Visit Bellingham Northumberland Guide

Heritage Centre opening

This 17th march will be the opening of the 2 railway carriages complete with tea room and exhibition space.
Come on over and take a look round the Heritage Centre and village.
more details here

Monday Morning

On Dunterley Fell over looking Bellingham. Bright sunshine breaks up the mist sitting in the valley.

Hareshaw Linn

St Cuthberts 24th DEc

St Cuthberts 24th December 2011 from Neil Denham on Vimeo.

Bellingham Christmas Lights

Christmas Lights from Neil Denham on Vimeo.

Matt Baker Cycling through Bellingham

12th November saw Matt Baker cycling trough Bellingham on a Tricycle. He was on his way to Hexham the overnight stop. A large group of people cheered him on at the Irishman's grave yard corner.

And up the mile bank out of Bellingham 

Guy Folks Night in Bellingham

Riverdale Hall Hotel from Neil Denham on Vimeo.

Bellingham Show Saturday 27th Aug

Show Weekend

Bellingham Show from Neil Denham on Vimeo.

Hareshaw Linn walk

No.8 HARESHAW LINN

Where Bellingham, Northumberland

Duration 2 hours, Level - Day Tripper

Northumberland is normally associated with wide vistas, yet this landscape is intensely confined – which adds to the seductive mystery.

The heavily wooded gorge of Hareshaw Linn lies by the small town of Bellingham and over the years has developed a reputation for being slightly mystical.

Nobody's quite sure why but it could well be that the suppressed, almost concealed nature of the gorge lets you feel cut off from the real world. Or perhaps it has to do with the winding, hesitant nature of the path.

Or just possibly, it's the almost unbelievable fact that this landscape was once the site of two 19th-century blast furnaces churning out massive gunk until as late as 1848. The fact that nature has re-established herself here so completely really does seem quite magical.

In any case, later Victorians loved the place, often holding genteel musical evenings beside the great tumbling waterfall at the walk's end.

There's a handy Northumberland National Park car park in Bellingham and you can walk from here, taking in autumnal views that include red squirrels scuttling through ancient woodland speckled with rowan berries, holly and masses of autumnal fungi.

Your path runs halfway up the gorge side and crosses and recrosses the stream at the bottom via a series of small bridges, leading to that waterfall, and journey's sad end.

The Telegraph 2009 by Nicholas Roe

The arrival of the 2nd Carriage

The second of two Mark 1 railway coaches arrives by road from Okehampton, Devon, to The Heritage Centre at Bellingham, Northumberland. The coaches will be used as exhibition/education space and a tea-room. Funding for the project is being provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Northumberland Uplands LEADER programme. This includes funding for two part-time posts - a curator and an education officer. The coaches will be refurbished and refitted and are expected to be ready for use by the end of October 2011. The Heritage Centre is a charity, No. 1041300, and an accredited museum. The second coach arrived on Monday 18 April. Both coaches were 'jacked' onto the permanent track, laid by Aln Valley Railway Trust, on Tuesday 19 April 2011. Video by Neil Denham, Bellingham. 

The Heritage centre Yesterday

The arrival of a Mk 1 railway coach at the Heritage Centre at Bellingham on Wednesday 13 April 2011. The coach has made the long journey by road from Okehampton in Devon via Ferrybridge in N. Yorkshire. A second coach will follow later. These coaches will be refurbished and refitted for use as, respectively, extra exhibition/learning space, and a tea-room. Work will be completed by the end of October 2011. The Heritage Centre's "Wannie Line" exhibition will be available semi-permanently on display in the exhibition coach. Funding for this project has been received from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Northumberland Uplands LEADER Programme. The Heritage Group Bellingham is a registered charity, No. 1041300.

Vintage Vehicle weekend at The Heritage Centre Bellingham

Hadrians Wall

Spring Lambs

The Lambs are here at Bellingham. Good to see spring is here after a long winter.

©Neil Denham

Bellingham Blast 24-25 september

The road cycling event will be staged over two days on 24/25 September, combining a 61 mile circuit of transfixing terrain for serious road bikers into the heart of Kielder, along with a 22 mile route for casual and family riders between Bellingham and Falstone.

New Signs Go up in Bellingham Northumberland

Latest News

News Release

Full steam ahead for Bellingham’s railway history thanks to Heritage Lottery Fund

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has today announced a confirmed¹ grant of £173,600 to the Heritage Centre, Bellingham for an exciting new project that will open up the North East's rich railway history.

The Old Station Bellingham

Founded in 1994 by volunteers, the Bellingham Heritage Centre seeks to preserve the history and heritage of the North Tynedale and Redesdale valleys. Based in Bellingham’s former railway station, the Centre focuses on the diverse rural, industrial and railway heritage of the area.

A main element of the project will be refurbishing and installing two Mark 1 railway carriages in the station yard - one will be used as a new learning and exhibition space, the other as visitor facilities. This will vastly improve the visitor experience and make the centre an even better day out.

Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in the North East, Ivor Crowther, said:

“The Heritage Centre, Bellingham provides a great insight into the varied heritage of the local area and is a hugely important resource. This project, especially the education programme, means its fascinating collections will be available for more people to appreciate and learn about. The Heritage Lottery Fund is pleased to support this worthwhile project and everyone who has worked hard to make it happen.”

To encourage more people to come and enjoy the Centres wide range of collections and bring them to life, a three year education programme will be introduced aimed at local schools. Existing and new volunteers will receive conservation and curatorial training, enabling them to really get involved with the Centre and provide them with valuable skills.

Terry Bragg, Chairman of the Heritage Centre said:

“We are delighted with the news. This Heritage Lottery Fund grant is coming at a crucial time in our development. We have twice as many visitors coming to the Heritage Centre as we did three years ago with visitor numbers for 2010 up by more than 25% over 2009. The railway display is a huge attraction and the new railway carriage will give us more exhibition space as well as a learning space for children and young people. The North Tyne and Redewater area is full of history and culture and magnificent landscapes. Thanks to this grant, more people will be able to enjoy some of the rich heritage of the area”.

The Heritage Centre has permanent exhibitions on the Border Reivers, local coal pits, stone quarries and ironworks, Border Counties Railway, and Bellingham photographer, W P Collier. Visitors to the Centre can access over 2500 local photographs and a database of names of people connected to the area, and hear recordings of local people talking about life in the ‘old days’. The Heritage Centre is also home to the Bellingham Tourist Information Office.


-ENDS-

For further information and images, please contact:
HLF Press Office, Laura Bates on 0207 591 6027 / lbates@hlf.org.uk

Seán Mac Nialluis, Heritage Centre, Bellingham Tel: (01434) 609 320; 07807 798 395/ info@bellingham-heritage.org.uk

Notes to Editors
¹ A confirmed award means that money had already been earmarked by HLF for the project in question and that the full amount has now been secured.

Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported 33,900 projects, allocating £4.4billion across the UK with £209 million in the North East alone. Website: www.hlf.org

BACKGROUND
The Heritage Centre at Bellingham, Northumberland is a volunteer-run local history museum for North Tyne and Redewater. The museum was opened in 1994. It was relocated to its present site in 2000. The inspiration for the museum came from the success of a local exhibition of old photographs and postcards. The prime mover, Dorothy Bell, was awarded an MBE in the 2009 News Year’s Honours List.

In 2008 an extension was built to house a farming gallery and the Stannersburn smithy.

The Heritage Centre at Bellingham is accredited by MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council) and uses approved cataloguing and conservation methods. It holds ‘quality assured visitor attraction’ status from VisitBritain. It has full disabled access as well as a hearing loop for visitors with impaired hearing.

The Heritage Centre at Bellingham is a registered charity (The Heritage Group Bellingham), number 1041300.

DISPLAYS
Border Counties Railway 1862-1958 (the railway comprised 42 miles of track from Hexham on the River Tyne to Riccarton, across the Scottish border).
The Reivers (a term used for robbers in the troubled Border area in the 16th century).
A Mining Heritage (relics and memories of the coal mines, iron works and quarries that were once busy industrial features of the area).
The Photographs of W P Collier (a definitive picture of rural life in Northumberland between the two World Wars).
The Stannersburn Smithy (operated locally until the 1970s).
The Farming Gallery houses a small grey Ferguson tractor as well as farming tools and mementoes.
It also hosts temporary historic and art exhibitions.
In July 2010 it was one of the venues which hosted poet Simon Armitage in his Pennine Way walk.
FAMILY NAMES DATABASE
The database, accessible by the public, contains over 50,000 from the area.

PHOTOS DATABASE
A computerised display of more than 2600 historic photographs, including 800 from the W P Collier Collection.
ENDS

Music Festival Bellingham

BAA Fest Bellingham All Acoustic Music Festival The Bellingham All Acoustic Music Festival will take place in the grounds of the Riverdale Hall Country House Hotel in Bellingham Village, Northumberland on the 30th April and 1st May 2011.