In July, 10 of us spent a week in Slaggyford, Northumberland.
Day One | Slaggyford, Northumberland | Group Holiday ![youtube mute]()
Team Volvo were the first to set off first from Bristol, with Buzz in the backseat. We had a fantastic mix of weather on the way up.
By the time we arrived at 4:30 we’d missed the Sainsbury’s shop, but the people prepping the house had brought it all in for us. Then we had to get our priorities sorted - exploring, unpacking, and making cocktails.
Chef Cullingham cooked up a record-breaking cheesy pasta cheesy cheese once everyone had arrived, which wasn’t until gone 9 pm.
Day Two | High Force Waterfall + Barnard Castle ![]()
We had our first group breakfast - scrambled eggs on toast, with the eggs and bread the owners had left for us. We managed to get out of the house at a reasonable time and piled down to High Force (not the highest waterfall in the UK). It’s privately owned but free apart from a small car park fee.
We spent the afternoon walking down along the river to Low Force - highlights included skimming stones, tadpoles, and actual nice weather!
We had a spot of late lunch in Barnard Castle, including a cream tea flavoured ice cream.
Day 3 | Getting lost, Vindolanda, BBQ, and cocktails ![youtube mute]()
The house came with a couple of walks listed - we started off on route 2, missed a turning, got lost, and ended up on route 3. We had some serious off-piste action through long grassy and marshy ground before making it back to the house.
After a fine lunch of leftovers (Chef JC insists cheesy pasta is best enjoyed after maturing overnight) and Pom Bears, we hit up Vindolanda - ruins of a Roman settlement near Hadrian’s wall, and a museum.
Our ticket also got us into the Roman Army museum with a 3D film, and we capped off the Roman-heavy day with a walk up to Hadrian’s Wall itself.
The BBQ was lit shortly after getting back, and Emma and I did a bunch of cocktails with the rum and the smoothie maker. The evening entertainment was playing the name game.
Day 4 | Killhope Lead Mine + Allendale Brewery ![youtube mute]()
After the cocktails last night, we took it as a slow start cooked breakfast day - scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, beans, sausages, and toast.
We had a mini group meeting to work out what to do today, and settled on the Killhope Lead Mine. There was a little museum, and a trip down into the mine itself through ankle-deep water, equipped with a single candle power torch.
Getting back out into the sun, we toured the Allendale brewery - it’s a smallish brewery that made the beers the owners had left us.
Not wanting to head back just yet, we decided to drive over to Standhope to find a tearoom. We bailed on this plan as it was getting late and we didn’t think we’d find an open one. We ended up spotting a little post office with a tearoom attached as we were driving, with its most appealing feature being that there was parking right outside, as it was belting it down with rain! I shared a pot of tea with Tom and had a cheeky scone.
We had a chilled evening - Lara and Tom cooked up a paella, and we watched X-Men. Fiona was driving up from Bristol, having just flown in from Italy, so I followed her progress on her way up and went out to meet her when she arrived.
