the most sparsely populated, due mainly to much of its landscape being composed of rugged moorland, more suited to our hardy breeds of sheep than to human habitation!

This is a county rich in history, vulnerable over the centuries to attacks by Viking raiders from Scandinavia, and, closer to home, by clans of brutal livestock rustlers along the Scottish border, known as 'reivers'. One testament to this turbulent history is the concentration of castles on and near its coast. They are in varying states of repair, but each has a unique story to tell.

The craggy remains of Dunstanburgh Castle, on its cliff-top

Of all the castles in the area, Dunstanburgh Castle is the least well-preserved, and arguably the most atmospheric. See it on the horizon and you can understand why it is often described as looking like a mouthful of ravaged teeth.

Dunstanburgh Castle was built as a response to regular and punishing raids from the Scots in the 14th century. Its thick walls, and its position - much of the castle sits on top of cliffs with a sheer drop to the sea - provided excellent protection from attack.

The castle actually fell into ruin centuries ago. As early as 1538, it was described as being a 'very reuynus howsse and of smalle strength'. As its decline continued, its stones were plundered for new building projects.

Ruined it may be, but JMW Turner celebrated Dunstanburgh in watercolour, and today it stands noble and romantic on a beautiful coastal walk between Craster and Embleton Bay.

Another of Northumberland's castles which withstood raids by the Scots was Bamburgh, further up the coast from Dunstanburgh. The first fortress was actually built on this site in the 6th century, though nothing now remains of it, and the existing red sandstone structure, which sits on top of a volcanic outcrop, was begun in the 11th century.

Bamburgh Castle, basking in afternoon sunlight

Bamburgh holds the dubious honour of being the first castle in England to have been breached by gunfire (during the Wars of the Roses - 1455-85), and this was the beginning of its decline. However, thanks to a series of forward-thinking owners in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was restored. It was eventually purchased by the industrialist William (later Lord) Armstrong, who completed the restoration.

The castle still belongs to the Armstrong family, and makes for an interesting visit. Unlike Dunstanburgh, this building is intact, and the visitor can explore finely-decorated state rooms with their ornate furniture, tapestries and paintings, as well as humbler (and perhaps more interesting) domestic rooms such as the kitchen and laundry.

Further inland, the magnificent 11th century Alnwick Castle has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Northumberland since 1309. Familiar to many as Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter films, it is still very much a family home. Walk into the beautiful library, for instance, and there are family photographs on the occasional tables, along with much of the paraphernalia you would expect in a room which is regularly used and enjoyed.

The majestic Alnwick Castle, from across the River Aln

Alnwick Castle is warm and inviting, and it really is possible to imagine living here, in contrast with many other castles and stately homes, which can feel big, remote, intimidating and far from homely.

But for situation, romance and cosiness, the prize must surely go to Lindisfarne Castle, the most northerly of those featured here, and not far from the Scottish border at Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Lindisfarne Castle, perched on its rocky outcrop

Lindisfarne (also known as Holy Island) is connected to the mainland by a causeway which is only accessible twice a day, at low tide. And disaster awaits anyone silly enough to ignore the (large, graphic, unmissable...) warning signs at its entrance: every year lots of people do, and their cars are usually engulfed, and written off, when the North Sea suddenly sweeps in. (Drivers have become stranded 15 times so far in 2011, and a staggering 180 times since 2000, at massive expense to the rescue services.)

Lindisfarne Causeway, complete with rescue hut!

Anyway, to the Castle. It was built in 1542, on a massive rocky outcrop, giving it the perfect position for defending the surrounding harbour. In 1902, the Castle was acquired by Edward Hudson, a former editor of Country Life magazine, who employed Sir Edwin Lutyens to undertake a programme of restoration and improvement.

And what improvements! Hefty wooden roof-beams and solid stone archways support the ceilings of herring-bone patterned, brick-floored corridors; and the beautiful windows, many of them containing pieces of stained glass in their neo-gothic tracery, look out over the North Sea, or down over the charming walled garden, planned by legendary plantswoman Gertrude Jekyll.

This is a fairy tale castle if ever there was one, and it is even possible to get married here. The small rooms, many of them with vaulted ceilings, are full of intimate decoration and design in the Arts and Crafts style, and seem to summon the ghosts of ancient knights on white chargers, and the damsels awaiting their arrival.

Here, as at all the castles along this coast, a sense of individuals' lives and changing fortunes is as tangible as the very fabric of the buildings themselves.

For the visitor, the castles along Northumberland's coast offer varied and atmospheric architecture, and stunning surroundings. And if you listen carefully, the very stones will whisper to you of centuries of history, violent destruction and beautiful, imaginative revival...

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Many thanks to both Sofie and her husband, the photographer, David Taylor.
Sophie Keates-Gazey's Blog
David Taylor's Website

Images copyrighted David Taylor.

See also the Country Life Magazine Website.

A Victorian Photographer: Tricks of the Trade

by Grace Elliot

My most recent bedtime reading is Henry Mayhew’s fascinating book London Labour and London Poor. First published in bound volumes between 1851-2, it is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of ordinary Victorians trying to scratch out a living. Mayhew's huge achievement is to create a written ‘snapshot’ of lives that would otherwise have been forgotten in the mists of time. I chose the word ‘snapshot’ deliberately, because the character that most recently caught my attention is the ‘Victorian photographer’. His name isn’t given, so let’s call him Mr. Snap.

Catherine Draper - 1839
One of the earliest known photographic portraits

This photographer tells with astonishing frankness of the antics and dodges Mr. Snap got up to.  Put simply, the man may not have been a good photographer, but he was certainly a talented salesman and had the gift of the gab. But let the man speak in his own words (as recorded by Mr Mayhew).

“I had a customer before I had even tried it [the camera] and so I tried it on him and give him a black picture (for I didn’t know how to make a portrait and it was all black when I took the glass out) and told him it would come bright as it dried. He went away happy delighted as anything.”

It seems the first weekend Mr. Snap opened his premises, he did a brisk trade taking “spotted and black” photographs for equally delighted customers. His tactic was to learn his trade on the job and seize trade while it was there. When he did a poor job the customer returned to complain, he simply took another portrait – which sometimes turned out better – “they had middling pictures for I picked it up quick.”

One customer posed smoking his pipe, not once, not twice, but three times – to be sent away each time with a black plate. Eventually the photographer’s will prevailed and the sitter appreciated that: “It’s the best he ever had took, for it don’t fade and will  stop black to the end of the world, though he remarks in that I deceived him in one thing, that it didn’t brighten.”

Frederick Langenheim -circa 1849
Note the hair: Highlights have been scratched out of the emulsion with a pin

Mr. Snap remains frank about why his portraiture was so poor. He reveals that when he bought the camera, the salesman showed how to use the device by taking his portrait and exposing the plate for 90 seconds. Our photographer friend then proceeded to take all subsequent pictures at an exposure of 90 seconds, regardless of whether it was bright sunlight or dusk. When, eventually, Mr. Snap realised his mistake (and it sounds as though this took a while), he at last referred to the instruction book (!)  and afterwards could take “a very tidy picture”.

Taking halfway decent photographs was good for trade, and the following spring he was taking upwards of 60 portraits a day! The photographer bemoaned that he lived in a religious neighbourhood and was therefore forced to close on a Sunday. Apparently the Sabbath was the best day for trade, because people had been paid the day before and had wages burning a hole in the workers' pockets.

The photographer was ingenious enough to maximise his profits with ‘add-on’ products. He invented the ‘American air-saver’, the purpose of which was to stop the photograph from fading. In actuality it was a piece of paper coated in varnish and applied to the back of the photograph. Trading on people’s gullibility, the air-saver was an instant success – although he did see a fall in sales when he renamed it a ‘London air-saver’, and swiftly reverted to the original name.

A photographer's studio in 1893.
Note the clamp to keep the subject's head steady during a long exposure

Another dodge was ‘brightening solution’, which it probably won’t surprise you to learn was water. The self-proclaimed ‘dodge’ was, when a client complained the picture was too dark,

“Why this isn’t like me there’s no picture at all” Then Jim says “It will be better as it dries and comes to your natural complexion.” If she grumbles, he offers to pass it through a brightening solution, which involves an extra fee.

With due deference the photographer passed the paper through water and then rolled it up, with instructions not to unroll until completely dry. If the client returned later to complain, he simply retook the picture and got yet more money out of them on the pretext of using superior chemicals.

And finally, taking and processing a photograph took time, but for those in a hurry, Mr. Snap had the answer. He simply took a photograph and then gave the sitter a picture he’d taken earlier. Frequently the dark and blurry image was so indistinct that the sitter didn’t realise the portrait was of someone else, and went away happy. This rouse failed once – when he gave an old woman a likeness featuring a man with a beard…


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Grace Elliot is a veterinarian, freelance writer, and author of historical romance. Her latest release, The Ringmaster's Daughter is a story of a determined young woman trying to survive in male dominated Georgian England.